DFS MLB Lineups for May 9, 2017 at Draftkings.com & Fanduel.com
For this baseball season, each day there’s a good slate of DFS MLB games, we’ll be writing up a group of pitchers and hitters that we’re considering for our cash and GPP lineups on DraftKings and FanDuel. We’ll also provide a list of stacks to consider, MLB start times, starting pitchers, and game run totals to give you a good idea of where the fantasy goodness might come from on a given night. As with any DFS sport, the advice below is relevant for fantasy purposes. A player or team might be better or worse from a fantasy perspective than they are in real life due to matchup, price, park factor, etc. This is important when constructing a roster.
Huge 14-game slate for Tuesday with Max Scherzer, Carlos Carrasco and Justin Verlander hitting the $10k+ price point. Julio Urias, Drew Pomeranz, and Matt Andriese come in around the $8k mark making it easy to fit in a couple of big name bats. As a reminder, the best advice we can give if you’re new to DFS MLB is to remember that baseball is a game of variance. You can make a really solid lineup and still fall short of the cash line. Even Clayton Kershaw can have a horrible start, and Mike Trout can still go 0 for 4. Baseball is funny like that. Trust the process and know that if you’re playing quality lineups, you’ll be a winner in the long term.
Another thing to remember outside of making sure your guy is in the lineup, is to always check the weather. Always. Make this something that is part of your basic routine. Baseball games can get postponed! Your players receive no points from postponed games!
5/9/17 MAIN SLATE TOURNAMENT RUNDOWN
DraftKings Mega Crazy 8’s: $888 buy-in, $500k guaranteed
DraftKings Full Count: $55 buy-in, $325k guaranteed
DraftKings Rally Cap: $8 buy-in, $200k guaranteed
FanDuel Insane 8’s: $888 buy-in, $444k guaranteed
FanDuel Squeeze: $4 buy-in, $150k guaranteed
FanDuel Grand Slam: $30 buy-in, $125k guaranteed
Best DFS MLB Pitchers for May 9, 2017
Max Scherzer @ BAL ($11.8k DraftKings, $11.6k FanDuel)
There are few pitchers as tough to time up and even make contact against than Scherzer, who is maintaining his great reputation for strikeouts with an 11.29 K/9 ratio so far this season. He’s also sporting a sparkling 0.91 WHIP and has posted a Quality Start in 5 of his 6 appearances this year. Tonight, Scherzer faces an Orioles lineup that can mash, but can also strike out a lot with a 22.4% K-Rate this year after posting the ninth-highest K-Rate (21.7%) last season. Current O’s are a combined 32-for-143 (.224) with an astonishing 51 K’s to post a 35.6% K-Rate in their careers against Scherzer. Slugger Chris Davis is really struggling with consistency and has struck out at least one time in 8 of his last 10 games.
Jeff Samardzija @ NYM ($9.4k DraftKings, $8.7k FanDuel)
After dominating the Dodgers in his last outing, The Shark is poised to enter this plus matchup brimming with confidence. His success was partially due to an aggressive approach, as he threw 70 of his 101 pitches for strikes in his last outing, and he should be able to attack a Mets lineup that’s weakened by the absence of Yoenis Cespedes, Asdrubel Cabrera and Travis d’Arnaud right now. Current Mets are batting a collective .210 (26-for-100) with 21 K’s in their careers against Samardzija and he should be able to get you 6+ innings with K upside as long as he can minimize the damage from the duo of Michael Conforto and Jay Bruce.
Robbie Ray vs. DET ($9.2k DraftKings, $8.6k FanDuel)
Ray has been close to perfection as the D’Backs could hope this season and he just managed to limit the league-leading Nationals lineup to 2 ER on 4 hits in his last outing. The lefty also struck out 10 in that contest to raise his K/9 ratio to a career high 12.14 through 6 starts. He’s throwing his curveball over three times as much as in years past and when hitters aren’t missing it, they’re just beating it into the ground. Detroit is ranked 25th in collective batting average (.215) with the eighth-highest K-Rate (23.6%) against LHP this season and almost all of the Tigers batters will have the disadvantage of facing Ray for the first time.
