DraftKings Main MLB Picks May 31: Kershaw's back! And you're in trouble!

BALTIMORE, MD – MAY 19: The tarp is on the field at Oriole Park at Camden Yards as the start of the game between the Baltimore Orioles and the Toronto Blue Jays is delayed for rain on May 19, 2017 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Greg Fiume/Getty Images) /

DraftKings Main MLB Picks May 31: Kershaw’s back!

There are nine games tonight, which is pretty high for a Thursday night. Kershaw makes his return and is priced lower than I have seen him in years. Is he worth using? Where can we save the dough to pay for him? Let’s check out how this slate shapes up!

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Rain is likely in Baltimore, making that whole game a risk, especially for starting pitching. It will clear up eventually, but how long with they wait to start this game? As per usual, they will be dodging pop up storms in the Atlanta area. However, any delays shouldn’t be more than an hour or so.

The only wind is a 15 mph wind blowing out to center in Houston. Keep an eye on the status of the roof there.

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!

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MIAMI, FL – MAY 2: Aaron Nola #27 of the Philadelphia Phillies is congratulated by teammates after leaving the game in the eighth inning against the Miami Marlins at Marlins Park on May 2, 2018 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Eric Espada/Getty Images) /

Top Tier:

Clayton Kershaw ($11,800): It’s rare to see Kershaw this cheap, and it may not happen again for a decade or so. The Dodgers have not declared a pitch limit or innings limit, but one can assume that if this game gets out of hand that the Dodgers will lift their ace no matter how he is pitching. Still, the Phillies are hitting just .121 against Kershaw in 33 at bats with only an Aaron Altherr grand slam to show for it and 10 strikeouts. By the way, if Altherr duplicates that feat tonight, I’ll print this article out and eat it.

Aaron Nola ($11,100): Nola has only allowed a solo homer to Yasmani Grandal in his career against the Dodgers. Of course, he has only pitched against them in one game, but Nola was bordering on dominant in that one. There is a bit of risk going against the Dodgers and Kershaw here, but Nola has only been under double digit DraftKings points once….on Opening Day.

Middle Tier:

Jack Flaherty ($9,200): Flaherty racked up 19.9 DraftKings points on Pittsburgh last week. In his two career starts against the Pirates, Flaherty has only allowed two solo homers. That’s it. He is a strong option once again, even though the Pirates only fanned four times off of him last week. The win potential is strong, so that helps make up for it.

Tanner Roark ($7,900): Roark’s career stats against the Braves are concerning, but he held the Braves to just one run on four hits in seven innings earlier this year. And yes, it was at SunTrust Park. Roark’s price is too far down since he picked up 26.8 DraftKings points in that start on April 2nd. There is a load of potential here tonight. Remember that Roark did that without Acuna in the lineup, which is where the Braves are again.

Jose Quintana ($7,500): Quintana’s numbers on the season are pretty bad, but he has pitched well on the road. Quintana has a 3.18 ERA on the road compared with 6.66 at home. The issue is that Quintana can’t keep runners off base. However, he has held the Mets to a .221 average in 68 at bats with only two homers and four runs to go with 17 strikeouts. Quintana’s one career start at Citi Field was a good one as well. Quintana looks like he will perform well for the price tonight.

Bargain Pitchers:

Shane Bieber ($7,300): He’s not related to Justin, so he has that going for him. Bieber also has a 1.10 ERA at AA and AAA this season. He has dominated the minors, so Cleveland wants to see what he can do. This is a pretty good landing spot for Bieber in his major league debut. The Twins are a decent offense, but they are missing the only player on the roster that isn’t a free swinger in Joe Mauer. There is good strikeout potential here, though I do think the Twins get a couple of runs off of him.

Andrew Cashner ($6,500): You have to be more than a little brave to throw Cashner out there against the Yankees, but the Bombers are hitting just .209 against Cashner is 67 at bats with just two homers and four runs. Of course, Cashner only has 11 strikeouts, but these numbers look good. On top of that, Cashner had arguably his best start of the year against the Yankees in 2018, allowing only one run on two hits in six innings en route to 22.5 DraftKings points. Can he do it again? For this price, it may be worth it to find out.

Wade LeBlanc ($5,500): LeBlanc doesn’t put up any sexy numbers, but he is about as consistent as you can get. LeBlanc has five straight games of between 13 and 20 DraftKings points. That makes him a strong money saver in both cash games and GPP formats. He has never faced the Rangers before, but Texas is still missing most of their right handed power. There is pretty good potential here for Leblanc.

ST. LOUIS, MO – SEPTEMBER 14: Matt Carpenter #13 and Tommy Pham #28 of the St. Louis Cardinals rounds the bases after Pham hit a two-run home run against the Cincinnati Reds in the fifth inning at Busch Stadium on September 14, 2017 in St. Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images) /

Chicago Cubs vs. Seth Lugo:

The Mets have had to fish Lugo out of the bullpen again with Thor on the DL. The Cubs are hitting .348 off of Lugo, so this is a good place to stack. Anthony Rizzo has the only homer though. Kyle Schwarber, Kris Bryant, Albert Almora, Javier Baez, and Addison Russell are all on my watch list here. The Cubs could go off tonight!

