MLB DFS Picks: Spotlight Pitchers and Top Stacks | May 13
MLB DFS Picks: Spotlight Pitchers
The floodgates opened in the top of the ninth when Robert Suarez gave up five runs, one hit and four walks, managing to record just one out. Alek Jakob came in to finish the frame, giving up a home run as the exclamation point for the Angels.
In the preceding 28 games, the Halos scored more than four runs on six occasions, and five of those games resulted in exactly five runs. The point stands that this is a mediocre offense without Mike Trout and one that can be targeted with frontline starters.
There is power against right-handed pitching up and down the order, though everyone in the projected lineup, aside from Nolan Schanuel has struck out at a 24.6% or greater rate against righties since the start of last year.
Cease has led the league in walks twice and wild pitches twice, but he also has a pair of top-4 finishes in the Cy Young Award voting over the last three seasons.
Strikeouts are his calling card, and he has averaged 10.71 per nine innings this season, which is right in line with his 10.79 career rate. His 4.91 ERA is a little bloated when compared to his 4.05 xERA, 3.36 FIP and 3.79 xFIP, so perhaps his improvement will begin tonight.
In Toronto, RHP Jose Berrios has a decent matchup against the inconsistent Tampa offense, while RHP Spencer Schwellenbach gets a pesky but beatable Washington lineup in Atlanta.
Tonight the weather is slightly favorable for pitchers, with temperatures in the mid-60s and a light breeze in from center field. This season, RHP Ben Brown is getting a long look in the rotation, and aside from two games against Philadelphia and San Diego when he gave up 11 runs, he has ceded only seven total earned runs in his other five starts. He has been piling up the strikeouts with 44 in his 36.1 innings while allowing only a trio of taters and five doubles.
Miami is a young offense, and though it is not bad, there are no terrifying bats in the order. Xavier Edwards, Jesus Sanchez, Agustin Ramirez and Eric Wagaman all show promise, but a lack of experience leads to inconsistency. The trio of Kyle Stowers, Connor Norby and Matt Mervis has struck out at a 31% or higher clip against right-handed pitching over the last season-plus, which is where Brown should be able to grab his DFS production tonight. The Cubs also are -255 favorites to garner the win, so that is another added opportunity for Brown.
MLB DFS Picks: Top Stacks
Main Slate Primary Target: Chicago Cubs
In the lower levels of the minors, Bellozo showed adequate strikeout stuff, but his development stalled out after reaching Triple-A. Thus far against 369 batters in The Show, Bellozo has a ridiculously low 27.6% ground ball rate. The lack of strikeouts, swinging strikes and an elevated fly ball rate make him someone to pick on in the DFS world.
The top of the Chicago order sets up well against right-handed hurlers, with Pete Crow-Armstrong having been promoted to the leadoff role while Ian Happ is ailing. Crow-Armstrong is one of the fastest players in the league, and he has rapidly developed power upside and has also found success against fellow lefties.
Kyle Tucker and Michael Busch are elite when holding the platoon advantage, while Seiya Suzuki is off to a strong start and very capable against fellow righties. Catcher Carson Kelly is a tremendous option on DraftKings and Yahoo, where he helps gamers meet the backstop requirement in style.
Main Slate Secondary Target: Atlanta Braves
Despite making his debut back in the 2018 season, the now 27-year-old has only 336 career MLB innings. Soroka suffered a biceps injury in his Washington debut, needing to be shut down for a couple weeks in April. He made three MiLB starts, allowing a home run in each appearance before getting called back up to face Cleveland last week. Tonight he will be facing his former team, which is a tough matchup, even with Ronald Acuna Jr. out and Jurickson Profar suspended.
Matt Olson, Austin Riley and Marcell Ozuna are the clear trio to target, with outfielders Alex Verdugo and Eli White solid selections to round out full stacks. Michael Harris II has been in a slump for over a year now, though he does profile well against Soroka, and Sean Murphy is another potential play at catcher on DraftKings and Yahoo.
Today’s Top Sports Betting Picks
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Hoerner is better suited against southpaws, though the matchup against Bellozo is too good to pass up when we are getting +200 odds for the over on 1.5 total bases. In 120 same-handed at-bats this season, Hoerner has 27 singles and four doubles. He makes decent contact, but he has a complete lack of power with just 29 home runs and 148 total extra-base hits in 2,167 career at-bats. Still that bodes well in his favor as Bellozo may go after him, considering the power in the rest of the lineup.
