MLB DFS Picks, Spotlight Pitchers & Top Stacks: Fire Up Zac Gallen and Shane McClanahan Tonight (May 30)

Tuesday’s MLB action takes the form of a 13-game featured slate with a 7:05 p.m. ET first pitch on DraftKings, FanDuel and Yahoo. Before you build lineups, several Stokastic tools can help identify daily MLB DFS Top Stacks, key pitchers and MLB DFS picks. Let’s dig into the player projections and popularity for DraftKings, FanDuel and Yahoo lineups, including RHP Zac Gallen and the Los Angeles Dodgers power bats.

MLB DFS Picks: Spotlight Pitchers and Top Stacks

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MLB DFS Picks: Spotlight Pitchers

Main Slate Primary Pitching Target: RHP Zac Gallen vs. Colorado Rockies — 4.1 implied runs

First Pitch: 9:40 p.m. ET

  • DFS Salary: DraftKings $10,700 | FanDuel $10,700 | Yahoo $50

Quietly RHP Zac Gallen has become a solid frontline starter for the Arizona Diamondbacks. The 27-year-old has really only had one disappointing season, and through 92 starts he has a 3.07 ERA, 1.09 WHIP and 10.0 strikeouts per nine innings for his career stat line. It has been nine starts since he allowed a home run, and in seven of his 11 appearances he has issued one or fewer walks.

The Rockies tend to struggle on the road as well as against right-handed hurlers. Since the start of last season, their current collection of hitters has an 89 wRC+ against righties, which is the third lowest in the league. Colorado is right around league average with a 22.7% strikeout rate during this timeframe, but its .144 ISO is the sixth lowest in the league, and that metric includes all of the Coors Field production.

Main Slate Secondary Pitching Target: LHP Shane McClanahan at Chicago Cubs — 3.2 implied runs

First Pitch: 8:05 p.m. ET

  • DFS Salary: DraftKings $11,400 | FanDuel $11,200 | Yahoo $56

Currently LHP Shane McClanahan is the leading candidate for the American League Cy Young Award. While there is still nearly two-thirds of the season left to play, the 26-year-old southpaw has done his share of the heavy lifting in getting Tampa Bay out to a 3.5-game lead over the rest of the league. McClanahan leads MLB with eight wins and is second among starters with a 1.97 ERA. Tonight he should be in the mix for a quality start, which is key on FanDuel, and he also has a decent chance at the win bonus, with the Rays -200 moneyline favorites in Wrigley Field.

The Cubs are above average against lefties, though they also bring plenty of strikeouts, with a 23.8% rate over the last season-plus. Dansby Swanson (24.9%), Ian Happ (28.7%), Patrick Wisdom (38.1%) and Christopher Morel (30.1%) all strike out above the league-average rate against left-handed pitchers. Strikeouts, of course, are the currency of the realm for MLB DFS, and gamers should make McClanahan a priority across all formats.

Wild Card Pitching Target: RHP Bryce Elder at Oakland Athletics — 3.3 implied runs

First Pitch: 9:40 p.m. ET

  • DFS Salary: DraftKings $9,300 | FanDuel $10,400 | Yahoo $46

The only reason that RHP Bryce Elder has been bestowed the Wild Card moniker is that tonight will be just his 21st appearance in The Show. It could be tricky for him to sustain this salary across the DFS sites, as strikeouts are not a consistent part of the package for the 24-year-old hurler. Over 147.2 innings at Triple-A, Elder produced a mediocre 8.6 strikeouts per nine innings. Most of the major projection systems have him settling in the 7.4 to 7.7 range.

Oakland has one of the worst offenses in the league, and the Athletics are averaging only 3.5 runs per game. The A’s projected lineup does have six hitters with a strikeout rate of 25% or higher against right-handed pitching since the start of last year, but that is no guarantee for Elder, who does not have much of a fastball and instead relies on location and a savvy pitch mix.


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MLB DFS Picks: Top Stacks

Main Slate Target: Los Angeles Dodgers vs. RHP Jake Irvin — 6.0 implied runs

First Pitch: 10:10 p.m. ET

It has been a rough stretch for RHP Jake Irvin, who has been knocked around for 14 runs in just 11.1 innings across his last three starts. While he does have 11 strikeouts in this timeframe, it has not offset the three home runs and three doubles, which have been productive due to the constant parade of baserunners. Including his time in The Show, along with his first Triple-A action this year, the 26-year-old has only 44.1 innings above Double-A, and it is clear he has been thrown in the deep end of the pool out of desperation for the pitching-starved Nationals.

