Monday gets the week started with an eight-game featured slate locking at 7:05 p.m. ET 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 Nestor Cortes.
MLB DFS Picks: Spotlight Pitchers and Top Stacks
MLB DFS Picks: Spotlight Pitchers
Main Slate Pitching Target: RHP Nestor Cortes vs. Oakland Athletics — 3.7 implied runs
First Pitch: 7:05 p.m. ET
- DFS Salary: DraftKings $9,400 | FanDuel $9,300 | Yahoo $47
Life is now back to normal, and we can continue picking on the Oakland offense since the Athletics are no longer facing the dreadful Kansas City pitching staff. LHP Nestor Cortes is coming off a rough start after walking into the buzz saw that is the Texas Rangers offense. Last Sunday Cortes was knocked around for seven earned runs, lasting just 4.2 innings and allowing a trio of round-trippers. The 28-year-old uses a variety of arm angles, release points and pitching styles to keep hitters off balance. When it is working, he gets strikeouts and fly ball outs, with hitters not getting good contact. When it is not working, he ends up with walks and warning track fly balls that turn in to home runs, depending on the venue.
The A’s will be rolling out a right-handed heavy lineup as they look for the platoon advantage against Cortes. If he can neutralize veterans Ramon Laureano and Jesus Aguilar, along with the fluky early results from Brent Rooker, Cortes is a strong candidate for both a quality start and the win.
Late Slate Pitching Target: RHP Anthony DeSclafani vs. Washington Nationals — 3.5 implied runs
First Pitch: 9:45 p.m. ET
- DFS Salary: DraftKings $8,100 | FanDuel $10,200 | Yahoo $42
This has been a tremendous start to the season for veteran RHP Anthony DeSclafani, and he certainly is not coming with much of a discount on FanDuel. The 33-year-old is no stranger to DFS gamers, though in his younger years, he was someone to attack with opposite-handed hitters. DeSclafani has improved his ground ball rate over the last few seasons, though he is homer-prone when he is not locating well.
Washington lacks any terrifying bats, and the Nationals current collection of hitters has a combined 90 wRC+ against right-handed pitching since the beginning of last season. While the Nats only strike out 20.3% of the time against righties, they have essentially no power, with a .125 ISO during this stretch. DeSclafani is coming off a game where he held the Houston Astros scoreless across eight innings, and this version of the Nationals is nowhere near that talent level.
Early Slate Pitching Target: RHP Tanner Bibee vs. Detroit Tigers — 3.2 implied runs
First Pitch: 6:10 p.m. ET
- DFS Salary: DraftKings $7,200 | FanDuel $10,400 | Yahoo $34
Rookie RHP Tanner Bibee is one of three high-profile pitching prospects in the Cleveland organization. The 24-year-old spent four seasons with Cal State Fullerton before being drafted in the fifth round of the 2021 MLB Draft. Bibee started out in Single-A last year and rolled through each level of the farm system before his April callup. Through two starts, one against Colorado and one in New York against the Yankees, Bibee has logged 11 innings, a 2.45 ERA, 0.91 WHIP and 13 strikeouts.
Like most young pitchers, he will have rough outings, but he does project as a mid-rotation starter with decent strikeout abilities. Bibee is a strong SP1 or SP2 on DraftKings for his reasonable salary in the early slate. On FanDuel, the “safer” play is RHP Shane McClanahan, but that is also where a lot of the field will be going, which in turn makes Bibee a solid countermove.
MLB DFS Picks: Top Stacks
Main Slate Target: New York Yankees vs. LHP JP Sears — 5.1 implied runs
First Pitch: 7:05 p.m. ET
Somehow, likely via voodoo or some other dark magic, LHP JP Sears was able to hold the Seattle Mariners scoreless over six innings before Oakland ultimately lost 7-2 in the 10th inning. In his five starts prior to that, the 27-year-old southpaw recorded 26 innings, a 6.23 ERA and 1.23 WHIP while ceding seven home runs.
Sadly both Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton are on the injured list, but we still have some viable options in the Bronx. Gleyber Torres should be near the top of the order, and he is a capable bat, receiving a boost via attrition. Two-time batting champion D.J. LeMahieu is on the backside of his career, but he can still take advantage of overmatched pitchers.
Veteran Anthony Rizzo more than holds his own in lefty-lefty matchup, and young Anthony Volpe is all but assured of five plate appearances as the leadoff man.
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Late Slate Target: San Francisco Giants vs. RHP Jake Irvin — 5.2 implied runs
First Pitch: 9:45 p.m. ET
After a reasonable performance in his MLB debut, RHP Jake Irvin is getting another chance to stick in the Washington rotation. Irvin pitched for the University of Oklahoma for three seasons prior to being selected in the fourth round of the 2018 MLB Draft.
This year Irvin saw his first action at the Triple-A level, and it has been a rough go. He tallied 22.1 innings across five starts, with a 5.64 ERA and 1.52 WHIP. Irvin missed 2021 while recovering from Tommy John surgery, and, of course, there was no minor league season during the 2020 pandemic. Now that Chad Kuhl has joined Stephen Strasburg (remember him?) on the injured list, it looks like Irvin is going to get some on-the-job training. The main baseball projection systems are not fond of Irvin, pegging him for 6.39 to 7.31 strikeouts and 1.28 to 1.73 home runs per nine innings.
San Francisco will be running out a lefty-laden lineup tonight, which means LaMonte Wade Jr. should be in the leadoff slot, with Joc Pederson hitting cleanup and Michael Conforto also in a prominent position since Mike Yastrzemski is on the injured list. Mitch Haniger is finally healthy, and he or J.D. Davis can be used to connect the lefties for added synergy.
Early Slate Target: Pittsburgh Pirates vs. LHP Kyle Freeland — 4.9 implied runs
First Pitch: 6:35 p.m. ET
It has been a while since Pittsburgh has been mentioned in this article series, though they have merit as an early-slate stack against LHP Kyle Freeland. Even when he is away from his home park of Coors Field, two things work against Freeland. First, he does not create many strikeouts, and second, well, he allows a lot of fly balls.
The Pirates are loaded with switch-hitters, so Bryan Reynolds, Carlos Santana and Rodolfo Castro are always working with the platoon advantage. Connor Joe should be in the middle of the order, and he is a strong option against his former team. Ke’Bryan Hayes is a productive leadoff hitter and an excellent baserunner who can grab an extra bag when defenses are not paying attention to him.
Final Thoughts for Monday, May 8 | MLB DFS Picks
Once again, we have a fun slate with plenty of moving parts and a new puzzle to solve.
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