DraftKings Early MLB Picks May 20: Can Thor outscore Strasburg?

BOSTON, MA – JUNE 27: A rainbow appears over the Budweiser Deck as rain stops falling before the Boston Red Sox take on the Minnesota Twins at Fenway Park on June 27, 2017 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Adam Glanzman/Getty Images) /

DraftKings Early MLB Picks May 20: Can Thor outscore Strasburg?

Of the 15 Sunday games, 11 are in the early tournament. Most of the action is here today. There are three pitchers priced as aces. Are any of them worth it? Where are the value pitchers? Let’s go figure this thing out!

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There is a high chance of rain in Fenway starting in the middle innings, but it will taper off by 5-6 pm. Expect a delay, but I think this one gets played. However, that does take the pitchers out of play. Rain is also likely in New York later in the game, and like Boston, will taper off later. This should get played at some point. The rain in Cincinnati could threaten the later innings, but if the game goes quickly, we wont even notice. There is also a chance of rain in Atlanta, St Louis, and Kansas City, so check the radar as these games approach lock.

Wind will be blowing out to right at 15 mph in both New York and Boston, and at about 12 mph to right in D.C. as well. We have a nasty crosswind in Chicago and a bit of wind blowing in from center at Target Field.

We will provide you with several options to build your lineup here. Want to spend all your money on pitchers and play bargain bats? We will highlight who is worth the money. Want to punt arms and pay up for the big boppers? We can help you with that as well, and everything in between!

These tips are based mostly on past performance. This is a nice tool for building a lineup, but should not be the only pieces of information you use. Stacking against a bad pitcher is always a good idea!

For you first time players, if you would like a free $10 showdown ticket for MLB or the NBA, use this link for the referral bonus with your first deposit of $5 or more! Then continue reading for tips on how to turn those DraftKings dollars into more!

Next: DraftKings Pitcher Plays

LOS ANGELES, CA – APRIL 21: Stephen Strasburg #37 of the Washington Nationals pitches in the third inning of the game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium on April 21, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images) /

Top Tier:

Stephen Strasburg ($13,400): The Dodgers are only hitting .190 in 126 at bats against Strasburg with five homers, ten runs, and 42 strikeouts. The Dodgers are a good team, but don’t look to be as put together as they were last year. There is a lot of potential here for Strasburg, but it’s hard to ignore the potential of Syndergaard here too. We have a tough decision to make this afternoon.

Noah Syndergaard ($10,200): Arizona is only hitting .200 against Thor in 45 at bats with only three runs and a whopping 17 strikeouts! That impressive strikeout rate has Syndergaard high on my list for today. He also has a great chance at a win since the Diamondbacks dug up Buchholz and threw a uniform on him to make him start today. There is a lot of potential with Thor here.

Middle Tier:

Trevor Williams ($7,800): Williams seems to have figured things out this year, especially at PNC Park. Williams has a 2.22 ERA in four home starts this season, and has not allowed a home run there. That likely wont change with the beaten up Padres in town. There is a lot of potential for Williams here, even though he is not a high strikeout guy.

Jake Odorizzi ($7,600): Odorizzi has looked really good so far with the Twins, posting a 3.35 ERA in nine starts. He has been even better at Target Field, posting a 2.35 ERA there in four starts. Odorizzi is also racking up a lot of strikeouts with 45 in 48.1 innings. There is serious potential against a Brewers team that is without Thames and Braun.

Bargain Pitchers:

Junior Guerra ($7,300): Guerra has been solid in nearly every game this year. He also has a strong 2.08 road ERA on the season. Now he gets to take on a Minnesota team that is missing two huge parts in Sano and Mauer. There is good potential here for Guerra once again. He wont dazzle you with strikeouts, but a quality start is likely.

Sonny Gray ($7,200): Gray has not been all that good this year with just three quality starts in eight tries. Still, the Royals are only hitting .235 against Gray with only two extra base hits (both doubles) and six run in 68 at bats. Gray doesn’t strike out many batters, which exacerbates the risk. Still, there is solid potential here.

Reynaldo Lopez ($7,100): Many will be off of Lopez after his horrible outing against Pittsburgh last week. However, Lopez still owns a strong 2.42 ERA in four home starts this season. The Rangers are starting to get healthy, but they are still missing a few key components. Lopez isn’t going to dominate this game, but there is pretty good potential here. I expect a quality start of out of him at least.

Tyler Mahle ($6,600): Mahle absolutely dominated the Cubs earlier this season. He allowed just one hit in six innings while striking out seven Cubs at home on April 2nd. Mahle is not the most consistent guy out there, but what he did to the Cubs the first time around makes him a pretty interesting pick here today.

Jack Flaherty ($6,300): Flaherty has posted a solid 2.87 ERA in three starts this year, but this will be his Busch Stadium debut today. He has good potential against the Phillies even though Flaherty doesn’t strike out a whole lot of batters.

NEW YORK, NY – APRIL 25: Giancarlo Stanton #27,Brett Gardner #11 and Aaron Judge #99 of the New York Yankees celebrate the 7-4 win over the Minnesota Twins at Yankee Stadium on April 25, 2018 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /

Boston Red Sox vs. David Hess:

Hess looked solid in his first major league start back on May 12th, but that was against the Rays. Boston has hit the Baltimore staff hard this whole series. Mookie Betts, Andrew Benintendi, Xander Bogaerts, Mitch Moreland, and Hanley Ramirez are all my favorites for stacking purposes. The hitters wont be that affected by rain, so a Boston stack isn’t much to worry about.

