DFS MLB Lineups for May 17, 2017 at Draftkings.com & Fanduel.com

Happy hump day! 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 11 games on the main DFS MLB slate with a good amount of mid-range pitching options we can roll out. Reviewing yesterday, we were all over the bats. Just crushed it. Only problem, so did most people. Our pivot to Joey Votto from Anthony Rizzo was looking amazing…until he went yard in the 8th inning. Pitching was pretty spotty yesterday. Outside of Yu Darvish, everyone was pretty mediocre so it came down to having Yu and the right bats. And finally, if you didn’t try out Arcade Mode at DraftKings, you should give it a whirl. It’s not perfect, but it’s pretty fun and at least early on, there’s some big prize pools with very small buy-ins.

A quick reminder while playing DFS MLB, don’t forget 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 get lit up, 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 player 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!

5/17/17 MAIN SLATE TOURNAMENT RUNDOWN

DraftKings Full Count: $55 buy-in, $250k guaranteed  
DraftKings Rally Cap: $8 buy-in, $150k guaranteed   
DraftKings Moonshot: $3 buy-in, $100k guaranteed (Arcade Mode) 
FanDuel Squeeze: $3 buy-in, $100k guaranteed
FanDuel Grand Slam: $33 buy-in, $100k guaranteed
FanDuel Rally: $13 buy-in, $150k guaranteed

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

7:05p: Nationals (Turner) @ Pirates (Cole): 8
7:10p: Orioles (Jiminez) @ Tigers (Fulmer): 9.5
7:35p: Blue Jays (Biagini) @ Braves (Foltynewicz): 8.5
8:05p: Reds (Feldman) @ Cubs (Hendricks): 8
8:05p: Phillies (Eflin) @ Rangers (Cashner): 10
8:10p: Rockies (Marquez) @ Twins (Santana): 8.5
8:15p: Red Sox (Porcello) @ Cardinals (Leake): 8
8:15p: Yankees (Pineda) @ Royals (Vargas): 9
10:07p: White Sox (Gonzalez) @ Angels (Shoemaker): 7.5
10:10p: A’s (Hahn) @ Mariners (Bergman): 8.5
10:10p: Brewers (Garza) @ Padres (Chacin): 7.5

Best DFS MLB Pitchers for May 17, 2017

Michael Pineda @ KC ($10.1k DraftKings, $8.6k FanDuel)
Pineda is an easy choice for me tonight, especially at that modest price tag on FanDuel. He faces the worst offensive team in baseball this year in the Royals and has been rock solid in 6 straight outings since struggling in his debut at Tampa back on April 5. Pineda is sporting a 2.45 xFIP with a career-high 10.89 K/9 ratio and his Achilles heel has been a 24.2% HR/FB ratio, but the massive confines of KC’s Kaufmann Stadium could cover up any mistakes on fly balls. Current Royals are 30-for-114 (.263) with a 25.4% K-Rate in their careers against Pineda, who is pitching like an ace again.

Kyle Hendricks vs. CIN ($9.1k DraftKings, $9.7k FanDuel)
There’s something to be said for the most expensive SP on FanDuel and one of the stingiest pitchers in the Majors last year, as Hendricks is sporting a 3.40 ERA that only looks big in comparison to his league-leading 2.13 ERA last year. While he’s struggled in a very small sample at Wrigley Field this year, Hendricks posted a minuscule 1.32 ERA with a .199 BAA at home last year and should grow more comfortable at home after managing to post a Quality Start at Coors Field in his last outing. Current Reds are sporting a 20.2% K-Rate with a collective .273 batting average against him, and if you take away slugger Joey Votto, they’re just 20-for-88 (..227), so hopefully he can pitch around the Reds one star and avoid much damage. That said, be sure and check the weather in Chicago tomorrow. If the winds are again blowing out at Wrigley like they were last night, it’ll be best to avoid the pitching situation all together.

Matt Shoemaker vs. CWS ($8.8k DraftKings, $8.1k FanDuel)
He flashed his upside with a dominant 6-inning shutout of the Tigers at home last Friday and will stay home to face a White Sox team that’s struggling more than any other offense in the Majors right now. The Northsiders are sporting a weak .292 wOBA with the second-lowest collective ISO Mark (.112) over the last 14 days, so they’re unlikely to start slugging against Shoemaker at spacious Angels Stadium. Giving up homers has been an issue for him in the past with a 1.84 HR/9 ratio on the year but he’s sporting a solid .221 BAA this year and the rest of his numbers should come around due to his ample talent.

