DFS MLB Lineups for May 16, 2017 at Draftkings.com & Fanduel.com

For this daily fantasy 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.

We have 13 games on the main DFS MLB slate with aces like Dallas Keuchel, Yu Darvish, Stephen Strasburg, and Zach Greinke taking the bump. When you get to the DraftKings lobby, you’ll notice some new contests available for MLB. Tonight is the debut of Arcade Mode, a new game variant where you pick just one pitcher and five hitters from an abbreviated game slate. Only two of the hitters can be from the same team, and the scoring is a little bit wacky as you see below. You can click here for all the details.

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!

5/16/17 MAIN SLATE TOURNAMENT RUNDOWN

DraftKings Full Count: $55 buy-in, $300k guaranteed  
DraftKings Rally Cap: $8 buy-in, $115k guaranteed   
DraftKings Launch Special: $3 buy-in, $100k guaranteed (arcade mode) 
FanDuel Squeeze: $4 buy-in, $150k guaranteed
FanDuel Grand Slam: $44 buy-in, $300k guaranteed
FanDuel Monster: $300 buy-in, $100k guaranteed

DFS MLB START TIMES, STARTING PITCHERS & GAME TOTALS FOR TODAY’S GAMES

7:05p: Nationals (Strasburg) @ Pirates (Kuhl): 8
7:10p: Orioles (Miley) @ Tigers (Boyd): 9.5
7:10p: Astros (Keuchel) @ Marlins (Koehler): 8.5
8:05p: Reds (Arroyo) @ Cubs (Lackey): 11.5
8:05p: Phillies (Eickhoff) @ Rangers (Darvish): 8.5
8:10p: Rockies (Freeland) @ Twins (Hughes): 9.5
8:15p: Red Sox (Rodriguez) @ Cardinals (Lynn): 8
8:15p: Yankees (Sabathia) @ Royals (Hammel): 9.5
9:40p: Mets (Milone) @ Diamondbacks (Greinke): 9
10:07p: White Sox (Holland) @ Angels (Ramirez): 7.5
10:10p: Brewers (Nelson) @ Padres (Richard): 8
10:10p: A’s (Triggs) @ Mariners (De Jong): 8.5
10:15p: Dodgers (Hill) @ Giants (Blach): 7.5

Best DFS MLB Pitchers for May 16, 2017

Dallas Keuchel @ MIA ($11.8k DraftKings, $10.9k FanDuel)
Keuchel has looked like the AL Cy Young winner to this point and there’s little reason to believe his 2017 success won’t continue tonight. The Marlins actually own the third best wOBA in baseball against lefties, but Keuchel has been lights out against everyone including a complete game on the road at the Indians and 6 innings of 9 strikeout ball against the Yankees. The Marlins strikeout about league average against lefties but Keuchel has really upped his strikeouts of late, fanning at least 7 batters in 7 of his last 12 starts. But more importantly, he keeps the ball on the ground and stays out of trouble with his ability to avoid hard contact. He’s a solid -155 favorite that goes deep into games and it doesn’t hurt to point out that his teammates have been very hot at the plate so he should have plenty of run support. He’s the epitome of a cash game pitcher and should he get a few more whiffs, can help you win a GPP.

Clayton Richard vs Brewers ($5.9k DraftKings, Do not use on FanDuel)
This is purely a price play as your SP2 on DraftKings. Do you want to be able to jam in several Cubs, Yankees, and maybe a Trout or Harper? Well, Clayton Richard is your man. He’s not going to blow you away with some crazy 30 point night or anything. He’s got a low 15.8% K-rate and a good outing here is probably going to bring you 5 strikeouts. But, he’s got a solid ground ball rate (61%), doesn’t walk many batters, and the Brewers are definitely without Ryan Braun, and might be without Eric Thames. He’s also at home in San Diego, so the park can assist in keeping mistakes from turning into bombs. The Brewers implied total sits at 3.9 runs, which is on the lower end of all teams in play tonight. It’s not a sexy play, but if you want a lot of big bats, you’re going to have to make sacrifices somewhere and Richard looks to be the safest of the punts.

Other pitchers to consider: Yu Darvish vs. Phillies, Zack Greinke vs Mets, Rich Hill @ Giants, J.C. Ramirez vs White Sox

Best DFS MLB Hitters for May 16, 2017

Brett Gardner @ KC ($4.5k DraftKings, $3.6k FanDuel)
Gardner and the Yankees head to Kauffman Stadium to take on Jason Hammel and the Royals. Hammel is coming off a start at Tampa where the Rays got to him for 13 hits, 7 runs, and two homers. In fact, Hammel has been blown up in five of his seven starts this year while giving up fly balls to lefties nearly 51% of the time and allowing 1.6 HR/9 (worst of any pitcher on tonight’s slate). It’s definitely a negative park shift for Gardner, but he’s tearing the cover off the ball against righties over the last few weeks and is sporting a .344 wOBA against the handedness (.413 overall wOBA in the month of May). He’s also reached at least 12 DK points seven times this month. The Yankees have a healthy implied run total of 4.9, the third highest on the main slate with reports of significant winds blowing out at Kauffman tonight.

Joey Votto @ CHC ($4.6k DraftKings, $4.3k FanDuel)
Anthony Rizzo and Paul Goldschmidt are going to be the chalk first basemen tonight (with good reason and are both fine plays). Rizzo gets Bronson Arroyo and Goldy squares off against Tommy Milone at Chase Field. He’s mashed lefties his entire career, and will probably do just that against Milone who’s allowed a .412 wOBA to LHB so far in 2017. But as a direct pivot off of Rizzo (and for $900 cheaper than Goldy on DraftKings), I’ll have ample exposure to Votto. The weather report for Wrigley Field calls for sustained wins at 15-20mph with gusts up to 30mph…blowing out to dead center. These conditions make Wrigley play like Coors and Vegas is well aware, slapping an 11.5 total on this puppy. And while John Lackey isn’t a pitcher we typically pick on, he’s been much more susceptible to giving up the long ball at home, as evidenced by his ridiculously high 2.65 HR/9 at Wrigley.

Other hitters to consider: Yonder Alonso, Miguel Sano, Chris Owings, Nomar Mazara, Josh Reddick, J.D. Martinez, Rougned Odor, 

5/16/17 DFS MLB STACKS

Cubs vs Bronson Arroyo
This space is dedicated at least once a week to facing Bronson Arroyo. But today, it’s extra juicy. First, the weather is starting to warm up in Chicago. Second, remember that wind we talked about in the Joey Votto blurb? To reiterate, 15-20mph with 30mph gusts that will be blowing OUT at Wrigley. Now, add in Bronson Arroyo and his 16% K-rate, 36% hard contact rate, 43% fly ball rate, and a batting practice ‘fastball’ that’s averaging 84mph on the season. The Cubs have power up and down this lineup and a stack that includes pretty much anyone in the lineup is viable. The Vegas implied total for the Cubs is an absurdly high 6.8 runs!

Other stacks to consider:
Rockies @ Phil Hughes
Diamondbacks vs Tommy Milone
Yankees @ Jason Hammel
Reds @ John Lackey (wind!)