Hello again everyone! nillyJay here – some of you may already know me; I’m a coach/contributor inside the DFS Army and my main focuses are NASCAR and MLB. If you’re not already, you can find and follow me on Twitter, or, for DFS Army members, in our coaching channels (@nillyJay or just swing by my channel #nillys-garage-nas-mlb).
As always, if you aren’t familiar with my content, be sure to check out these articles to get up to speed: carnage rating system and tiers & classic batter sheets.
First things first, happy Memorial Day! Be sure to give your thanks to the members of our armed forces today, and take some time to remember those who are no longer with us. I’ll be thinking of both of my grandfathers today.
Also, before we dig into some baseball, we had another race yesterday, and you know what that means… DFS Army winner montage!!
You guys and gals on the outside are really missing out. Just saying!
My take on a consistent process – looking at pitchers
Because I created the carnage rating system, it only makes sense that I would start there when looking at a new slate. Let’s do just that:
Even though he’s facing the Cubs, Cole leads the way today. Scherzer isn’t too far behind, and he’ll probably be a popular cash game option, so you could default there if you’d like. Castillo and Chirinos are up there too, as well as our mystery man, so there are plenty of good options today. Who is he? Who knows…only DFS Army members!
Finding pitchers to attack
Just like it can help us find pitchers to use, the carnage rating system is great for helping us to find pitchers to attack. Let’s take a look at some of the worst rankings of the day:
I’ll give away two good targets, but the other two I’m saving for our members. As always, we can use the classic batter sheet, coaches notes, or starting lineups page to find our favorite individual targets.
Early slate
Detroit Tigers at Baltimore Orioles
We’ll kick things off with another trip to Camden Yards (weren’t we just here?), this time it’ll be the Tigers’ turn to get a crack at it. The Orioles look to be rolling out a bullpen game, while the Tigers will send Norris to the chopping blo…I mean, pitcher’s mound, to go against an Orioles team that’s been putting up runs left and right lately. It’s basically mini Coors here today, so be sure to grab some exposure to this one.
Tigers 5 star plays – none
Tigers 4 star plays – Goodrum, Castellanos, Cabrera
GPP note – It might be a bullpen game, but at least it’s at Camden Yards. Don’t be afraid to stack away
Orioles 5 star plays – none
Orioles 4 star plays – Villar, Nunez, Mancini
GPP note – Norris has been fairly good, but so have the O’s. Stacks are in play here, too
Miami Marlins at Washington Nationals
Our next game will feature one of the aces on the slate, one Max Scherzer who just loves to strike out a bunch of batters. He got nine of them the first time around this season, and I can only see that going up from here. Needless to say, the Miami bats aren’t exactly a hot target here, but his fellow Washington bats are certainly in play against Urena.
Marlins 5 star plays – none
Marlins 4 star plays –
GPP note – Very difficult matchup against Scherzer. Contrarian stacks only
Nationals 5 star plays – none
Nationals 4 star plays – Rendon, Turner, Eaton, Soto
GPP note – Decent matchup against a pitcher they’ve seen several times. Any sort of exposure is in play here, from one-offs to full stacks
San Diego Padres at New York Yankees
The Padres and Yankees are up next, and I fully expect there to be some home runs hit here, especially from the Yankees. They might not be at Camden here, but Strahm is good at allowing big hits to powerful righties, and the Yankees have their fair share of them, even without their biggest guns. The Padres are in play here too, as they’ll get the soft Green followed by whatever the bullpen can muster up. Everything is in play here, from one-offs to full game stacks.
Padres 5 star plays – none
Padres 4 star plays – Machado, Hosmer, Renfroe
GPP note – They’ll get a soft pitcher and a bullpen game, so stacks are in play here with this potentially dangerous team
Yankees 5 star plays – none
Yankees 4 star plays – Sanchez, Voit, Torres
GPP note – Power righties are in play here, as they love to hit home runs and Strahm can give up a few
Pittsburgh Pirates at Cincinnati Reds
We get a doubleheader here today, and round one will feature two pitchers on different ends of the spectrum. The Pirates will face Castillo, who has been nothing short of superb for most of the season (we’ll give him a pass for his game against the Brewers). The Reds will get Kingham, who, well…hasn’t. Look for the Reds to have the upper hand here on all fronts.