St. Louis Cardinals vs. Trevor Williams:

Williams had his worst outing of the season last week, and it was against this Cardinal team. The Cardinals are now hitting a robust .393 with three homers and 16 runs off of Williams in just 61 at bats with ten walks and just five strikeouts. This is also shaping up to be a pretty cheap stack with Coors off the table tonight. Matt Carpenter has two homers and five RBI off of Williams already. Tommy Pham has the other homer. Jose Martinez and Greg Garcia are both hitting above .600 against Williams. Ozuna is hitting .429 with three RBI. I don’t know if there is such thing as a wrong Cardinal tonight.

Houston Astros vs. Drew Pomeranz:

Pomeranz has a 6.75 ERA on the season. We can’t ignore that against one of the better offenses in the league. Surprisingly, Jake Marisnick has both of the Astros’ homers against Pomeranz so far. He also has four of the eight RBI. That said, Jose Altuve is 7-17(.412) with three runs and three steals. Carlos Correa is 3-5, but has no counting stats. And of course, Springer is always worth a look with a lefty on the mound. Using Marisnick could be a good way to save some cash for the expensive other bats in this stack.

Boston Red Sox vs. Lance McCullers Jr.:

The Red Sox are hitting .305 with ten runs against McCullers in just 59 at bats. They have his numbers so far. Eduardo Nunez and Mitch Moreland have the home runs, and Moreland has four of the RBI, so he is the way to start the stack. If Mookie is in there, he’s on my team. Xander Bogaerts and J.D. Martinez are worth using as well. The only Red Sox player I might avoid is the struggling Rafael Devers.

Seattle Mariners vs. Mike Minor:

Another soft tossing lefty for the Mariners. Load up the Boomstick, Haniger, Segura, and Kyle Seager again. Ryon Healy has the only Mariner homer against Minor so far, so toss him in there too. Denard Span is actually 5-11 in his career against Minor, so he is worth a look as well.

Next: Other Notes for 5-31

NEW YORK, NY – APRIL 24: Didi Gregorius #18 and Aaron Judge #99 of the New York Yankees smile in the dugout in the fifth inning after Didi Gregorius drove them both home with a home run in the fifth inning against the Minnesota Twins at Yankee Stadium on April 24, 2018 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /

Top Tier:

Aaron Judge and Didi Gregorius are the only current Yankees to homer off of Cashner. That could change, but considering the poor history of the Yankees against Cashner, I’m actually going to avoid the stack here. A few one off Yankees here and there can’t hurt, but I don’t see a stack winning us a lot of money.

In case you were wondering, the two solo homers that came off of Flaherty were by Marte and Francisco Cervelli. Both are worth a look, though I’m inclined to avoid the Pirates all together tonight.

I’m not going to stack against Sean Newcomb either, but it is worth noting that he has allowed ten runs to the Nationals in just 21 at bats. That is a staggering number. Even in his breakout season, Newcomb found a way to struggle against this team. Bryce Harper has a homer, three runs, and three RBI in three at bats. Mark Reynolds also homered off of Newcomb. Rendon has three RBI and two runs in four at bats.

I expect a solid outing out of Jake Odorizzi tonight, but he’s still going to give up some runs. Both Francisco Lindor, Michael Brantley, and Jose Ramirez have homered off of Odorizzi in his career. Edwin has smacked two, though he is just 5-32(.156) against Odorizzi in his career.

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Middle Tier:

The numbers say to stack Braves against Roark, but I’m not going to because of his strong start against them earlier this year. However, Nick Markakis has three homers and four RBI off of Roark. Ozzie Albies, Kurt Suzuki, and Ender Inciarte have homered off of him as well. There are options without a full stack.

Shane Bieber will make his major league debut at Target Field tonight, but considering how well he pitched in the minors, I’m not going to stack. However, I do want the power potential of Sano and Dozier in my lineup.

Wei-Yin Chen is pitching very well lately, but the Padres have had his number. Jose Pirela is 6-10 with two runs and a RBI. Freddy Galvis is 6-15 with two runs. Most of the damage has been done by Hosmer though. Hosmer is 7-23(.304) with two homers and five RBI off of Chen so far.

Delino DeShields is worth using against LeBlanc. Joey Gallo could be an interesting pick. LeBlanc doesn’t go deep into games, so you are betting on Gallo get two good at bats against the bullpen. That makes him a bit of a risk, but the upside is clear.

Jordan Lyles is pitching pretty well too, but that doesn’t mean that I’m off of Realmuto or Starlin Castro.

Bargain Shoppers:

I don’t like the Orioles offense enough to stack against Sonny Gray, but I understand if you do. Both the Orioles that have homered off of Gray are cheap. Danny Valencia and Adam Jones are worth using. Manny Machado also has four RBI against Gray in just 18 at bats.

Both home runs hit off of Jose Quintana by the Mets are by Jose Bautista. Those are his only two hits in 22 at bats. How lucky to do feel? That said, Brandon Nimmo is a must-play lately, but he is about the only Met I trust tonight.

Next: Early DraftKings MLB Picks

Good luck out there, and check out our picks for FanDuel baseball, along with our PGA picks. We also have some EPL picks coming your way. And don’t forget, Fantasy CPR has something big coming your way in June. Stay tuned for that!