Early DraftKings MLB Picks May 25: Corbin or Morton?

MIAMI, FLORIDA – MAY 17: Jorge Alfaro #38 of the Miami Marlins celebrates after hitting a two-run home run against the New York Mets in the fifth inning at Marlins Park on May 17, 2019 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) /

Early DraftKings MLB Picks May 25: Corbin or Morton?

We have another weird split for our DraftKings MLB tournaments today. There are ten early games, so that makes the early the defacto main slate. Coors is on the late slate, so feel free to spend on pitching here. That is if you can find pitchers you want to spend on.

DraftKings MLB Early Slate Pitchers:

Top Tier:

Patrick Corbin ($11,500): I don’t see a downside to paying for Corbin here, especially with all of the value on this slate. The Marlins are hitting just .231 in limited action against Corbin with only one run in 26 at bats. The five strikeouts is a bit puzzling, but that number promises to go way up. The Marlins do have a lot of right handed bats here, but I expect the youngsters to be mostly baffled by Corbin. I don’t see anyone that can touch his output today.

Charlie Morton ($9,800): The Indians are only hitting .220 in 41 at bats against Morton with only a solo homer and ten strikeouts to show for it. On top of that, Morton has been brilliant away from the Trop this year (maybe he actually likes to pitch in front of fans! Imagine that!), posting a 1.95 ERA in six road starts. Snellzilla was average (for him) last night, but I expect Morton to mostly own this lineup. I could see fading Corbin for Morton, but I really want to use them both.

Middle Tier:

Mike Fiers ($8,100): Fiers got blasted by the Mariners earlier this year, but this offense has cooled off significantly. Fiers held the Mariners to just one run on two hits through five 12 days ago. There still isn’t a ton of upside with Fiers, but he is a very safe middle tier option. The strikeouts aren’t enough to move the meter. You are just banking on Fiers racking up the outs, which looks like against the Mariners.

J.A. Happ ($7,800): There aren’t many times that I will be excited about Happ this year, but this is one of them. Happ’s ERA is inflated by his terrible numbers at Yankee Stadium. The 4.09 road ERA isn’t great, but he is playing a team that isn’t that great offensively. The Royals are only hitting .196 with two homers and seven run to go with 15 strikeouts in 56 at bats against Happ. The Royals will get a few runs, but Happ should make up for it with strikeouts. He’s a solid mid range option today.

Taylor Clarke ($7,700): This Giants offense is nothing to be scared of, and if Clarke can turn in a quality start against the Rays, I like his chances here. The only issue I have is the lack of strikeouts at this price. Clarke is priced way up facing the impotent Giants offense, but even if he turns in another (likely) quality start, he may not break double digits if he can’t strike anyone out. That’s really the only risk with Clarke here.

Bargain Pitchers:

Jhoulys Chacin ($6,200): This really makes no sense, but Chacin has dominated at Miller Park. He has a 3.86 ERA in 20 career starts there, and has a stellar 2.95 ERA in four starts there this year. Not only that, but Chacin has done well against the Phillies. The Phils are only hitting .176 with two homers and six runs in 51 at bats with 14 strikeouts. I really like Chacin on the cheap today.

Cal Quantrill ($6,000): Quantrill has not been very good in the majors this year, but this Blue Jays offense is cold right now. Lucchesi dominated them last night. Quantrill wont do that, but he’s a good bet to score in the low to mid teens. For $6,000 and the bats that Quantrill allows us to chase, I think it’s worth the risk. Quantrill’s only bad start was against the Pirates. He held his own against the solid Mets and Braves offenses.

My picks: Morton, Clarke; Corbin, Chacin; Corbin, Morton

NEW YORK, NY – APRIL 25: Miguel Sano #22 of the Minnesota Twins hits a two run home run in the first inniing as Austin Romine #28 of the New York Yankees defends at Yankee Stadium on April 25, 2018 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /

DraftKings MLB Early Stack Options:

Minnesota Twins vs. Manny Banuelos:

The 2019 Twins and 2005 Rangers are the only teams that have had eight or more homers in a game more than once in a season. It’s only May! Only the 1999 Mariners have more homers through 50 games than the 2019 Twins. I wouldn’t use any pitcher against them right now!

As far as where to go today, Arraez is still a free space at his price. I also like Astudillo and Sano here. Those three will be in most of my lineups. I will add Cron and Max Kepler for the ones I stack with. Polanco and Rosario are in play too because I don’t think Banuelos makes it through half this game. Oh, and the wind is blowing out. Stack away!

Cincinnati Reds vs. Yu Darvish:

There is risk involved with stacking Reds against Darvish. After all, Darvish picked up 27 DraftKings points against them the first time around thanks to 11 strikeouts. The K’s will still be there, and that game against the Reds was just the second game in ten starts in which Darvish walked less than three batters. Walks are a problem for Darvish and the wind is blowing out. Give me Votto to get on base and Jesse Winker, Dietrich, Suarez, and Ervin for the power potential.

