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Happy Friday, everyone! I'm excited to be making my RotoBaller debut breaking down the Friday MLB DFS slate. It's an action-packed 12-game slate on DraftKings and FanDuel tonight. I'll be going over all of my favorite plays on today's slate.
We have a ton of viable pitching options, top offensive players, and stacks to go over. I'll point out my favorite of each to help you build out strong tournament lineups. Let's get to it!
This article will provide my daily fantasy baseball lineup picks for DraftKings and FanDuel on 5/26/2023 and the slate locking at 7:05 pm ET. The lineup picks will range from some elite players to mid-priced options and value plays. You can also read more DFS advice and lineup picks for other sports here. Monitoring injury news and today's MLB starting lineups is also essential. Now that we got all that out of the way, it's onto the picks!
DraftKings, FanDuel Pitchers - MLB DFS Lineup Picks
Kevin Gausman @ MIN ($10,300 DK, $11,100 FD)
Gausman has been one of the best pitchers in baseball this season. He has a 3.03 xFIP, 31% strikeout percentage, 4% walk percentage, and 45% ground ball percentage. Minnesota also represents a good matchup for Gausman as this lineup strikes out quite a bit. The Twins projected lineup has a combined 27% strikeout percentage against right-handed pitching this season. Minnesota's lineup has a nice mix of right-handed and left-handed hitters, but there's no split for Gausman this year when it comes to strikeouts. He has a 32% strikeout percentage against right-handed hitters and a 31% strikeout percentage against left-handed hitters.
Gausman looks like he'll be the chalk pitcher of the night on DraftKings with a rostership projection of around 40%. He's my top pitcher on both sites tonight and I wouldn't hesitate to use him in my cash game lineup on either site. Gausman makes for an even better tournament play on FanDuel, though, where he will likely be lowered rostered.
Chris Sale @ ARI ($9,000 DK, $10,100 FD)
Sale's numbers perhaps aren't as good as Gausman's this season, but with the way he's been pitching lately, he's getting closer with every start. Sale has a 3.77 xFIP, 29% strikeout percentage, 6% walk percentage, and 41% ground ball percentage this season. He appears to be rounding back into the form we're used to seeing from Sale before he had so many injuries over the last few seasons. Sale hasn't allowed more than three earned runs in each of his last four starts. In his last three starts, he's recorded eight, nine, and 10 strikeouts.
Sale has a 6.00 ERA on the road this year, but his last two road starts have been quality starts. Arizona isn't as good of a strikeout matchup for Sale as Minnesota is for Gausman. The Diamondbacks' projected lineup has combined for just a 21% strikeout percentage against left-handed pitching this season. Gausman is still my top overall arm, but Sale makes a lot of sense as an SP2 on DraftKings or in your second tournament lineup on FanDuel.
Also consider: George Kirby, Hunter Brown, and Randy Vasquez (DK)
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DraftKings, FanDuel Infielders - MLB DFS Lineup Picks
Pete Alonso - 1B, NYM vs. Connor Seabold ($5,700 DK, $4,300 FD)
The New York Mets travel to Coors Field this evening and that means Pete Alonso will get to see some weak pitchers in the altitude. It begins with Connor Seabold tonight. Seabold has a 5.64 xFIP this season and has allowed a .254 ISO to right-handed hitters this year. Alonso has a .289 ISO against right-handed pitching this season. This is just a great matchup and won't be a particularly sneaky play on either site. I'd play Alonso in my cash game lineup on both sites tonight.
Salvador Perez - C, KCR vs. Patrick Corbin ($4,900 DK, $3,200 FD)
This is a good matchup for Perez, but maybe not as good as I originally thought. Corbin is allowing a .161 ISO to right-handed hitters this year and Perez has a .154 ISO against left-handed pitching this year. Still, Perez is tough to ignore at home where he's hitting .300 with five home runs this season.
Jeimer Candelario - 3B, WAS vs. Jordan Lyles ($3,400 DK, $2,800 FD)
Lyles has been awful this year. He has a 6.06 xFIP and has allowed a 51% fly ball percentage. Lyles has also allowed a .274 ISO to left-handed hitters this year. Candelario has a .234 ISO against right-handed pitching this season. He's simply too cheap for this matchup on both sites.
DraftKings, FanDuel Outfielders - MLB DFS Lineup Picks
Brandon Nimmo - OF vs. Connor Seabold ($4,900 DK, $3,500 FD)
Nimmo is too cheap for this matchup against Seabold at Coors Field. Seabold has allowed a .206 ISO to left-handed hitters this season. Nimmo should be very involved in the Mets' offense tonight batting at the top of the order once again.
Ronald Acuna Jr. - OF, ATL vs. Taijuan Walker ($6,400 DK, $4,700 FD)
Acuna has a .245 ISO against right-handed pitching this season. Interestingly, he's hitting .307 with two home runs at home this year compared to .358 with nine home runs on the road. I think his numbers should pick up at home as Atlanta is a good hitters' park and Walker is one of the weaker right-handed pitchers he'll face.
Corey Dickerson - OF, WAS vs. Jordan Lyles ($2,300 DK, $2,000 FD)
I already mentioned what Jordan Lyles has done this season so it's no surprise I like another left-handed bat from Washington here. Dickerson is one of the best value hitter plays on the entire slate tonight. He's absolutely someone to include to fill out lineups where you need to save salary. He's the minimum price on FanDuel and close to it on DraftKings.
DraftKings, FanDuel MLB DFS Stacks
1. Colorado Rockies vs. Max Scherzer
Scherzer isn't someone to make a habit of stacking against, but we should have some interest while he's struggling at this point in the season. Coors Field likely isn't the place to get back on track on the mound. Scherzer has a 5.25 xFIP, 55% fly ball percentage, and has allowed a .250 ISO to right-handed hitters this season. Line-drive hitters tend to have success against fly ball pitchers and Kris Bryant has a 31% line drive percentage this year plus he's right-handed. I think he has the best matchup here, but everyone is in play for Colorado.
2. Toronto Blue Jays vs. Louie Varland
Varland has a 4.18 xFIP this season, but he's been sneakily quite bad with power prevention to right-handed hitters. He's allowed a .274 ISO to right-handed hitters this season. This plays right into the Blue Jays' hand with most of the lineup being right-handed hitters. Vladimir Guerrero Jr., George Springer, and Matt Chapman are my favorite bats here. Bo Bichette and whichever catcher is in the lineup (Alejandro Kirk or Danny Jansen) also make sense here.
Also Consider: New York Mets, Washington Nationals, Kansas City Royals
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