This season the Dodgers rank first or second in most hitting categories, and their lineup should have no trouble against Irvin tonight. Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, Max Muncy and catcher Will Smith each have a .200 ISO or higher in their last 570 at-bats against right-handed pitchers. Miguel Vargas can be incorporated into stacks on DraftKings ($2,900) and FanDuel ($2,800) to help average down the cost of the hitters, and the same can be said for outfielder David Peralta ($2,200 and $2,300). Finally, J.D. Martinez can be used to round things out, and while he is on the backside of his career in his age-36 season, he does have hits in 13 consecutive outings and 17 of his last 18 games overall.

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Evening Slate Target: Tampa Bay Rays at RHP Kyle Hendricks — 4.8 implied runs

First Pitch: 8:05 p.m. ET

Yesterday RHP Marcus Stroman had everything going in his favor as he held the Tampa Bay offense in check with one hit, one walk and eight strikeouts, notching a complete-game shutout. Tonight things should be easier against RHP Kyle Hendricks, who returned to action last week after being sidelined since early July after suffering a capsular tear in his pitching shoulder. In his 48 starts prior to his injury, Hendricks had seen his ground ball rate declining and home runs were becoming more frequent, with 1.56 compared to just 0.89 per nine innings in his career up to that point. Hendricks has always been mediocre when it comes to strikeouts, but if he loses his ground ball edge, things could get dismal in a hurry for the 33-year-old hurler.

Tampa Bay brings plenty of pop, and the Rays lead the league with 101 home runs, which is 10 more than both the Braves and the Dodgers. Yandy Diaz (.420 OBP) and Randy Arozarena (.404 OBP) are both in the top 10 for on-base percentage, and Wander Franco (.360 OBP) is 39th overall and 14th among all players with at least 200 at-bats. That means there are plenty of runners on base for the likes of journeyman Isaac Paredes (37 RBI) and rookie Josh Lowe (37 RBI), who are tied for 15th on the runs batted in leaderboard.

While Brandon Lowe has been slumping, he has plenty of pop in his bat and should be a consistent contributor as he shakes off the doldrums. Jose Siri is a solid discount dandy on DraftKings ($3,000), and he has hits in 11 of his last 14 games, including four multi-hit efforts. Though he is a part-time player, he already has nine home runs and 13 total extra-base hits in just 103 at-bats.

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Late Slate Target: Atlanta Braves at LHP JP Sears— 5.4 implied runs

First Pitch: 9:40 p.m. ET

LHP JP Sears’ “back of baseball card” numbers look decent, with a 4.70 ERA, 1.10 WHIP and nearly a strikeout per inning. However, that has a lot of luck baked in, as he has allowed 12 home runs and 20 total extra-base hits across just 222 batters faced.

The Atlanta offense is in a prime spot to post some crooked numbers, with Austin Riley and catcher Sean Murphy both projecting as outstanding options in DFS and in the home run market. This duo boasts ISOs of .328 and .249, respectively, against southpaws over the last season and change. Plus, as the main catcher for the A’s the last few seasons, Murphy is familiar with the pitching staff as well as the hitting backdrop.

Ronald Acuna Jr., Ozzie Albies and Matt Olson are the secondary trio to target. Marcell Ozuna can be wildly inconsistent, but he does have four multi-hit games in his last 11, courtesy of being in this loaded lineup. Finally, we should see outfielder Kevin Pillar in the lineup over Eddie Rosario, which would be a solid late-slate punt on DraftKings ($2,100), even though he is likely to be lifted for a pinch-hitter later in the game.

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Final Thoughts for Tuesday, May 30 | MLB DFS Picks

There are plenty of top-tier pitchers today as well as plenty of offenses in premium matchups. From a weather perspective, there is nothing but green across the forecast, which is one less headache to suffer.

Check out today’s Stokastic MLB Strategy Show, at 12:00 p.m. ET, brought to you by Sorare. Get 1 FREE “Limited” card after completing your first 5 card purchases on the primary market!

Eric "EMac" MacPherson won the 2007 Fantasy Baseball grand prize (trip for two to the MLB All-Star game) in the Roto format on ESPN. He won again in 2008, this time in the H2H format. As one of the early adopters of daily fantasy sports, EMac has been providing content for baseball and basketball as well as both professional and college football since 2012 for a variety of websites including DraftKings Playbook, FanVice, RotoWorld, Daily Fantasy Bootcamp, and RotoGrinders. He is well into his third decade of fantasy sports and has a wealth of knowledge and experience. Follow him on Twitter @EMacDFS or contact EMac by emailing [email protected].

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