Welcome to our MLB DFS Building Blocks, DraftKings and FanDuel picks for 5/19/22! In this article, I’ll break down by top overall plays for today’s main slate. Last year was an extremely big year for the Karma team in MLB, and we are looking to continue that success in 2022. I will be providing Core Plays for every main slate (and day baseball) this season — you can gain access to that as well as our premium discord here. Let’s get to the plays…
Above is an example of the Core Plays given out to Subscribers on Friday May 13th
Pitcher
We have a typical small Thursday slate, with just four games to choose from which will force some heavy chalk at all positions. The clear top two options today are Chris Bassitt and Jordan Montgomery. Bassitt has been very good this season ranking top-ten in CSW%, while Montgomery is boosted by his match-up with the Orioles. Bassitt I view as the top option on today’s slate, and I feel comfortable playing him at ownership in all formats. As for Montgomery, he is a good not great pitcher in a match-up that he could easily succeed in. He has a pretty big 121 plate appearance sample-size vs this lineup allowing a sub-.300 wOBA and striking out 23% of batters faced. Pretty solid numbers. I typically would be inclined to fade a high-owned Montgomery on a big slate, but there just doesn’t seem like anywhere to pivot to. I think Yu Darvish and Kyle Gibson are both viable in tournaments, but for cash games and single entry I’ll likely eat the chalk and play the Bassitt/Monty combo. If you’re playing more than a few teams, stacking the Orioles as a hedge makes sense.
Building Blocks
Aaron Judge
Yes, we are going back to Aaron Judge. I try not to write him up as much as I do, but on a smaller four game slate he is the clear top option for me. He matches up against Bruce Zimmermann today who hasn’t been that bad in 2022…but it appears regression is coming. Zimmermann owns a sparkling 2.73 ERA, but his xERA sits just south of 5.00. He throws mainly fastball / changeup, two pitches that Judge has a lot of success against. We know that he has massive power, but I believe this is the best version of Judge we’ve ever seen. He’s my top-overall play in all formats on both sites today.
Hunter Dozier
This is someone we should get super low-owned on Thursday, despite possessing huge power potential. If you read my content you know, we’ve been attacking Vince Velasquez all season. He’s been especially bad against right-handed hitters allowing a .433 wOBA and .311 ISO in the split this season. Dozier has pretty much the best power in this lineup vs right-handed batters, and he matches up well with VV’s pitch mix. Velasquez pounds fastballs to both sides of the plate — and Dozier is one of the best fastball hitters in this lineup with a .268 ISO vs the pitch the last few seasons.
Bold Call
KC hits 3+ homeruns!
Written by Ben Hossler (Follow @BenHossler on Twitter)