Pirates 5 star plays – none
Pirates 4 star plays – Polanco, Frazier, Bell
GPP note – Tough matchup against Castillo, but they’re scrappy and seem to find a way to produce
Reds 5 star plays – none
Reds 4 star plays – Senzel, Winker, Votto
GPP note – Good matchup against Kingham, so don’t be shy
Toronto Blue Jays at Tampa Bay Rays
The Blue Jays head down to Tampa Bay after beating up on the Padres yesterday (that Paddack scratch really worked out in their favor, huh?), where they’ll face Chirinos, who has been fairly good, but this won’t exactly be an easy matchup for either side. Sanchez will get the mound for the Blue Jays, and while I do think he has a pretty decent chance of success, he’ll have to be on his a-game to avoid getting blowing up by this Rays team that can put up some runs in a hurry.
Blue Jays 5 star plays – none
Blue Jays 4 star plays – Smoak, Guerrero
GPP note – Not a super great matchup against Chirinos, but they may have some momentum from yesterday. I like mini-stacks best here
Rays 5 star plays – none
Rays 4 star plays – Pham, Choi, Meadows
GPP note – Not a great matchup for the Rays either, but they’re still in play for full stacks in case Sanchez is off
Chicago Cubs at Houston Astros
Our next ace, Cole, will host the Cubs, who are a dangerous team, but it seems that Vegas has already made up their mind that they aren’t going to best Cole and the Astros here today. It doesn’t help that the Cubs collectively have more strikeouts against him than they do hits. As for the Astros, they have been a little quiet lately, but we know a massive game is lurking around every corner. Hamels has been good, but the Astros don’t really care who they’re facing. When they go off, they really go off, so be sure to grab some exposure to them in case they make today their next big game.
Cubs 5 star plays – none
Cubs 4 star plays – Rizzo, Bryant, Schwarber
GPP note – Difficult matchup against Cole. I would either fade or full stack and hope for the best
Astros 5 star plays – none
Astros 4 star plays – Bragman, Correa, Brantley
GPP note – Not a great matchup here either, but better than the Cubs have. They’ve been a little quiet lately, which is usually a good sign that something big is coming
Kansas City Royals at Chicago White Sox
My Royals head up north to pay the White Sox a visit, and well…we had some drama last time, so let’s hope nobody gets ejected. Anyway, Bailey and Nova will face off here, and to be honest, I can’t say I like the chances of either one of them today. These divisional games seem to ignite the offenses, and both pitchers have shown some weaknesses lately, so I’m half expecting some fireworks here.
Royals 5 star plays – none
Royals 4 star plays – Mondesi, Merrifield, Gordon
GPP note – It’s a divisional game, but they haven’t seen Nova very much. Lefties are usually the way to go here, but power righties are in play too
White Sox 5 star plays – none
White Sox 4 star plays – Moncada, Anderson, Abreu
GPP note – They love to go wild for divisional games, especially against my Royals
Arizona Diamondbacks at Colorado Rockies
Ah, Coors! As usual, we tend to reserve the breakdown of these games for our VIPs, so I’ll have to cut this one a little short. Sorry!
Diamondbacks 5 star plays – none
Diamondbacks 4 star plays – Marte, Escobar
GPP note – They’ve started to heat up and get to visit Coors again, so they may have some popular options
Rockies 5 star plays – none
Rockies 4 star plays – Arenado, Story
GPP note – Tough matchup against Greinke. What to do, what to do?!
Cleveland Indians at Boston Red Sox
There are a few games today that could really blow up on both sides, and this is one of them. Rodriguez and Porcello will face off here, and both of them are in danger of getting blown sky-high today. Any exposure to these offenses is in play today, even full game stacks, so if you want to go crazy on a non-Coors game, this is a great option.
Indians 5 star plays – none
Indians 4 star plays – Lindor, Santana, Ramirez, Kipnis
GPP note – Porcello can be really good or really bad, so I would be sure to grab some Indians stacks in case the bad one shows up
Red Sox 5 star plays – Betts, Martinez
Red Sox 4 star plays – Bogaerts, Moreland, Benintendi
GPP note – Good matchup against Rodriguez. Red Sox stacks are in play too, as is stacking this game (if you can afford it)
Los Angeles Angels at Oakland Athletics
At first glance, this one looks pretty basic/average/boring, which probably means it will go overlooked. Games that go overlooked are great ones to dig into more to try and find something because you never know what you’ll find. This could be one of those games, so don’t be afraid to load up on a not-so-common game when everybody else is looking at other ones.
