MLB DFS Main Slate Advice | Picks, Stacks, Strategy Projections Today May 12th | Fanduel Draftkings

Get your MLB DFS research started with DFS Army’s Full Count! Pitching advice, stack strategy, home run calls, and everything you need.

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 Mike aka @MadnessDFS 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!

Full Slate Breakdown Picks for MLB DFS 5/12:

My Take on an Optimal MLB DFS Process – Looking at Pitchers

I always start an MLB DFS 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.

• Dylan Cease – Carnage Report ranking #1
  • Cease looks like the top pitcher on the main slate and it’s not all that close. He’s the top-rated pitcher on the Carnage Report and has a 32% strikeout rate going back to the start of last season and has at least 21 DraftKings points in all but one start on the season.
•  Zack Wheeler – Carnage Report ranking #2
  • Wheeler is the second-rated pitcher on the Carnage Report and will be a guy I like going back to here as well. I don’t love the matchup with the Dodgers but he’s been in good form with at least 27 DraftKings points in back-to-back starts.
• Luis Gil – Carnage Report ranking N/A
  • Gil won’t rate on the Carnage Report with it being his first MLB start of the season. That being said, I think he makes a lot of sense as a cheap option if you need one. In his brief MLB stint last season he flashed a 29.5% strikeout rate and has been no stranger to strikeouts in the minors.

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Early MLB Slate Player Projections and Stacks:

New York Mets (-157) @ Washington Nationals (+133)

Implied Run Totals:

Mets – 4.8 IRT

Nationals – 3.9 IRT

Rundown:

We’ll start in Washington where Taijun Walker will get the start for the Mets. Walker got lit up by the Phillies last time out but should be off of his pitch count that he was previously on and gets a great bounce-back spot here. The Nats lineup doesn’t scare me outside of the top three or four of the lineup and even that is a little below average. He’s a fine value option as an SP2 on this early slate. Joan Adon will start for Washington and has a 6.99 ERA on the season… not great Bob. He has the biggest hard contact rate on the slate as well at 39%, so the Mets stack will look great, I don’t think we need to go to Adon here.

NYM 5-star plays: Starling Marte, Franciso Lindor

4-star plays: Peter Alonso, Brandon Nimmo

GPP Note: The Mets will look like a great stack to kick off this day of baseball.

WAS 5-star plays: Juan Soto

4-star plays: Cesar Hernandez, Josh Bell, Nelson Cruz

GPP Note: Pitching isn’t great on the early slate, so I’ll probably get to some Walker, but that doesn’t mean the Nats are out of play.

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Oakland Athletics (-105) @ Detroit Tigers (-115)

Implied Run Totals:

Athletics – 3.8 IRT

Tigers – 3.9 IRT

Rundown:

James Kaprielian will get the start for the A’s in a great matchup against this Tigers team. He had his best start of the season last time out and has a 25% strikeout rate going back to the start of last season… he’s probably my favorite pitching option on the early slate. Beau Brieske will start for the Tigers, and I’ll continue to stream pitchers against this A’s lineup, so no issue going right back to that here. The only issue with Brieske is he’s not a huge strikeout guy, but again, pitching on the early is not pretty so we have to get a little creative.

OAK 5-star plays: None

4-star plays: Sheldon Neuse, Ramon Laureano

GPP Note: Mini-stack at best, this lineup is sooo ugly.

DET 5-star plays: Austin Meadows

4-star plays: Javier Baez, Robbie Grossman

GPP Note: I’ll have a lot of Kaprielian here, so more of a leverage/hedge stack than anything.

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Baltimore Orioles (-) @ St. Louis Cardinals (-)

Implied Run Totals:

Orioles – NA IRT

Cardinals – NA IRT

Rundown:

Keegan Akin will take the mound for the Orioles and gets a really rough matchup against a Cardinals team that is smoking left-handed pitching to start the season. The numbers for Akin look good on the surface with a 1.96 ERA, but just a 19% strikeout rate and I’m expecting some regression with his ERA being 5.88 if we go back to the start of last season. I’ll have a ton of interest in the Cardinals stack here. Jordan Hicks will start for the Cards and looks like a solid enough option on this slate, he has a 25% strikeout rate going back to the start of last season.

BAL 5-star plays: None

4-star plays: Cedric Mullins, Austin Hayes, Trey Mancini

GPP Note: I’ll have more Hicks than anything here.

STL 5-star plays: Paul Goldschmidt, Nolan Arenado, Tyler O’Neill

4-star plays: Tommy Edman, Dylan Carlson

GPP Note: The Cardinals are looking like the top stack on the early slate for me.

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Houston Astros (-134) @ Minnesota Twins (+112)

Implied Run Totals:

Astros – 4.6 IRT

Twins – 4.1 IRT

Rundown:

Luis Garcia will take the mound for Houston and has two straight quality starts and will look like a solid option in all formats. This Twins lineup is striking out at a 23.4% rate on the season. Josh Winder will get the start for Minnesota and has been sneaky good as of late. He has back-to-back wins and quality starts and a sub-2.00 ERA. The matchup sucks against the Astros, but will still be a guy I have interest in here at the very least.

HOU 5-star plays: Yordan Alvarez

4-star plays: Michael Brantley, Alex Bregman, Kyle Tucker

GPP Note: This is a great lineup and even though I think Winder is sneaky, I like the Astros more than anything.