Other pitchers to consider: Carlos Carrasco, Justin Verlander, Jharel Cotton, Matt Andriese, Drew Pomeranz, Julio Urias, Ariel Miranda
Best DFS MLB Hitters for May 9, 2017
Bryce Harper @ BAL ($5.4k DraftKings, $5k FanDuel)
He returned to the Nationals lineup last night and promptly homered to get right back to making his case for another N.L. MVP. Now Harper draws a dream matchup against RHP Ubaldo Jimenez, who allowed LHB to post a .378 wOBA with a 1.53 HR/9 ratio against the platoon last season. Jimenez is sporting a 9.39 ERA with a .313 BAA over a limited sample at Camden Yards this year and that is a ballpark with a very high HR Factor for lefties. Harper is sporting a .493 wOBA with a 1.218 OPS and 10 homers off RHP this year and he could tee off on Jimenez.
Miguel Sano vs. CWS ($4.3k DraftKings, $3.6k FanDuel)
One of the hottest power hitters in the game is clearly a great candidate to serve as part of a stack against likely the most vulnerable SP on the slate. Mike Pelfrey is sporting a 5.02 ERA, however, he’s keeping the ball in the yard through 3 starts despite posting a 25% HR/FB ratio at the AAA level and a 1.13 HR/9 ratio during his last MLB campaign. Even if he doesn’t hit one out, Sano is smoking the ball when he makes contact (leading the majors in average exit velocity) and Pelfrey boasts a pitiful 6.0% Swinging Strike Rate throughout his career. Sano also happens to be 3-for-4 with a double and HR in his career against Pelfrey.
Christian Yelich vs. STL ($4.2k DraftKings, $3.6k FanDuel)
Cardinals RHP Adam Wainwright has had some success in the past against the Marlins, but I wouldn’t be on the 35-year-old to come through even at massive Marlins Park. He’s sporting a 6.30 ERA with a ridiculous .446 BABIP and that’s partially due to the fact that lefties are posting a ridiculous 45.8% Hard Contact Rate and 23.1% HR/FB ratio off Waino this season. Those numbers will go down, but it what won’t change is that Wainwright is just an average pitcher. With so many teams in action and Coors on the slate, it’s an opportunity to get an elite hitter at minuscule ownership.
Other hitters to consider: Kris Bryant, Eric Thames, Gary Sanchez, Corey Seager, Mitch Moreland, Cody Bellinger, Andrew Benintendi, Yonder Alonso, Josh Reddick, Adam Lind, Brett Gardner
5/9/17 DFS MLB STACKS
Nationals vs Ubaldo Jimenez
It’s tough to bet against the top-ranked offense in the Majors against a SP that’s known for his implosions, as well as his struggles against the platoon. Bryce Harper and Daniel Murphy are obvious candidates to crush Jimenez if he’s off, while Matt Wieters and Adam Lind could both potentially crack the lineup with the platoon advantage against him. Ryan Zimmerman remains red hot and there’s more room for the Nats to get all their top bats in the lineup with the DH spot available at Camden Yards.
Red Sox vs Wily Peralta
Mitch Moreland stands out as a particularly cheap power hitter to consider against Peralta, who posted the third-highest HR/FB ratio (17.1%) last season and is doing even worse with a 1.72 HR/9 ratio so far this year. Lefties are 18-for-57 (.343) with 5 doubles and 3 homers (.441 wOBA) off Peralta this season, so Andrew Benintendi is also a strong play, while Sandy Leon and Jackie Bradley Jr. have tournament appeal. Of course Hanley Ramirez and Mookie Betts also have tons of upside against a vulnerable pitcher.
Athletics vs Alex Meyer
An A’s stack isn’t a bad choice to consider when looking for some value tonight. Oakland’s lineup is full of cheapies such as Yonder Alonso, Ryon Healy and Trevor Plouffe, who went yard last night along with super cheap infielder Jed Lowrie. Khris Davis has struck out 7 times in his last 13 ABs, and box score watchers will be running for the hills, but there are few with the tournament upside he brings to the table. Angels RHP Alex Meyer is sporting a 9.39 ERA with a .400 BABIP so far this year and he’s allowed lefties to post a .415 wOBA with a 2.09 WHIP throughout his career, so you can also consider Stephen Vogt as a catcher with upside.
Other Stacks to consider:
Coors Field
Astros vs. Bartolo Colon
Rays vs. Chris Young
Twins vs. Mike Pelfrey
Yankees vs. Tim Adleman
