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MLB DFS Picks and Pivots – Monday May 28 Early Slate

By Brian Tulloch

LOS ANGELES, CA - MAY 27: A color guard stands in the infield as a giant American flag is unfurled in the outfield during the national anthem for Memorial Day before the game between the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium on May 27, 2013 in Los Angeles, California. The Dodgers won 8-7. (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - MAY 27: A color guard stands in the infield as a giant American flag is unfurled in the outfield during the national anthem for Memorial Day before the game between the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium on May 27, 2013 in Los Angeles, California. The Dodgers won 8-7. (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images) /
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MLB DFS
LOS ANGELES, CA – MAY 27: A color guard stands in the infield as a giant American flag is unfurled in the outfield during the national anthem for Memorial Day before the game between the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium on May 27, 2013 in Los Angeles, California. The Dodgers won 8-7. (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images) MLB DFS /

Welcome to the Monday Early Slate edition of MLB DFS Picks and Pivots, a fantasy baseball column focused on helping you find the best core lineup for this slate of DFS action!

For those of you finding us for the first time, the concept behind MLB DFS Picks and Pivots is to give you a first look at the day’s MLB DFS slate, including our top picks, plays and pivots, using FantasyDraft pricing as a reference, to help you build your best line-up and win big.

Picks and Pivots is not a simple “best plays” column but rather it focuses on slate strategy and roster construction to help give you insight into how I will look to play this slate.

Sunday’s MLB DFS slate ended about as quickly as it began for me personally as our Kevin Gausman pitching pick locked in a nice negative 12 points before departing against the Rays. The funny thing was, I closed down my app and didn’t check it until much later only to notice that my Rockies stack actually helped me cash in some 50/50’s even with Gausman’s dud – gotta love MLB DFS!

Picks and Pivots is not a simple “best plays” column but rather it focuses on slate strategy and roster construction to help give you insight into how I will look to play this slate. The goal of this article is to dig through the slate, highlight our top plays and help you identify the best slate strategy across your MLB DFS line-ups.

If you are looking to try out a new DFS site, head on over to FantasyDraft and enter my referral code for 10% rake back on your entries.

As always, we will look to update our final lineup thoughts throughout the day on our twitter account @FantasyCPR so make sure to give us a follow for all the late breaking lineup news.

Without further ado, let’s get into today’s slate!

MLB DFS
NEW YORK, NY – AUGUST 15: Starting pitcher Jacob deGrom #48 of the New York Mets runs onto the field in the first inning against the New York Yankees during interleague play on August 15, 2017 at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /

MLB DFS – Starting Pitcher Overview – Early Slate

Happy Memorial Day to all the Picks and Pivots readers – please take a moment to remember all those who have served and paid the ultimate sacrifice in defending our country as we share this day with family and friends.

We get two slates of MLB DFS action which kicks off at 1:05 PM EST with a seven game slate on FantasyDraft that features two stud arms in Justin Verlander and Jacob deGrom. It looks like there could be some rain issues in Atlanta as thunderstorms could cause an in-game delay in Atlanta and when you layer that on top of deGrom having to face a loaded Braves line-up in a hitter’s park – I simply think there is too much risk to go this route, as much as I love the Mets ace.

Verlander is the clear top dog but can we really feel good about paying up for any pitcher pitching in Yankee Stadium against that line-up? Yes, I know he faced the Yankees earlier this season and struck out 14 batters in an 8 inning shut-out but paying over $25K for any pitcher in this ballpark and against this line-up feels like you are playing with fire. Could Verlander break the slate – of course, but I am willing to pay down at pitcher and let others take on that risk.

Is David Price ($19.7K) back? After three strong outings where he has struck out 23 batters in 20 innings and giving up 2 ER or less in each of those starts, there is merit to paying down at your SP1 today and taking the largest favorite on the board with Price at -180. What really stands out to me with Price is the strikeout stuff in recent outings as he has racked up a 26%, 26% and 39% K rate in his last three outings and has a double-digit swinging strike rate in three of his last four outings.

Now Price has gone up against some strikeout heavy teams in those starts including the Rays, Orioles and the Blue Jays and he will get another crack at this same Toronto line-up today – one that he just faced in Toronto and struck out 6 batters in 5.1 IP with only 2 ER allowed. The recent surge in swing and miss ability makes this is a spot where I think he can be a viable pivot off the more expensive Verlander/deGrom duo in a match-up that Vegas expects to be low scoring, installing the Blue Jays with the second lowest team total on the slate at 3.8 runs.