Angels 5 star plays – Trout
Angels 4 star plays – La Stella, Ohtani, Calhoun
GPP note – Trout and some lefties are probably all you need here
Athletics 5 star plays – none
Athletics 4 star plays – Olson, Chapman, Profar
GPP note – I’m not in love with full stacks here, but some one-offs or mini-stacks could work out
Main slate
Pittsburgh Pirates at Cincinnati Reds
Round 2 of our doubleheader today looks a lot like the first game. The Reds have the better pitcher on their side and the better pitcher to attack for the offense, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see this game mimic the first one.
Pirates 5 star plays – none
Pirates 4 star plays – Polanco, Bell, Frazier
GPP note – Another tough matchup for the Pirates, though not as bad as the first game. I’d take the same approach here
Reds 5 star plays – none
Reds 4 star plays – Senzel, Votto, Winker
GPP note – They’ll get a new pitcher here, which is never a bad time to stack away
Milwaukee Brewers at Minnesota Twins
Our next game that has the potential to see a ton of offensive production, should the weather hold out, will feature two offenses that could put up a combined 20+ runs if they’re on. If they play, both pitchers will need to be at their best to keep the other team from doing that, so however these games play out, there will be some big production somewhere. Don’t overlook this one!
Brewers 5 star plays – Yelich
Brewers 4 star plays – Moustakas, Grandal, Cain
GPP note – Pineda has been good, but the Brewers can go off against just about anybody. Feel free to stack away
Twins 5 star plays – none
Twins 4 star plays – Polanco, Schoop, Cron
GPP note – Gio has looked pretty good this year, but the Twins are still a threat to go off here, especially later on in the game
New York Mets at Los Angeles Dodgers
Our next game will feature TWO aces, which is awesome because pitcher’s duels are too far and few between these days. Sorry, all you home run lovers, but I hope we see one here! Anyway, Kershaw and deGrom will face off here, two elite pitchers that can go 7+ innings with a bunch of strikeouts and very few runs. I would look elsewhere for offensive production unless you want to go the contrarian route.
Mets 5 star plays – none
Mets 4 star plays – Alonso?
GPP note – Difficult matchup against an ace. Contrarian stacks only
Dodgers 5 star plays – none
Dodgers 4 star plays – Bellinger, Muncy, Pederson
GPP note – Same as above, though they do have the better chance of going off
Texas Rangers at Seattle Mariners
And finally, our hammer game features…oh man, these two again! For as low-scoring as the previous game can be, this one can be that high-scoring, as we know what happens when these two teams get together. Grab your pitchers from the previous games and look at the batters here, and you might just be in a good spot at the end of the night.
Rangers 5 star plays – none
Rangers 4 star plays – Pence, Andrus
GPP note – We haven’t seen a ton of Milone yet, but we do know this team has a high ceiling, so stack away
Mariners 5 star plays – none
Mariners 4 star plays – Vogelbach, Encarnacion
GPP note – Lynn has a lot of strikeout potential here, but perhaps they can get to him this time. Full stacks are in play here too
Tiers!
Like I mentioned earlier, I provide a tiers breakdown for our members every day. I figured since I was running the show today that I would slide in a freebie. Let’s take a look at Tier 6:
There are a lot of cold/bad matchups here, but Correa stands well above them, so you can default there for cash. There aren’t really any great GPP pivots either, but I suppose some Coors exposure with McMahon wouldn’t be the worst way to go.
Closing thoughts
Thank you for joining me here today! I hope you found this article helpful with your research for today’s slate. I have some more GPP thoughts for you guys in the DFS Army, so be sure to check my channel and #mlb-news-and-notes this afternoon for those.
If you like what you see here and want to experience everything we have to offer, I’d encourage you to consider joining up with us. As you saw, we cover (and win!) all sports, not just the common ones. Just remember to use promo code NILLY to save 20% off for the lifetime of your active membership, for the best deal in daily fantasy sports. Until then, I hope you all have a great day!
