Welcome to our MLB DFS Building Blocks, DraftKings and FanDuel picks for 5/24/22! 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
Corbin Burnes + Dylan Cease
The top pitcher conversation comes down to two names for me tonight — Corbin Burnes and Dylan Cease. Burnes has been one of the best pitchers in baseball the last few seasons, while Cease might be the best pitcher in baseball this season. They both rank top-ten in CSW% this season, and they both have tougher match-ups against the Padres and Red Sox respectively. Now, both of these teams have had rough patches this season, but on paper these offenses aren’t as bad as teams like the A’s, Tigers etc. They both rank in the low-20% strikeout rate category as a team vs RHP this season, and I don’t think there is a clear match-up edge. Burnes will likely be higher-owned, but I think they are dead even for me right now. I do think these are the top two plays tonight, and I’ll be choosing one of them to anchor my build. I’m also leaning Burnes as of now, but if he gets way ahead of Cease in OWN% I’ll likely just take the lower ownership since I have them ranked so closely.
Sonny Gray
Gray is a glaring value on DraftKings, and his ownership will likely reflect that. He’s currently projecting for over 30% ownership, a figure that will likely grow throughout the afternoon. Gray has been great when healthy this season, striking out over 27% of batters faced and generating a near 11% swinging strike rate. Those numbers are just flat-out better than a pitcher at this price, and that’s not to even mention this strong match-up with the Tigers. I can see the case for fading him in tournaments at high-ownership…but this isn’t like when we see a bad pitcher see a OWN% spike due to a good match-up. This is a good pitcher in a good match-up that’s too cheap, so I will be overweight on Tuesday night.
Building Blocks
Jared Walsh
I’ve written Walsh up in this spot before, and I’m going back to the well on Tuesday night. He matches up with Dane Dunning, who is a solid real-life pitcher but vulnerable to power. He’s been much worse against lefties over the last few seasons, and Walsh is right there with Shohei Ohtani for the most left-handed power in this lineup. Dunning’s most-used pitch to lefties is his sinker, which is why I’m targeting Walsh. Over the last three seasons, Walsh owns massive splits against the pitch including a .356 ISO. He’s my HR call for tonight and can be used as a one-off or in a mini stack.
Max Kepler
Kepler is coming off a grand slam on Monday night, and in another good spot against Beau Brieske tonight. Brieske has struggled making the jump to the big leagues, striking out under 15% of batters faced this season and allowing a ton of hard-hits. We know Kepler is one of the best hitters vs righties in this lineup, but he matches up well vs his pitch mix as well. Brieske has thrown mostly fastballs this season, and Kepler is one of the better fastball hitters in this lineup. Minnesota has a solid team total tonight, but I agree that the spot is good. Kepler is underpriced for his power potential in this match-up and can be used in all formats on both sites.
Bold Call
The Angels combine for 4+ HR’s tonight!
Written by Ben Hossler (Follow @BenHossler on Twitter)
