DraftKings MLB Picks May 2: Will Thor get back on track?

SAN DIEGO, CA – MAY 28: Caleb Smith #31 of the Miami Marlins pitches during the first inning of a baseball game against the San Diego Padres at PETCO Park on May 28, 2018 in San Diego, California. MLB players across the league are wearing special uniforms to commemorate Memorial Day. (Photo by Denis Poroy/Getty Images) /

DraftKings MLB Picks May 2: Will Thor get back on track?

We have a strange split for our Thursday DraftKings MLB games. There are eight games, but with five of them going early, that turns the early slate into the main slate and makes the two game night slate kind of an afterthought. The least they could have done was throw the Washington-St Louis game in there!

DraftKings MLB Early Pitcher Plays:

Top Tier:

Jose Berrios ($9,900): Love the pitcher, hate the matchup. As per usual, Berrios is dominating at home, but this is a really tough matchup. The Astros lit him up last year. Houston had 14 runs in just 60 at bats. Yeah, Berrios only gave up one homer, but he didn’t strike them out either. The only reason I’m even considering this is Berrios is money at home. Everything else says stay away.

Noah Syndergaard ($9,400): Like most Mets pitchers, Thor has underachieved this year. A lot of that has to do with an extraordinarily high BABIP. By now we know what the norm is for Syndergaard, and a correction is coming. It should be here. The Reds are hitting just .204 on the road, .209 in day games, and .211 against right handed pitching. The Reds are hitting only .218 against Thor in 78 at bats with just two runs and 16 strikeouts. He’s worth the risk this afternoon.

Charlie Morton ($9,000): Morton has struggled to find the strike zone at times this year, but he has been great at limiting damage, especially on the road. Morton has a 1.72 ERA in three road starts. The Royals blew up Snellzilla yesterday. There is a chance of a bad game for Morton since the Royals are hitting .251 with 26 homers against right handed pitching over the first month of the season.

Middle Tier:

Matt Strahm ($8,100): I certainly see the upside with Strahm here, but I don’t fully agree with it. First off, Strahm has severe reverse splits. Righties are only hitting .178 against him over his career and lefties are at .266. This park favors lefties quite a bit. Strahm’s streak of 20+ DraftKings points games could come to a halt here, but his start to 2019 is promising. I could see him as a bit of leverage against Braves stacks, but there is quite a bit of risk involved on either side.

Jon Gray ($8,000): The struggling Travis Shaw and injured Christian Yelich are a combined 10-30 with three homers and eight RBI against Gray. The rest of the Brewers are just 11-60(.183) with no homers, four RBI, and 23 strikeouts. This could be the time to use Gray. He’ll rack up the strikeouts, but he gives up a lot of long balls too. There’s a reason he’s cheaper. Gray is almost always a high risk play.

Bargain Pitchers:

Mike Foltynewicz ($7,800): I don’t know about you, but Folty looks awfully cheap to me. His first start of 2019 featured a couple of speed bumps in the form of solo homers to the Rockies, but he still picked up five strikeouts and went six innings. To me the results were secondary in that one. I just wanted to see if the Braves were going to send him for six. Folty should go six here, and the Padres aren’t very good against right handed pitching. And they strike out a lot. Folty will be my SP2 in every lineup today.

Danny Duffy ($6,400): I kind of have a feeling that people are going to go after Duffy. His first start wasn’t great against a team that has been dominated by lefties. That’s just it….it was his first start. Duffy could still be working some of the rust off, but he has only allowed two runs two the Rays in 66 at bats while striking out 22! If you want the expensive bats today, I think you can somewhat safely drop to Duffy. He should get you around a dozen DraftKings points, which is solid for the price.

My picks: Thor, Foltynewicz

CLEVELAND, OH – OCTOBER 08: George Springer #4 of the Houston Astros runs the bases after hitting a solo home run in the fifth inning against the Cleveland Indians during Game Three of the American League Division Series at Progressive Field on October 8, 2018 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /

DraftKings MLB Early Notes

Tyler Mahle has had an okay start to the year, but you don’t really want to play okay against the Mets right now. Especially with the left handed bats in that lineup. Mahle gets killed by lefties. They are hitting .307 with 17 homers in 274 at bats throughout his career. That makes Michael Conforto and Robinson Cano elite plays. I also like McNeil and Brandon Nimmo here.

I didn’t mind taking a couple of shots at deGrom last night, but I really don’t see a good place to take any at Thor today. Jose Peraza is super cheap and is 3-7 lifetime if you need salary relief. Beyond that I have no interest.

If you’re going after Strahm, it should probably be with Freddie Freeman and Markakis first. If you have salary room, then Ozzie Albies and Camargo.

Wil Myers is the only current Padre to homer against Foltynewicz. Manny Machado is 406, but all of the hits are singles. You could take a shot with Eric Hosmer as well if you don’t think the speed bumps are finished for Folty in 2019.

Brad Peacock has had a nice season so far, but the Twins got to him a little in his start against them in Houston. Peacock walked away with just 3.9 DraftKings points. Jason Castro and Max Kepler walked away with homers. The good news is that neither are really overpriced here.