San Diego Padres vs. Edwin Jackson:

The Blue Jays must have buried Jackson in the Pet Sematary because his career was dead, and now that he’s back, he isn’t the same. This Padres offense has terrifying power, and they are going to unload on Jackson. Renfroe, Franmil Reyes, and Manny Machado are my favorite plays. I can get behind chasing a slumping Wil Myers because of that criminally low price. Every Padre is on my radar here.

Detroit Tigers vs. Jason Vargas:

Vargas is one of those guys that you look at and wonder how he is still on a major league roster and Dallas Keuchel is not. Vargas will make his return from the IL in one of the best spots possible, but the Tigers even got to Thor yesterday. They could cream Vargas. Castellanos, Miggy, and John Hicks stand out, but I think Ronny Rodriguez is my favorite. Gordon Beckham is money if he is still leading off.

New York Mets vs. Ryan Carpenter:

Carpenter has a 13.00 ERA in two starts this year, so I’m all over the Mets again. The Mets stack did well last night, and I’m all in here again today. Nine righties against a struggling lefty? What could go wrong? Amed Rosario and Alonso are the elite plays. Carlos Gomez, Rajai Davis, and the Toddfather all look like really good options as well. Don’t forget about Wilson Ramos either!

WASHINGTON, DC – MARCH 30: Anthony Rendon #6 of the Washington Nationals celebrates with Ryan Zimmerman #11 after scoring on an RBI single by Juan Soto #22 (not pictured) in the first inning against the New York Mets at Nationals Park on March 30, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images) /

DraftKings MLB early slate daily notes:

Kyle Gibson looks a little overpriced considering his ERA is nearly 4.5. The White Sox will add to his nice strikeout total, but with the wind blowing out, I think I would rather chase a few Sox bats. Jose Abreu and Yonder Alonso are two of my favorites since they have three of the four homers for the Sox against Gibson. I also like Tilson on the cheap. Tim Anderson has also homered against Gibson.

Whit Merrifield and Alex Gordon have the two Royals homers against Happ, but I’m more interested in Hunter Dozier and Jorge Soler than either of them. Happ is giving up at least one bomb today. I would bet it’s Dozier or Soler that get it.

Aaron Hicks is 5-13 with three homers against Danny Duffy. Gleyber Torres and Maybin have both homered off of Duffy as well, but I would take Gary Sanchez as my sidekick to Hicks. Duffy has pitched better lately, but there are plenty of Yankee righties to chase him with here.

You can pay $8,700 for Tyler Mahle if you want, but I wont be joining you. He has pitched much better this year, but his home numbers are far better than his road ones. With the wind blowing out at Wrigley, I want no part of this, especially with the way Rizzo and Bryant are hitting right now.

More from FanSided

Quantrill isn’t pitching a shutout, so there could be some fantasy goodness in that Blue Jays lineup. The trick is finding it. The easy pick is to chase the power of Vlad Jr. but more often than not, that has come up empty. I may just chase Biggio’s OBP on the cheap. There isn’t much to like about the Jays offense right now besides Rowdy.

There is so much value on the early slate that we may not even have to chase the free spaces of Joe Panik and Brandon Crawford. The overall numbers for both are still bad, but they have played well enough lately to be solid punt options if you need the cap relief.

Adam Jones and John Ryan Murphy are low hanging fruit against a middling lefty again today. There is no park of me that trusts Andrew Suarez. Ketel Marte and Nick Ahmed have homered off of him in the past as well.

I like Sandy Alcantara, but not against the Nationals. He is averaging less than five DraftKings points per road start, and Anthony Rendon has punished him so far. Juan Soto has homered against Alcantara as well.

Hey you contrarians, I see you! Harold Ramirez and Austin Dean are outstanding ways to leverage Corbin ownership on the cheap.

Yusei Kikuchi has held his own against Oakland in two starts so far, but I really don’t like the price on him. You can throw Kikuchi out there to leverage A’s bats, but I don’t think he is anywhere near worth his price. I would rather go after him with Olson, Canha, or Chapman. The first two have homered against Kikuchi already.

Seattle has six career homers against Fiers, but I’m not sure I want to chase any of them. Edwin has two of them, but is just 3-25 lifetime against Fiers. Narvaez may not be in the lineup. Jay Bruce is in a terrible slump, and Haniger isn’t a lot better. That leaves Domingo Santana. I’m not excited about him either.

Ryan Braun has destroyed Arrieta in his career. Braun is 9-33(.273) with three homers and 11 RBI against Arrieta. Yelich, Hernan Perez, and Jesus Aguilar have homered off of Arrieta as well.

Maikel Franco and Andrew McCutchen have the homers against Chacin, but you really don’t want to mess with him at home this year. There are better places to attack.

Jason Kipnis has the only homer for Cleveland against Charlie Morton. I can see using him on the cheap, but I think I would rather have Kipnis.

Carlos Carrasco has been good at home this year, but digging deeper shows something a bit disturbing. Carrasco has given up seven homers in five home starts. This is a dangerous Rays offense. Brandon Lowe and Kiermaier have already homered against Carrasco. So has Choi. So has the red hot Avi Garcia. The Rays are getting at least one homer today.

dark. Next. Love, Like, and Leave: FanDuel MLB picks May 25 afternoon

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