This article will provide my daily fantasy baseball lineup picks for FanDuel and DraftKings on 5/15/2022, Main Slate at 1:35 pm Eastern Time.
The lineup will range from some elite players to mid-priced options, and value plays. The main slate is eight games on DraftKings and 10 games on FanDuel.
You can also read more DFS advice and lineup picks for other sports. It's also essential to monitor injury news and today's MLB starting lineups. If you have any questions or comments, find me on Twitter @Mark_Kieffer and ask away!
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DraftKings, FanDuel Pitchers - MLB DFS Lineup Picks
Nestor Cortes- P, NYY @ CWS ($10,000 DK, $10,200 FD)
Nestor Cortes has a 33.9% strikeout rate (highest on the slate), 25% K-BB% (best on the slate), a 2.75 SIERA (best on the slate), and is allowing just 0.56 HR/9. Chicago does have a low strikeout rate (19.9%, fifth-lowest in baseball), but has scored the third-fewest runs, has the 10th-lowest ISO, and the second-lowest on-base percentage in the league. One has to believe that the White Sox will get going offensively at some point but Cortes is pitching so well, I am not sure if today is the day that happens.
Brandon Woodruff- P, MIL @ MIA ($9,000 DK, $7,600 FD)
On one hand, Brandon Woodruff is 3-2 with a 5.97 ERA. On the other hand, his xFIP is 3.35, his SIERA is 3.09, and his strikeout rate of 29.4% is the second-highest on the slate. Miami has the 11th highest strikeout rate, has scored the 18th most runs, has the 14th (tied) highest ISO, and the 16th highest on-base percentage. In other words, this offense is average. Woodruff is pitching better than his stats show and I will keep rostering him until he turns things around. I would not play in cash but Woodruff is viable in GPPs.
Tarik Skubal P, DET vs. BAL ($6,000 DK, $9,300 FD)
Tarik Skubal is 2-2 with a 2.94 ERA, 2.88 xFIP, 25% strikeout rate, and just a 4.4% walk rate. He is pitching very similar to Justin Verlander but is coming at such a huge discount on DraftKings and a slight discount on FanDuel. Baltimore is tied for the 8th highest strikeout rate, the 4th fewest runs scored, 17th in on-base percentage, and the 6th lowest ISO. He is my favorite as an SP2 on DraftKings, as he should be able to make value at just $6K.
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DraftKings, FanDuel Infielders - MLB DFS Lineup Picks
Matt Chapman- 3B, TOR vs. Jeffery Springs ($3,800 DK, $2,700 FD)
Chapman is batting just .185 with a .258 OBP and .168 ISO. He has five home runs in 132 plate appearances. It has not been a good start for Chapman this season. He will likely get one at-bat against Springs, a left-handed pitcher, and then get the rest of his at-bats against the Tampa Bay bullpen. Until lineups come out, it is difficult to find value at third. Alex Bregman (DK $4.9K || FD $3.7K) is my favorite spend-up at third base today, going against Patrick Corbin in a nice weather game with the wind slightly blowing out.
Kyle Farmer- SS, CIN vs. Jose Quintana ($3,900 DK, $2,700 FD)
Shortstop typically is another position that's difficult to find value. You can either spend up for a Bichette or you likely want to punt it to someone that's often batting 8th or 9th that you hope gets a hit to make value. I like Farmer, especially if he leads off today. He has a career .173 ISO vs. lefties with a .329 wOBA compared to .124 ISO against righties with a .284 wOBA.
Jose Altuve- 2B, HOU vs. Patrick Corbin ($5,000 DK, $3,400 FD)
Enrique Hernandez- 2B, BOS vs. Martin Perez ($2,700 FD)
Second base is difficult to find value. There are several in good spots today like Kolten Wong (DK $5.6K || FD $3.3K), Brandon Drury (DK $5.1K || FD he is 3B/OF), and Jorge Polanco (DK $4.6K || FD $3.3K). Additionally, on the FanDuel slate, there are several good options in the Boston-Texas game and the Royals-Rockies game. In a cash game, this is probably the position I fill in last and do so when lineups are out.
Altuve is likely to lead off against Patrick Corbin, a pitcher I always try to target. Hernandez is a good option on FanDuel because he is likely to lead off and in his career has a .215 ISO and .350 wOBA against lefties.
Tyler Nevin- 1B, BAL vs. Tarik Skubal ($2,800 DK, $2,200 FD)
Tyler Nevin has only played 18 games of Major League Baseball in his career, but he appears to be better at hitting left-handed pitching than right-handed pitching. While I like Skubal today, his price is low enough that he can make value and Skubal can still have a good game-fantasy wise. There are some bigger bats to explore on the slate if price is no object, but if it is, this is my favorite value first basemen on the slate.
DraftKings, FanDuel Outfielders - MLB DFS Lineup Picks
Chas McCormick- OF, HOU vs. Patrick Corbin ($3,300 DK, $2,500 FD)
I generally do not like to pick guys that are hitting in the bottom half of the order for a cash game but McCormick hits lefties well and Houston is a threat to get on base and score runs from all spots in their lineup. He has a .210 ISO and .332 wOBA against lefties in his career.
Max Kepler- OF, MIN vs. Triston McKenzie ($3,600 DK, $2,800 FD)
McKenzie is pitching well so far this year with a 3.87 xFIP and allowing just 0.31 HR/9. It was just last season that his xFIP was 4.53 and his HR/9 was 1.58. In his career, he allows 1.38 HR/9 and has an xFIP of 4.25. Kepler is batting .241 with a .185 ISO this season and should be batting right in the heart of the order. McKenzie has pitched well but he is someone I am going to still target until he shows me a larger sample size of improvement.
Teoscar Hernandez - OF TOR vs. Jeffrey Springs ($4,200 DK, $2,900 FD)
Hernandez is batting just .233 with a .163 ISO but has only played 12 games this season. He has a .279 ISO and .369 wOBA in his career against lefties. He might only get one at-bat against Springs, but he can make value out of that one at-bat on FanDuel theoretically. If he hits a home run, he'd make value on both sites.
DraftKings, FanDuel MLB DFS Stacks
The teams with the highest implied run totals are Rockies (6 - FD only), Royals (5.2 - FD only), Astros (5.0), Pirates (4.6), and Rangers (4.5). If those teams, the Pirates (on DK) and Rangers (on FD) interest me the most if I am getting away from the chalk. The Rockies-Royals series has been high-scoring, so some exposure there makes some sense if you can find leverage points in other places on FanDuel. I also have an interest in Toronto, Cincinnati, and Minnesota on this slate too as stacks that could go under the radar but do well today.