George Springer has owned Berrios so far. Springer is 5-8 with a homer and four RBI. Bregman is 3-4 with three RBI. Jose Altuve is 4-9 with four RBI. This could be a great day to use Houston pieces as leverage against Berrios, especially since the Astros were quiet last night. That could keep ownership on the bats down when it probably shouldn’t be.

If Travis Shaw is ever going to get back on track, it should be here. He is 3-11 with two homers against Jon Gray. If Christian Yelich returns today, he will be in all of my lineups. Yelich is 7-19(.368) with a homer and six RBI against Gray.

Freddy Peralta dominated the Rockies last year, but I just don’t have the confidence that he can do it in his return from the IL. Peralta has a 9.95 ERA at home this year. I would rather throw Charlie Blackmon and Daniel Murphy out there and see what happens.

Charlie Morton has struggled with walks this year, which is bad news against the Royals. The Royals are a patient team at the plate, but Morton doesn’t really give up big innings. I can’t really decide which Royals I would use. Walks are only worth two points if they don’t come around to score.

Avi Garcia is 12-36 against Danny Duffy from his time in the A.L. Central. No other Ray has much exposure to Duffy, but if you’re chasing him, use right handed power. Yandy Diaz, Tommy Pham, and Mike Zunino are the best options besides Garcia.

BOSTON, MA – JULY 12: David Price #24 of the Boston Red Sox pitches against the Toronto Blue Jays during the fourth inning at Fenway Park on July 12, 2018 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images) /

DraftKings MLB Late Pitchers:

All four night pitchers are getting their day in print, for better or for worse. There’s a lot of good though!

Top Tier:

David Price ($10,100): Price is the highest priced pitcher on the slate today, and he should be. The White Sox have been beyond awful against Price so far. They are just 5-41(.122) with a homer, three runs and 11 strikeouts. Price probably doesn’t have the strikeout potential that he once did, but this is still a strong play here. The bad news? Price has a career 4.41 ERA in eight starts at Guaranteed U.S. Comiskey Cellular Rate Field Park.

Middle Tier:

Tyler Skaggs ($9,400): Skaggs is off to a pretty strong start this year. That should continue here. The Blue Jays are hitting lefties at a decent clip, but they aren’t doing so with power. There are enough right handed bats in the Toronto lineup to make me nervous about this, and Skaggs’ 4.62 career ERA at home in 43 starts does nothing to alleviate the nerves. I think I would rather just pay up for price, but I definitely see the upside here. The current Jays are just 4-16 against Skaggs.

Aaron Sanchez ($8,000): Dollar for dollar, I think Sanchez is the best pitcher on this slate. The Angels are 5-22 against him in limited exposure with a homer, three runs, and six strikeouts. Those numbers are nothing to write home about, but Sanchez has the best ERA of the four going tonight by a pretty large margin. He doesn’t have the strikeout upside of Price, but I don’t see a lot of risk to using him either. Sanchez is the only one of the four that looks like a must play to me.

Bargain Pitchers:

Lucas Giolito ($6,400): Giolito dominated the Red Sox in his start against them last year. He was also cruising before landing on the IL back on April 17th. Giolito had a rough start to the year, mostly at home. I like the price here, but the Red Sox lineup is good enough to make me really nervous about this. I have a feeling that most will go with the two arms out west due to the park factor, so this is a place to gain separation. Just keep in mind that the Red Sox bats could put you in last really quickly.

My Picks: Skaggs, Sanchez. May switch to price, but right now I don’t see enough upside.

CHICAGO, IL – JUNE 14: Jose Abreu #79 of the Chicago White Sox hits a two run home run in the 1st inning against the Cleveland Indians at Guaranteed Rate Field on June 14, 2018 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) /

DraftKings MLB Late Notes:

Jose Abreu has the only White Sox homer against David Price, and honestly, he may be the only hitter I would truly consider from the Chicago side. The main reason for that is the cost. Tim Anderson and Yoan Moncada are both well above $5,000. Price may not quite be an ace anymore, but he’s still a strong pitcher.

More from FanSided

Kole Calhoun has the homer against Aaron Sanchez, and should be in all lineups tonight whether you play Sanchez or not. Mike Trout is 1-5 with three walks against Sanchez, so you can bet that he will continue his on base streak, but I don’t know what beyond that.

It’s going to be Red Sox stack night even though they are just 1-14 lifetime against Giolito. It’s his first start back from the IL, and the Red Sox are finally starting to hit.

I actually may use Giolito in a $1 entry just to leverage the Red Sox bats. This is a very risky approach, but it’s one of the few ways to separate yourself on a two game slate. If you still aren’t comfortable with Giolito, have no fear. There is another avenue.

Instead of just using Mookie, Martinez, and Bogaerts, switch it up a little. That’s not to say you can’t use these guys, but don’t just take the usual suspects. Sprinkle some Chrstian Vazquez and Lin in there. Lin wont be highly owned, but he’s showing signs of life at the plate.

I’m still calling for the Vlad Jr. homer tonight. Teoscar Hernandez and Rowdy Tellez are pretty good targets as well. However, I don’t expect this to be the high scoring game. Get most of your offense from the battle of the Sox.

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