Welcome to our MLB DFS Building Blocks, DraftKings and FanDuel picks for 5/3/22! 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. You can also try out the Core Plays package with a $5 daily pass. Let’s get to the plays…
Pitcher
Joe Ryan
This is the firs slate I haven’t written up Carlos Rodon on a night he is starting, but there’s good reason for that. I’m a long-term believer in Rodon, and usually I would have him ranked as my top option despite any tough match-up. That being said, he’s up against the Dodgers tonight and we have three strong options that are cheaper than him. Usually I would still be in on him, but this is an unusually strong pitching slate starting with Joe Ryan. Ryan is a promising young pitcher for the Twins — and he has flashed upside this season with a 30% strikeout rate backed up a 31.5% CSW% which is top-ten in baseball. He has a strong match-up against the Orioles who have struck out a ton vs right-handed pitching this season. I’m not worried about the price here due to the K upside, and he is my top option in all formats.
Michael Kopech
Ryan is likely to be locked and loaded in my SP1 slot tonight, and we have a strong competition between Kopech and Brandon Woodruff for the SP2 spot. Kopech has struggled with walking batters this season, but mostly everything else is positive. He’s striking out 25% of batters faced, his expected ERA is a solid 2.75 mark and he topped 90 pitches in his last start. Chicago has been a high strikeout lineup this season so the match-up is strong, and to top it off, it’s going to be cold tonight with up to 20 mph winds blowing in at Wrigley Field. Strong pitching weather mixed with good strikeout stuff definitely has me interested. For now, I think he is better suited for tournaments, however, with our next option slightly ahead…
Brandon Woodruff
Woodruff has seen mixed results this season, more so than what we’ve seen from him the last two seasons. Despite those struggles, he’s still making batters swing and miss which has me encouraged that the higher strikeout numbers can return in the coming weeks. More importantly, he draws the Cincinnati Reds tonight who are the worst team in baseball. This projected lineup owns a dismal .133 ISO and .270 wOBA vs right-handed pitching this season. Woodruff is below $9,000 on DK despite the elite match-up and I’m back in on him tonight. He will be chalky but I think he is a no-brainer in cash games. He can 100% faded in tournaments due to the sketchy form and high projected ownership, however.
Building Blocks
George Springer
Like always, I will avoid writing up Coors Field bats in this section and I’m focused on George Springer on Tuesday. Toronto matches up with Jameson Taillon tonight, who has been pretty reverse-splits since joining the Yankees — allowing more power to right-handed batters. Despite it being a same-handed match-up, Springer actually has the second-highest ISO on the Blue Jays since the start of last season with a .240 mark in the split. Furthermore, Taillon is mainly fastball / slider to righties which are two pitches Springer has above-average power numbers against. Toronto should be a bit lower-owned due to their team total tonight, but I like their power righties as one-offs or a mini-stack.
Austin Meadows
Meadows and the Tigers can provide some value tonight as a mini-stack against Bryse Wilson and the Pirates bullpen. Wilson has been especially bad against left-handed batters allowing a .341 wOBA and .225 ISO. Meadows clearly has the most power in this lineup vs righties, which makes him a solid one-off candidate as well. Wilson also pounds fastballs against both sides of the plate, and Meadows is a really good fastball hitter. He is my HR call tonight and I like him on both sites at his price tags.
Bold Call
Toronto combines for four homers!
Written by Ben Hossler (Follow @BenHossler on Twitter)
