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The top daily fantasy baseball lineup picks for FanDuel and DraftKings on May 26th, 2022. Thunder Dan's MLB DFS analysis and sleepers for building optimal DFS rosters.
Happy Thursday, RotoBallers! This is John Brubaker once again dropping some of my favorite plays for tonight's slate. We actually have a solid ten-game slate tonight on DraftKings and an eleven-game slate on FanDuel. The game that's included on FanDuel is the Yankees/Rays game down in Tampa, but I won't be including any of them in tonight's article. However, I may look into stacking the Yankees on FanDuel.
We finally have a bigger slate on a Thursday which is great, and I'll be sharing both my cash and GPP plays for tonight's slate. The slate is ten games on DraftKings and eleven games on FanDuel.
This article will provide my daily fantasy baseball lineup picks for DraftKings at 7:05 pm and FanDuel at 6:40 pm on 5/26/2022. 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. It's also essential to monitor injury news and today's MLB starting lineups. Now that we got all of that out of the way, it's onto the picks!
DraftKings, FanDuel Pitchers - MLB DFS Lineup Picks
Martin Perez, TEX at OAK ($8,300 DK, $9,700 FD)
I'll start this evening's slate off with Martin Perez. Perez comes into this matchup with Oakland coming off of a complete-game shutout against the Astros last Friday night. He's now tossed six straight quality starts while locking up the win in his last three. He started this streak against the A's back on April 23, where he tossed six scoreless frames while striking out five. This A's team roughed up Marco Gonzales just the other night, but come into this one with an average .468 wOBA + ISO and a 52.49% ground ball rate against southpaws. My model gives Perez a 49.67 rating, the highest on the main slate.
Konnor Pilkington, CLE at DET ($4,000 DK, $5,500 FD)
Konnor Pilkington will be recalled today from AAA Columbus and make the start for the Guardians today. Pilkington went just 3.2 innings, allowing two runs on three hits and striking out six against Toronto back on May 8. He gets a lighter matchup against the Tigers this evening and will look to earn a spot in the rotation while Aaron Civale spends time on the IL. The projected Tigers lineup as I'm writing this has an average .363 wOBA + ISO and just a lowly 21.67% hard-contact rate. While I don't have much of a sample size to base this on, my model gives Pilkington a 45.98 rating. Even if he can squeeze out five innings and keep the strikeout numbers up, he's a solid (and likely chalky) SP2 on DraftKings tonight.
Also consider: Tarik Skubal, Shohei Ohtani
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DraftKings, FanDuel Infielders - MLB DFS Lineup Picks
Carlos Correa - SS, MIN vs. Daniel Lynch ($5,500 DK, $3,400 FD)
As far as hitters go, I'll be starting with Carlos Correa. Lynch just faced Minnesota last Saturday, allowing four earned runs in just 3.2 innings. Correa went just 1-4 with a walk in this bout, but I'll look for him to bounce back today. Correa was 3-7 against Lynch prior to Saturday, and I think he'll turn it around this time. His rating is just 36.31, which is on the lower end of guys I have in my player pool today, but he'll be right in the middle of a Twins lineup I'll be looking to stack.
Anthony Rendon - 3B, LAA vs. Hyun-jin Ryu ($4,500 DK, $3,100 FD)
My second hitter of the day will be Anthony Rendon. Rendon has been hitting lefties well this season and has a projected .863 wOBA + ISO against the pitch types that Ryu throws. He also has a projected 44.13% hard-contact rate and just a 0.64% soft-contact rate, creating what should be a high floor in a positive matchup against Hyun-jin Ryu, who's struggled against right-handed hitters this year, coming into this one with a 4.15 xFIP and 36.92% hard-contact rate against them.
Brendan Rodgers - 2B/SS, COL vs. Patrick Corbin ($4,500 DK, $2,900 FD)
I'll wrap up my favorite infield plays with Brendan Rodgers against Patrick Corbin tonight. I really wish this game was at Coors, but I still rate Rodgers well given his 41.22 rating and projected .999 wOBA + ISO against Corbin's pitch types. Rodgers has a solid history against Corbin as well, going 5-10 with a double and a homer against the southpaw. I rate the Rockies' stack fifth on tonight's slate as a whole, but really like one-offs from their lineup including Rodgers, C.J. Cron, and Connor Joe.
DraftKings, FanDuel Outfielders - MLB DFS Lineup Picks
Mike Trout - OF, LAA vs. Hyun-jin Ryu ($6,100 DK, $4,400 FD)
Back to the Angels, with the obvious foundation of an Angels stack, Mike Trout. In previous years I would fade Trout against lefties, but that won't be the case tonight. Trout's 54.09 ranks the highest on the slate, and for good reason. He has a projected .990 wOBA + ISO against Ryu's pitch types and a 46.89% hard-contact rate. Ryu has been off over the last couple of seasons, and I expect Trout to bounce back following his 0-4 night last night.
Alek Thomas- OF, ARI vs. Mitch White ($3,000 DK, $2,800 FD)
An interesting GPP play here, and I would love if the Diamondbacks would slide Thomas up in the order. While I take notice of his projected 60.51% ground ball rate in this matchup, he does have a whopping 1.588 wOBA + ISO projection against White's pitch types. His 47.37 rating shows there's some solid value in Thomas on this slate, but I'll most likely be one-offing him due to his order position.
Kyle Garlick - OF, MIN vs. Daniel Lynch ($2,200 DK, $2,500 FD)
The inevitable chalky "Kyle Garlick vs a lefty" play is here once again. It will always make sense, as Garlick just crushes left-handed pitching. He comes into this one with a projected .806 wOBA + ISO against Lynch's pitch types as well as a 51.25% hard-contact rate and an 11.56% projected home run rate. While he hasn't gotten Lynch for the long ball yet, he is 2-3 with two RBIs against him and should keep it rolling tonight. His 52.26 rating is by far the best value on the slate.
DraftKings, FanDuel MLB DFS Stacks
Minnesota Twins vs. Daniel Lynch
I'll be really interested to see how tonight's slate shakes out, and whether Minnesota will end up being the highest owned stack on it. I have them rated as my top stack by a slim margin, with a 48.87 rating. Like I mentioned earlier while talking about Correa, the Twins just saw Lynch last week and roughed him up. While I expect it to be more of the same, I will keep an eye on ownership throughout the day and if it creeps too high, I'll pull back my exposure. It's also worth noting that it's always interesting when a pitcher faces the same lineup in back-to-back starts, but I just can't get away from this matchup.
Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Humberto Castellanos
Humberto Castellanos comes into this one 3-1 with a 4.29 ERA. He should regress somewhat due to his 4.45 xFIP, and we can surely expect that from the Dodgers. LA was shut out yesterday in their final game back in DC, and I attribute that to them likely wanting to get out of there and back in the West. The Dodgers' stack rating comes in right behind the Twins with a rating of 47.68, and there's a relatively decent drop-off below them. I'll most likely have the most exposure to the Dodgers on tonight's slate, given that unlike the Twins and other top stacks, I believe their whole lineup is playable, so my exposure will reflect that.
Also Consider: Los Angeles Angels, Colorado Rockies
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