Saturday, May 21, we have wall-to-wall baseball, including a Coors Field doubleheader and warm temperatures across the rest of the league, which should boost offensive production. Tonight, the featured slate has a 7:05 p.m. ET first pitch with plenty of strategies to employ. Let’s get into the top MLB DFS picks today for pitchers and stacks for DraftKings and FanDuel daily fantasy baseball lineups.
DraftKings & FanDuel MLB DFS Picks Today (5/21)
Top MLB DFS Stack of the Day: Milwaukee Brewers vs. LHP Patrick Corbin — 4.6 implied runs
This is not going to be a fun matchup for journeyman Patrick Corbin as Milwaukee will be rolling out a lineup teeming with opposite-handed batsmen. Home run regression finally caught up with the veteran southpaw, as Houston got him for a trio of longballs. Prior to that, Corbin had allowed only one round-tripper despite being saddled with a 6.06 ERA. Across his last 686 opposite-handed matchups, Corbin has allowed a .249 ISO, which is about the same as throwing batting practice.
Andrew McCutchen and Hunter Renfroe are prime targets tonight with their long history of succeeding against southpaws. Mike Brosseau is an intriguing discount dandy if he makes it into the lineup, though he is a pinch-hit risk when a right-handed reliever enters the game. Finally, to round out full stacks, Luis Urias is a prime option who should be near the top of the order.
Early Slate: Toronto Blue Jays vs. RHP Hunter Greene — 4.7 implied runs
In his last start, rookie Hunter Greene spun a gem with nine strikeouts across 7.1 no-hit innings against Pittsburgh. Greene is incredibly talented with 22 strikeouts in his last 15.1 innings, though he recorded a career-high 118 pitches on Sunday and could be feeling the effects this afternoon, despite an extra day of rest. Three starts ago, the 22-year-old allowed ceded five home runs in Milwaukee and he has allowed a whopping 11 over 33.1 innings thus far. It is going to be a daunting task to see how he holds up against a deep Toronto lineup.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Teoscar Hernandez and George Springer are the power trio to target with Bo Bichette close behind. Lourdes Gurriel is dinged up, but if he is in the lineup he is worthy of a look towards the bottom of the order which should keep his popularity in check. Using him as the centerpiece in a bott0m-of-the-order stack along with catcher Alejandro Kirk and Santiago Espinal makes for a strong secondary stack, which should be quite contrarian as well.
Afternoon Slate: St. Louis Cardinals at LHP Jose Quintana — 4.7 implied runs
Lefty Jose Quintana is off to the best start of his 11-year career, however, the 33-year-old has a tough task ahead going against a right-handed Redbirds lineup this afternoon. Quintana has allowed only seven extra-base hits across 149 batters faced this season, so regression is just around the corner.
Paul Goldschmidt (.344 ISO) and Nolan Arenado (.372 ISO) have been stellar against southpaws throughout their career and they are core options as part of a St. Louis stack or as one-offs. Yadier Molina and Albert Pujols are at the end of their illustrious careers, though both have had strong success in the past against Quintana and neither is going to break the bank with their Saturday salaries. Dylan Carlson and Harrison Bader are also solid options at the bottom of the order. They can be used as part of a wraparound stack with leadoff man Tommy Edman for differentiation.
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Best MLB DFS Pitchers Today
Top MLB DFS Target: RHP Justin Verlander vs. Texas Rangers — 3.4 implied runs
- DFS Salary: DraftKings $10,300 | FanDuel $10,800
Somehow, Justin Verlander has managed to come back from a nearly two-year layoff due to Tommy John surgery and lead the league with an 0.68 WHIP his 1.38 ERA is the second-best among starters. The cherry on top is having the powerful Houston offense behind him, which has helped him to a 5-1 record and his current four-game winning streak. Oh, and just for fun, he also has recorded at least five strikeouts in all but one start.
Afternoon MLB DFS Target: RHP Shane Bieber vs. Detroit Tigers — 3.2 implied runs
- DFS Salary: DraftKings $8,800 | FanDuel $8,600
If the weather holds, we should look to Shane Bieber, who has a date with the anemic Detroit offense. Today’s projected lineup has the Tigers striking out at a 27.1% clip, which bodes well for Bieber, who has a 29.9% strikeout rate of his own across his last 569 batters faced. Rookie phenom Matthew Libertore is a pivot option if rain becomes an issue in Cleveland, though is is also worth keeping tabs on the potential precipitation in Pittsburgh.
Additional Opportunities:
Rostering Kyle Bradish in DFS lineups carries some risk against Tampa Bay, however, we can look to him in the MLB player props market. Currently, he has an over/under on his strikeout prop of 4.5, and the Awesemo player projections have him for a reasonable 5.6 against the Rays. That gives him a 65% probability of reaching the over. In his last start against the Yankees he had six strikeouts in 4.1 innings and the outing before that he had a stellar 11 against the Cardinals in St. Louis.
Other Pitching Options:
- Alek Manoah vs. Cincinnati Reds (early)
- Joe Ryan at Kansas City (main)
- Michael Lorenzen vs. Oakland Athletics (late)
One-Off Hitters:
- Giancarlo Stanton, Aaron Judge and Josh Donaldson vs. LHP Dallas Keuchel (early)
- Anyone in Coors Field, both games
- Rafael Devers and Alex Verdugo vs. RHP Chris Flexen (early)
- Matt Olson at RHP Elieser Hernandez (main)
- Yordan Alvarez vs. Jon Gray (main)
Final MLB DFS Thoughts & Weather Notes
It is going to be cold in Denver with temperatures in the mid-40s, though snow should not be an issue on Saturday. Chicago, Cleveland and Pittsburgh all are worth monitoring with varying degrees of precipitation risk. Most other outdoor venues will be warm, windy or both, which means that weather is going to be an important factor to use as a tiebreaker when building lineups on Saturday.
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