Full Slate Breakdown for MLB DFS 5/20:
Get your MLB DFS research started with DFS Army’s Full Count! Pitching advice, stack strategy, home run calls, and everything you need.
Happy MLB Season and welcome to another year of the DFS Army MLB Full Count! You have to start your research somewhere, and oftentimes going game by game and breaking down every matchup and its key players is the first step in our process. My name is Eric, @Razzle11Grinds on Twitter, make sure to give me a follow as I’ll occasionally make updates to the advice in the article out on Twitter as well as inside our coaching forums. With that said, let’s get it started!
My Take on a Consistent MLB DFS Process – Looking at Pitchers
I always start an MLB slate by looking at pitching, not only do you get a grasp on who the pitchers are that you want to target, but gives you a holistic look at the slate as well. Breaking down pitching also gives you an idea of what offenses are in good spots against bad/vulnerable pitchers. I start my research by going straight to the MLB Carnage Report this is where we can analyze all the pitchers on the slate in a compact, yet detailed manner. Below are the three pitchers that jumped out to me at first glance, good or bad.
- Vince Velasquez
- Trevor Bauer
- Drew Smyly
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Minnesota Twins @ Los Angeles Angels – Game 1
Pitchers:
Twins – Lewis Thorpe
Angels – Griffin Canning
Rundown:
Waiting on the Vegas information. Remember that both of these games are 7 inning contests.
MIN 5-star plays: NONE
4-star plays: Trevor Larnach, Nelson Cruz
GPP Note: Team ISO of .176 against RHPs this season.
LAA 5-star plays: Shohei Ohtani
4-star plays: Jose Iglesias
GPP Note: Team ISO of .162 against LHPs this season.
Minnesota Twins @ Los Angeles Angels – Game 2
Pitchers:
Twins – Jose Berrios
Angels – Dylan Bundy
Rundown:
Waiting on the Vegas information. Remember that both of these games are 7 inning contests.
MIN 5-star plays: NONE
4-star plays: Trevor Larnach, Nelson Cruz
GPP Note: Team ISO of .176 against RHPs this season.
LAA 5-star plays: Shohei Ohtani
4-star plays: Jose Iglesias
GPP Note: Team ISO of .166 against RHPs this season.
San Francisco Giants @ Cincinnati Reds (-135)
Pitchers:
Giants – Johnny Cueto
Reds – Tyler Mahle
Rundown:
This game has opened with a total of 8.5. I think we see some offense in this game even though I am a big fan of Mahle. The big thing for Mahle’s upside will be if Belt is out of the lineup. Cueto returning to Cincinnati is interesting but they have so much power at home, especially against RHPs.
SF 5-star plays: Mike Yastrzemski
4-star plays: Brandon Crawford
GPP Note: Team ISO of .176 against RHPs this season.
CIN 5-star plays: Jesse Winker
4-star plays: Mike Moustakas, Tyler Naquin
GPP Note: Team ISO of .227 at home this season.
Washington Nationals @ Chicago Cubs
Pitchers:
Nationals – Joe Ross
Cubs – Trevor Williams
Rundown:
Waiting on the Vegas information.
WSH 5-star plays: Trea Turner, Kyle Schwarber
4-star plays: Juan Soto
GPP Note: Team ISO of .143 against RHPs this season.
CHC 5-star plays: Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo (DTD)
4-star plays: Javy Baez, Willson Contreras
GPP Note: Team ISO of .166 against RHPs.
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New York Yankees (-125) @ Texas Rangers
Pitchers:
Yankees – Domingo German
Rangers – Dane Dunning
Rundown:
This game has opened with a total of 8.5. Kluber just no-hit the Rangers tonight and it’s a quick turn-around for a day game. We could see a bit of a hangover from them as they have now been no-hit twice this season. Dunning is an arm I think has a bright future but it’s really hard to trust him in this one unless we found out the Yankees partied it up Wednesday night.
NYY 5-star plays: Aaron Judge
4-star plays: Luke Voit, DJ LeMahieu
GPP Note: Team ISO of .150 against RHPs this season.
TEX 5-star plays: Willie Calhoun
4-star plays: Nate Lowe
GPP Note: Team ISO of .153 against RHPs this season.
