Welcome to our MLB DFS Building Blocks, DraftKings and FanDuel picks for 5/4/22! 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
Shane McClanahan
I’ve been a big McClanahan guy since he came up last season, and he hasn’t disappointed in 2022. He’s been the league leader in CSW% for pretty much the whole season, and is taking that next step towards becoming the ace we thought he could be. He doesn’t have the pitch count ceiling as most typical ace-level pitchers, but he is more than capable of being efficient and getting strikeouts at the same time. This is a strong match-up for him as well with the Mariners projected lineup striking out 25% of the time vs left-handed pitching. He is expensive, but with no expensive stacks looking like a must-play in cash games, we should have room to spend-up for him in all formats.
Aaron Nola
Nola still feels too cheap at only $8,000 on DraftKings — making it another likely double-spend at pitcher night. He’s one of the most consistent pitchers in baseball, and probably should be priced closer to McClanahan on a smaller slate like this. I don’t like using BvP as a driving research force, but we have a huge sample-size of Nola against this roster and he has 100% owned them. In 250 PA’s against the current Mets roster — Nola is allowing just over a .300 wOBA with a 31% strikeout rate. That is much better than an $8,000 pitcher, and he is a priority for me in cash games on Thursday.
Building Blocks
Kyle Schwarber
We don’t have Coors Field on this slate, and that has resulted in just a few teams owning respectable team totals. One of those teams is the Phillies against Taijuan Walker. Most of the attention is going to be on the Minnesota Twins against Spenser Watkins, so spending up for some Phillies bats should be a touch lower-owned. Walker doesn’t profile terrible on the surface vs left-handed batters — but over the last two seasons he’s allowing above-average hard-contact and fly-balls to that side of the plate. We want guys that can get the ball up in the air against him, and Schwarber definitely fits that mold. He has the second-highest ISO behind only Bryce Harper on this team vs right-handed pitching, and has seen Walker well in his AB’s vs him. In 13 AB’s vs Walker, he has an average exit velocity over 100 mph. We know he has slate-breaking power and he is my favorite on Thursday night.
Jesus Sanchez
Sanchez isn’t exactly as cheap as I would like him to be tonight, but that should keep his ownership low in a great spot. Miami draws Nick Martinez, who is one of the worst pitchers in baseball right now. His most-used pitch to lefties is his fastball, which he allows over a .600 wOBA with. Sanchez has big power, and is the best fastball hitter on this team. I don’t mind a Miami mini-stack tonight, but I think Sanchez can be used in all formats as a one-off as well.
Bold Call
Philly scores 8+ runs!
Written by Ben Hossler (Follow @BenHossler on Twitter)