MIN 5-star plays: Byron Buxton

4-star plays: Max Kepler, Jorge Polanco

GPP Note: I’d probably be more on a mini-stack here than anything, but in play nonetheless.

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Main MLB Slate Player Projections and Stacks:

Cincinnati Reds (+110) @ Pittsburgh Pirates (-132)

Implied Run Totals:

Reds – 3.9 IRT

Pirates – 4.3 IRT

Rundown:

Connor Overton will kick off the night slate of games as he takes the mound against the Pirates here. Overton has been fine this season with 22 FanDuel points in both starts this season and gets a great matchup in a pitcher’s park. I have no issue getting to him if you’re hurting for a pitcher. JT Brubaker will start for Pittsburgh and is coming off of a great game against the Reds last time out. He would be my preferred of the two options in this game, but would probably look to avoid both of these guys if I can.

CIN 5-star plays: None

4-star plays: Mike Moustakas, Tyler Naquin, Tommy Pham

GPP Note: This Reds lineup has some sneaky upside as we saw yesterday, but not a priority stack by any means.

PIT 5-star plays: Bryan Reynolds

4-star plays: Ke’Bryan Hayes, Ben Gamel

GPP Note: I would probably prefer this side of the game for stacking purposes as well, but again, not a priority.

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Kansas City Royals (+118) @ Texas Rangers (-138)

Implied Run Totals:

Royals – 4.0 IRT

Rangers – 4.6 IRT

Rundown:

Jon Heasley will get the start for Kansas City in this one and will make his first start of the season after posting a 4.44 ERA and a 29.1% strikeout rate in AAA this season. He’d be more of a GPP SP2 option than anything just due to the upside he has with the strikeout rate, but extremely volatile. Taylor Hearn will get the ball for the Rangers and had a great game last time out but not a guy I really want to go back to here. I always have a soft spot for Royals stacks due to their ability to run and hit homers, so I’ll probably go that route instead of getting to Hearn. One side note as well… we might finally be entering a Whit Merrifield heater.

KCR 5-star plays: Bobby Witt Jr., Whit Merrifield

4-star plays: Hunter Dozier, Andrew Benintendi

GPP Note: I’ll like this Royals stack a good amount here against Hearn.

TEX 5-star plays: Corey Seager

4-star plays: Marcus Semien, Adolis Garcia

GPP Note: I have no issue going to the Rangers stack here either, the matchup looks great.

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New York Yankees (+124) @ Chicago White Sox (-144)

Implied Run Totals:

Yankees – 3.8IRT

White Sox – 4.4 IRT

Rundown:

We get a pretty solid pitching matchup here as Luis Gil and Dylan Cease will square off. Gil will be getting his first start of the season and is a really interesting option here, we’ve seen a huge strikeout rate from him in the past, and brings some nice upside with him. He has a 29.5% strikeout rate in his career between the minors and his brief stint in the majors last season, he’ll be a nice SP2 option for GPPs at the very least. Cease is pretty easily the top pitcher on the slate for me, he has at least 21 DraftKings points in five of his six starts on the year and has a slate high 32% strikeout rate on the season as well.

NYY 5-star plays: Anthony Rizzo

4-star plays: Giancarlo Stanton, Aaron Judge

GPP Note: I like Cease more than this Yankees stack, but no issue hedging with them due to their ability to hit the ball out of the ballpark.

CHW 5-star plays: Tim Anderson, Luis Robert

4-star plays: Jose Abreu, Yoan Moncada

GPP Note: I like the firepower we see in this lineup and would have no issue with any stack against Gil making his season debut.

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Philadelphia Phillies (+120) @ Los Angeles Dodgers (-139)

Implied Run Totals:

Phillies – 3.8 IRT

Dodgers – 4.4 IRT

Rundown:

We’ll round the slate out with Zack Wheeler heading into Dodger Stadium to face this Dodgers lineup. Wheeler has been in really good form as of late with at least 27.1 DraftKings points in back-to-back games. I never love targeting pitchers against this Dodgers team, but he’s more than useable on this short slate. Tyler Anderson will start for the Dodgers and looks solid enough here. He’s shown some nice consistency on the season but not exactly a ton of upside, he’s probably more of a cash option, but a solid option nonetheless.

PHI 5-star plays: Nick Castellanos

4-star plays: Kyle Schwarber, Bryce Harper, JT Realmuto

GPP Note: I think Anderson will do a good enough job limiting hard contact, but I do still like some of these Phillies bats and won’t talk you off of a stack.

LAD 5-star plays: Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts

4-star plays: Trea Turner, Max Muncy

GPP Note: Similar to the Phillies, they’re not a priority stack for me but due to the firepower they have, they’ll look good at the very least.

Stacks of the Day: Main MLB Slate 

1. Kansas City Royals
2. Texas Rangers
3. Chicago White Sox

MLB DFS Dinger of the Day – Whit Merrifield (DK – $4.2k; FD – $2.6k)

Merrifield finally broke out of his slump last night with a massive night against the Rangers. I’m going right back to the well here in hopes that kick starts him for the season and he gets a great matchup against a weak lefty in Taylor Hearn in a great hitting environment. Tweet me (@MadnessDFS) your dinger predictions and if you’re right I’ll give you a shoutout on Twitter, let’s have some fun with this!

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