Other pitchers to consider: Rick Porcello, Jason Vargas, Mike Leake, Jhoulys Chacin, German Marquez

Best DFS MLB Hitters for May 17, 2017

Aaron Judge @ KC ($4.9k DraftKings, $4.2k FanDuel)
Royals southpaw Jason Vargas is off to a great start and he’s had some success against the Yankees lefty-heavy lineup in the past, but that was before big Aaron Judge stepped into the middle of that order. He’s been a force with 14 homers and a 1.164 OPS while he’s flashed plenty of power with a .506 wOBA and .478 ISO Mark against lefties so far this season. While Vargas has posted a sparkling 1.01 ERA through 7 starts, he’s preyed on some weak competition, so it’s worth rolling with a small Yankees stack as a contrarian option tonight.

Miguel Cabrera vs. BAL ($4.2k DraftKings, $3.5k FanDuel)
Miggy is struggling right now, but draws the perfect get-right matchup with RHP Ubaldo Jimenez coming to town. The Orioles veteran is sporting a 6.15 ERA, 6.46 FIP and 21.6% HR/FB ratio while somehow regressing further after a putrid 2016 campaign and he’s had his troubles with the Tigers in the past. Cabrera is 15-for-47 with a whopping 11 walks to post a .409 wOBA in his career against Jimenez, so his floor is at least a bit higher than it’s been recently while he’s posted an uncharacteristic .195 batting average over his last 10 appearances.

Devon Travis @ ATL ($3.7k DraftKings, $2.4k FanDuel)
He’s still extremely cheap on FanDuel as if he was struggling the same way he was over the first month of the season, but Travis is playing more like he did when he was a rookie phenom two years ago. He’s hitting .320 during May after going 2-for-4 with a SB last night and has already launched 11 doubles this month. Tonight, the Blue Jays will have a chance to rally once or twice against vulnerable RHP Mike Foltynewicz, who is lucky to have only posted a 4.04 ERA with a 4.56 FIP and a healthy diet of hanging breaking balls. Look for Travis to set the table for Toronto in this matchup.

Other hitters to consider: Trea Turner, Brian Dozier, Jed Lowrie, Aaron Altherr, Kendrys Morales/Justin Smoak, J.D. Martinez, Ben Gamel, Ian Happ, Nomar Mazara, Charlie Blackmon

5/17/17 DFS MLB STACKS

Cubs vs Scott Feldman
The Cubbies are coming around with Kyle Schwarber heating up and stud rookie Ian Happ producing for the injured Ben Zobrist. Both of those players are squarely in play against mediocre RHP Scott Feldman, who is posting modest numbers across the board with a career-worst 26% Line Drive Rate on the season. Feldman’s been worse in RvR matchups, but is giving up more power numbers to lefties this season, so you can strongly consider Schwarber and the struggling Anthony Rizzo, while using Happ and potentially Willson Contreras as cash game plays.

Tigers vs Ubaldo Jimenez
Cabrera is somewhat of a longshot given his recent slump, but there are other Tigers that can be stacked in cash game formats against Jimenez. Ian Kinsler and Victor Martinez are both producing on a limited level, but it’s J.D. Martinez who stands out as a premier option after going 3-for-4 with 2 homers in his second appearance of the season last Saturday. Jimenez has been very homer-prone over the last two years, so look for Martinez and slugger Justin Upton for upside.

Phillies vs Andrew Cashner
He pitched well against an injury-plagued Mariners lineup and the weak Athletics offense, but Cashner is still struggling with a 5.15 FIP and 5.74 xFIP that certainly belies his 2.43 ERA on the season. The Phillies can stack lefties against him with Odubel Herrera, Michael Saunders and Freddy Galvis leading the platoon and Cashner allowed LHB to post a .380 wOBA last season. Aaron Altherr is swinging a very hot bat lately while Maikel Franco has plenty of upside due to his power and Cesar Hernandez has some upside if he can swipe a bag.

Other Stacks to consider:
Athletics vs. Christian Bergman
Blue Jays vs. Mike Foltynewicz
Angels vs Miguel Gonzalez
Rangers vs. Zach Eflin