Toronto Blue Jays vs. Daniel Mengden:

Mengden has a 5.40 ERA and ugly 1.65 WHIP on the road so far this year. This is not a good situation for Mengden. Josh Donaldson is tops on my list. Teoscar Hernandez, Justin Smoak, Yangervis Solarte, and Curtis Granderson or Kevin Pillar will round out my stack.

Oakland Athletics vs. Joe Biagini:

Okay, so the stack on Gaviglio didn’t go as planned yesterday, but this one should. Biagini boasts a 7.98 ERA in three starts this season. He could be pitching for his spot in the rotation with Gaviglio pitching well yesterday. I don’t think it will matter. Matt Joyce, Khris Davis, Chad Pinder, Matt Olson, and Marcus Semien are definitely in play here for a low priced stack.

New York Mets vs. Clay Buchholz:

Buchholz is back in (sort of) black, and like AC/DC, will likely turn this into a big hit……for the Mets. Buchholz has pitched well at AAA so far this year, but he has really had issues in the majors over the last couple of years. Michael Conforto, Adrian Gonzalez, Jay Bruce, Brandon Nimmo, and Asdrubal Cabrera make for a very cheap, and possibly lucrative, stack.

Atlanta Braves vs. Wei-Yin Chen:

Chen has an ugly 7.56 ERA on the season. SunTrust Park may actually help since it is more kind to lefties than righties, but it likely wont matter. Chen has been so bad that anyone can hit him. Freddie Freeman is in play despite not having the platoon advantage. I also like a cheap Tyler Flowers so I can afford Ozzie Albies and Ronald Acuna. Nick Markakis in in play here as well. Jose Bautista has hit a home run off of him before, for whatever that’s worth.

Chicago White Sox vs. Mike Minor:

Oh look…..another lefty! The White Sox hit lefties hard, and Minor has not pitched all that well this year. I like Tim Anderson and Yoan Moncada for sure. Jose Abreu has had a huge series, and that will likely continue. Matt Davidson‘s power is sometimes better than advertised, so he is in my stack as well.

New York Yankees vs. Eric Skoglund:

Skoglund has looked pretty good lately, but those opponents have been nowhere near as good as the Yankee offense. Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, and Gary Sanchez are all worth using here. So is Aaron Hicks, who is starting to heat up, and Gleyber Torres. There are several great Yankee options here.

Next: Other Notes for 5-16

CINCINNATI, OH – MAY 19: Joey Votto #19 of the Cincinnati Reds doubles in the fourth inning against the Chicago Cubs at Great American Ball Park on May 19, 2018 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Jamie Sabau/Getty Images) /

Top Tier:

Yu Darvish has struggled this year, so I definitely don’t trust him in Cincinnati. Joey Votto is in play for me. So is Billy Hamilton. The power of Adam Duvall and Eugenio Suarez is very tempting as well.

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Middle Tier:

Eduardo Rodriguez has not been bad enough to stack against, but some Orioles have hit him well. Trey Mancini is 4-13 with a solo homer and four runs. Adam Jones is 7-27(.259) with a walk, two doubles, two homers, and seven RBI off of Rodriguez. Jonathan Schoop, Chris Davis, and Mark Trumbo has also homered off of Rodriguez.

The Nationals are hitting a spectacular .377 off of Alex Wood in 77 at bats. Michael Taylor is definitely in play here. Taylor is 8-14 with two doubles, a homer, two steals, three runs, and two RBI against Wood. Anthony Rendon is 12-19(.632) with a homer, a walk, a steal, three runs, and two RBI. Bryce Harper is a cool 8-20 with three doubles and four runs, but only one RBI.

Jordan Lyles has pitched very well in his two starts for San Diego this year, so I’m not endorsing a Pirates stack. However, I still like Corey Dickerson here. Jordy Mercer is the only current Pirate to hit a homer off of Lyles, and he is super cheap.

If you don’t trust Sonny Gray, Mike Moustakas and Alcides Escobar are both very reasonably priced here.

Brian Dozier and Byron Buxton are the only healthy Twins that have faced Junior Guerra so far. Guerra has yet to retire either one of them. Dozier hit a two run homer off of him!

Lost in the success of Reynaldo Lopez at home is the fact that he has still allowed three homers in four home games. I’m not opposed to throwing the power of Joey Gallo out there against Lopez. Shin-Soo Choo is likely worth a look as well.

Bargain Shoppers:

I really don’t trust Julio Teheran, even against the Marlins and particularly at that price. Derek Dietrich is 6-22(.273) with three walks, two doubles, two homers, and five RBI off of Teheran. Justin Bour is 5-156 with a homer and four RBI. Those are two really good stand alone options from the left side for the Marlins.

Look, we all like Aaron Nola and how well he has pitched, but for whatever reason, Nola has struggled against the Cardinals. They have four homers and ten runs in only 53 at bats against Nola. Dexter Fowler has two of those home runs. Marcell Ozuna has the other two.

Justin Turner is too cheap at $3,500. Turner is 3-5 with two walks, two homers, a steal, and five RBI in his career against Stephen Strasburg. Matt Kemp is 8-27(.296) with two walks, three doubles, a homer, and three RBI against Strasburg, and is even cheaper than Turner.

You would expect one of the expensive guys to have got to Thor, right? Well, no. Daniel Descalso has two of the three RBI for the Diamondbacks against the Mets, and he will only set you back $3,000.

Next: DraftKings Main Slate MLB Picks

Good luck out there, and check out our picks for FanDuel baseball, along with our PGA picks. We have big things coming your way in June! Stay tuned to find out what!