Welcome to our MLB DFS Building Blocks, DraftKings and FanDuel picks for 5/21/22! 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
Justin Verlander
It comes down to Verlander vs Brandon Woodruff for SP1 on DraftKings tonight, but it’s pretty clear who has been the better pitcher this season. I bet Verlander for AL Cy Young before the season start, and he is now the favorite to win the award. He’s pretty much back to form after his injury absence, and is in a great spot vs Texas. We also have a pretty big sample of him against this current Rangers lineup — resulting in a 37% strikeout rate and under a .280 wOBA allowed. With a cheap SP2 in play — see below — stuffing in Verlander should be fairly easy on Saturday night.
Joe Ryan + Jeffrey Springs
We have two great options for our second pitcher today, at two different price levels. Ryan is over $9,000, but in a great spot against the Royals. This KC lineup doesn’t strike out a crazy amount, but they are a low power lineup and it’s fantastic pitching weather in KC tonight. Ryan does have strikeout ability, and I think he is viable in all formats at what should be pretty low-ownership. As for Springs, this is a clear mispricing by DK in my opinion, as he got up over 70 pitches in his last outing. He will likely throw more than that tonight, but even if he didn’t, I would be more than happy with 76 pitches at min-price. He isn’t a bad pitcher at all, and the projected Orioles lineup owns a combined 27% strikeout rate vs left-handed pitching this season. It’s unlike myself to punt SP2, but I will be going nearly all-in on Springs at this price tag tonight.
Building Blocks
Hunter Renfroe + Andrew McCutchen
Anyone that reads this article has made money stacking against Patrick Corbin this season, and tonight is another time to do so. I’m not sure if you need to go with a full five-man stack here, but we will continue to want right-handed power against him and that’s what Renfroe/McCutchen provide. They have the best power marks in this lineup over the last few seasons, and they match up well with Corbin’s pitch mix as well. Corbin is throwing a lot of sinkers in 2022, and both of these guys have video game numbers against sinkers. I will be locking these two into my main lineup tonight, with potentially more Brewers as well — we will see.
Jared Walsh
Walsh came through for us with a double-dong as cover boy a few days ago, and I’m going back to the well tonight against Frankie Montas. Montas is a good pitcher, but the way to beat him is with left-handed power so if looking for some lower-owned options tonight — Shohei Ohtani and Jared Walsh should be the go-to’s. Obviously Walsh has slate-breaking power, but he excels against splitters — a pitch that Montas is throwing over 40% of the time to left-handed batters. He can be used as a low-owned one-off in all formats, or as part of a mini stack with Ohtani.
Bold Call
Renfroe/McCutchen combine for 3 homeruns!
Written by Ben Hossler (Follow @BenHossler on Twitter)