Speaking of strikeout upside – take a look at the recent run that Tyler Skaggs ($18K) is on, striking out 6-7-7-7-8 batters in his last five games with K rates of 26%, 28%, 29%, 30% and 38%. This is a pitcher who is putting up elite K numbers and has a 10% or higher swinging strike rate in five straight starts so we not only get the K upside when we roster him, but we also get one of the weakest line-ups on the slate in the Detroit Tigers. Skaggs will likely face an entirely right-handed Tigers team but the fact that Skaggs is only giving up a .130 ISO with a 25% plus K rate to RHB this season makes me confident in rostering him no matter the opposing roster build.

If you need a punt option, the one SP2 I would have interest in here is Brent Suter ($9.4K) who has back to back games of 5+ innings, 6 K’s and 20+ fantasy points. Suter has racked up a 26% plus K rate in both of those outings and at this price point allows you the ability to pay up for any of the high-priced arms while still stacking up the big bats on the slate.

MLB DFS
MIAMI, FL – MAY 27: Bryce Harper #34 of the Washington Nationals celebrates as he crosses home plate after hitting a home run in the sixth inning against the Miami Marlins at Marlins Park on May 27, 2018 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Eric Espada/Getty Images) /

MLB DFS – Top Hitting Options – Early Slate:

There is no shortage of offense on this early slate and one of the reasons I think you can/should pay down at pitching is to be able to afford the big bats in some monster spots. The first team that jumped out to me on this slate was the Washington Nationals against Alex Cobb, a pitcher who is giving up a .240 ISO to RHB and a .297 ISO to LHB with 36% plus hard contact rates to hitters from both sides of the plate. Cobb is exactly the kind of pitcher we want to stack against as he has a low K rate (16%) with only a 6% swinging strike rate so you are looking at a spot where batters will make contact, lots of it, and based off his returns this season it is going to be well hit contact as he is generating only a 15% soft contact rate this season.

A full on stack is in play here today with Bryce Harper, Trea Turner, Anthony Rendon, Matt Adams and Juan Soto being the core I would look to build around here as there is not a single batter in the top of this Nationals order with less than a 38% hard contact rate against RHP this season – this could be an absolute crush spot for the Nationals bats and I want in.

Although I have been impressed with Matt Boyd this season, I am not sure there is a worse spot for a left-handed pitcher to be facing after they left their last start with an oblique injury than having to face this Angels right-handed heavy line-up. There are some red flags here with Boyd as is velocity is significantly down across all pitch types (down nearly 3 MPH on his fastball since last year) and now the Tigers are going to throw him out there today after he had an oblique strain? This feels like a spot where the Angels power bats get right as you have three bats at the top of this line-up that have absolutely destroyed LHP with Zack Cozart, Justin Upton and Mike Trout all sporting .220+ ISO’s since 2017 with each batter having a 33% or higher HC rate.

MLB DFS
ANAHEIM, CA – MAY 10: Mike Trout #27 congratulates Justin Upton #8 of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim after his solo homerun during the third inning of a game against the Minnesota Twins at Angel Stadium on May 10, 2018 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images) /

MLB DFS Sample Line-Up and Slate Overview:

The line-up below is meant to be illustrative only to further back-up the logic laid out in previous slides and is not meant to be an optimal line-up or a roster you simply plug and play on your own!  

More from FanSided

SP: David Price: ($19.7K)

SP: Brent Suter ($9.4K)

IF: Treat Turner ($9.4K)

IF: Matt Adams ($8.6K)

IF: Anthony Rendon ($9.4K)

OF: Bryce Harper ($11.1K)

OF: Mike Trout ($11.1K)

OF: Justin Upton ($7.3K)

UTIL: Zack Cozart ($6.6K)

UTIL: Jonathan Schoop ($7.4K)

Slate Overview: With the weather risk in Atlanta and the Yankees bats on the other side of Justin Verlander, I am fine pivoting down to David Price as my SP1 or going even further with Tyler Skaggs and pairing them with a punt option like Brent Suter gives you the ability to stack up the biggest bats on the slate with guys like Trout and Harper. Keep an eye on the line-up for the Nationals as I think this is the core stack you start with, then pair it with as many right-handed bats from the Angels as you can. Enjoy the early slate and your Memorial Day all!

Next: DraftKings MLB Picks - Early Slate

Best of luck in your MLB DFS contests across FantasyDraft, FanDuel and DraftKings and stay tuned to Fantasy CPR for all the latest DFS news and analysis!