Miami Marlins @ Philadelphia Phillies (-121)
Pitchers:
Marlins – Sandy Alcantara
Phillies – Vince Velasquez
Rundown:
This game has opened with a total of 8. There is some solid BvP in this game but the total is pretty low. Alcantara hasn’t been as sharp of late and that’s going to make things tough in this one. Velasquez keeps surprising me so at this point, I have to consider him in my GPP pool but he just isn’t making a cash game pool, at first glance.
MIA 5-star plays: Jesus Aguilar
4-star plays: Miguel Rojas, Brian Anderson
GPP Note: Team ISO of .125 against RHPs this season.
PHI 5-star plays: Bryce Harper
4-star plays: Brad Miller, Odubel Herrera
GPP Note: Team ISO of .140 against RHPs this season.
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Pittsburgh Pirates @ Atlanta Braves (-195)
Pitchers:
Pirates – Wil Crowe
Braves – Drew Smyly
Rundown:
This game has opened with a total of 8.5. I love using LHPs against PIT so Smyly is going to be near the top of my list for GPPs and he probably makes the cut as a cash game option. The Braves bats need to wake up at some point, so why not pick on Wil Crowe a bit? He was a piece of the trade that sent Josh Bell to Washington.
PIT 5-star plays: NONE
4-star plays: Bryan Reynolds
GPP Note: Team ISO of .126 against LHPs this season.
ATL 5-star plays: Freddie Freeman
4-star plays: Ronald Acuna Jr, Austin Riley
GPP Note: Team ISO of .194 against RHPs this season.
Boston Red Sox @ Toronto Blue Jays (-130)
Pitchers:
Red Sox – Nick Pivetta
Blue Jays – Steven Matz
Rundown:
This game has opened with a total of 10. We should see plenty of offense here with a total in double-digits. Matz is somebody that I always think has upside but he’s super risky in this match-up. Pivetta has thrown really well but the Blue Jays have a TON of RH power bats to throw at him.
BOS 5-star plays: Xander Bogaerts
4-star plays: Christian Vazquez, JD Martinez
GPP Note: Team ISO of .164 against LHPs this season.
TOR 5-star plays: Bo Bichette
4-star plays: Randall Grichuk, Teoscar Hernandez
GPP Note: Team ISO of .175 against RHPs this season.
Tampa Bay Rays (-145) @ Baltimore Orioles
Pitchers:
Rays – Rich Hill
Orioles – Dean Kremer
Rundown:
This game has opened with a total of 8.5. Hill keeps shocking me so maybe I have to consider him on this slate. Tampa Bay is swinging it really well of late so I think they are in a great spot against Kremer. Mancini put up a massive stat line on Wednesday night so he’s always going to be in my pool.
TB 5-star plays: NONE
4-star plays: Yandy Diaz, Austin Meadows
GPP Note: Team ISO of .158 against RHPs this season.
BAL 5-star plays: NONE
4-star plays: Trey Mancini, Ryan Mountcastle
GPP Note: Team ISO of .152 against LHPs this season.
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Arizona Diamondbacks @ Los Angeles Dodgers
Pitchers:
D’Backs – Riley Smith
Dodgers – Trevor Bauer
Rundown:
Waiting on the Vegas information.
ARI 5-star plays: NONE
4-star plays: Ketel Marte
GPP Note: Team ISO of .150 against RHPs this season.
LAD 5-star plays: Mookie Betts
4-star plays: Justin Turner, Max Muncy
GPP Note: Team ISO of .176 against RHPs this season.
Houston Astros (-115) @ Oakland Athletics
Pitchers:
Astros – Luis Garcia
Athletics – Cole Irvin
Rundown:
This game has opened with a total of 8.5. Garcia is an arm that I tend to think higher of than the field for DFS purposes. The match-up isn’t great as day games in Oakland can be higher scoring. Irvin just keeps chugging a long as I wait for him to fail. This is a tough game to get an idea of because both SPs are capable enough but the bats really stand out for me.
HOU 5-star plays: Alex Bregman
4-star plays: Yuli Gurriel, Yordan Alvarez
GPP Note: Team ISO of .160 against LHPs this season.
OAK 5-star plays: NONE
4-star plays: Matt Olson
GPP Note: Team ISO of .160 against RHPs this season.
Stacks of the Day: Main Slate
- Los Angeles Dodgers
- Toronto Blue Jays
- Atlanta Braves
MLB DFS Dinger of the Day – Freddie Freeman, Atlanta Braves
As always I appreciate everyone who gave the article a read! Feel free to mix it up with me in our coaching forums as news breaks and lock approaches.
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