Our Blog


MLB DFS Model Picks (Monday, May 2): Can the Mariners Continue to Surprise?

The FantasyLabs MLB Player Models have numerous data points to help you construct your MLB DFS rosters.

They house our floor, median, and ceiling projections for each player, but that’s just the beginning of what you’ll find inside. You’ll also find our Trends tool, stacking tool, and more.

Also, don’t forget that for large-field tournaments, you can utilize our Lineup Optimizer to effortlessly create up to 150 lineups, or use our Lineup Builder if you like to hand-build your teams for cash games or small-field tournaments.

Now, let’s dive into some MLB plays that stand out in our Player Models for today’s main slate.

Start Your PRO Trial Today

Lineup builder and optimizer

Real-time DFS models

Data-driven analysis & tutorials

Bargain Rating Picks

You might be asking: what is Bargain Rating, and why should I care?

Bargain Rating shows how much of a bargain a player is on one DFS site versus others. If a player is significantly cheaper on one site than the other, they will have a favorable Bargain Rating on the site where they’re more affordable and a poor Bargain Rating on the site where they’re more expensive. It’s a straightforward metric, but targeting players at reduced price tags is almost always a strong strategy in DFS.

Bargain Rating strongly correlates with player value, which you can quickly see with our predictive projected Plus/Minus metric.

Seeing how Plus/Minus helps you project how many points a player is expected to score compared to what their salary implies them to score, this is a good company for Bargain Rating.

MLB DFS DraftKings Bargain

Ryan Mountcastle ($2,900): First Baseman, Baltimore Orioles

Several Baltimore hitters are high on the Bargain Ratings today against Minnesota.

Mountcastle’s salary has dropped throughout the season from a high of $4,300. He has been steady when swinging at the plate with a .327 xBA, but his minimal walk totals have lowered his on-base statistics and DFS floor considerably.

Don’t expect a tournament-winning breakout performance from Mountcastle, but he does have a +2.13 Plus/Minus rating over his last 10 games. He could be a safe low-budget play today against Chris Paddack and the Twins.


MLB DFS FanDuel Bargain

Jazz Chisholm Jr. ($3,000): Second Baseman/Shortstop, Miami Marlins

In just his second full year in the big leagues, Chisholm came out of the gates on fire with six 20+ point FanDuel performances in his first 12 games, including a massive 56.10 total on April 23.

Since that game, he has maintained consistent production at the plate but without a high-upside result. The 24-year-old is in the top 5% of big-league hitters with a .433 wOBA and adds production with his feet. He leads the league with three triples and has already tacked on four stolen bases this season.

Zac Gallen has been tremendous thus far on the mound for the Diamondbacks, but look for a big result from Chisholm Jr. tonight for the price tag.

MLB DFS Ceiling Projection Picks

Pitcher

Chris Bassitt ($9,600 DraftKings, $10,000 FanDuel) vs. Atlanta Braves

The 33-year-old veteran right-hander has gotten better with age, making his first All-Star team last season.

Coming off a stellar 12-4 season in Oakland, Bassitt is off to a hot start in his first season with the Mets. He is 3-1 with a 2.25 ERA, and opposing batters have managed just a 2.49 wOBA.

Bassitt has the highest strikeout prediction on the slate with the wind blowing in. Expect him to produce another top-end performance against a Braves team with one of the lowest implied run totals on the slate.


Hitter

Aaron Judge ($5,800 DraftKings, $4,400 FanDuel) at Toronto Blue Jays

Judge is simply on a tear. He has seven home runs and 14 RBI over his last eight games. Five of those games were 18+ point DraftKings performances.

Few players in the league have the upside that Judge possesses. He is in the top 5% of the league in wOBA, xSLG, and max EV, according to Baseball Savant.

The Yankees have the highest implied run total on this short slate in Toronto. They will face Ross Stripling on the mound, who gave up 23 home runs in 101.1 innings pitched last season.

Get Your First Deposit Matched Up to $100!

Sign up and deposit up to $100

Your deposit will be fully matched

New users only

Top Stacking Pick from THE BAT X

One of the great features of being a FantasyLabs Pro member is the option to purchase additional items in the FantasyLabs Marketplace.

A new addition to our MLB projections is THE BAT from Derek Carty of RotoGrinders. With this purchase, you can use his projections alone or create aggregate projections within our Player Models.

The top five-man DraftKings stack from THE BAT using projected points in our stacking tool comes from the Seattle Mariners. When you load them into our Lineup Builder, you’ll have the option to hand-build the rest of your team or optimize the rest of it.

 

The Mariners don’t often scream offensive production, but they have surprised thus far in 2022. As a team, they currently sit fifth in the league in OPS and eighth in runs scored.

Ty France leads the team with five home runs and 21 RBI. He is hitting .333 on the year but is looking to break a streak of six straight negative Plus/Minus performances.

The biggest surprise on the Mariners, J.P. Crawford has been incredible thus far. He is among league leaders with a .372 batting average and 1.091 OPS. He already has 10 multi-hit games on the season and a +4.78 Plus/Minus rating over his last 10 games.

On the other hand, the remaining trio on the stack is looking to reverse course from sub-par starts in 2022.

Adam Frazier has struggled to produce with a .297 wOBA. Jesse Winker has just four multi-hit games on the season, but two have come in his last two outings. Eugenio Suarez has posted the highest strikeout percentage of his career and is hitting just .215.

Seattle will take on Jake Odorizzi in Houston with a strong Weather Rating. Odorizzi has disappointed in 2022 with a 6.00 ERA and just nine strikeouts in 15.0 innings. The Mariners should be able to put the bat on the ball tonight to provide some strong stack potential in lineups.

The FantasyLabs MLB Player Models have numerous data points to help you construct your MLB DFS rosters.

They house our floor, median, and ceiling projections for each player, but that’s just the beginning of what you’ll find inside. You’ll also find our Trends tool, stacking tool, and more.

Also, don’t forget that for large-field tournaments, you can utilize our Lineup Optimizer to effortlessly create up to 150 lineups, or use our Lineup Builder if you like to hand-build your teams for cash games or small-field tournaments.

Now, let’s dive into some MLB plays that stand out in our Player Models for today’s main slate.

Start Your PRO Trial Today

Lineup builder and optimizer

Real-time DFS models

Data-driven analysis & tutorials

Bargain Rating Picks

You might be asking: what is Bargain Rating, and why should I care?

Bargain Rating shows how much of a bargain a player is on one DFS site versus others. If a player is significantly cheaper on one site than the other, they will have a favorable Bargain Rating on the site where they’re more affordable and a poor Bargain Rating on the site where they’re more expensive. It’s a straightforward metric, but targeting players at reduced price tags is almost always a strong strategy in DFS.

Bargain Rating strongly correlates with player value, which you can quickly see with our predictive projected Plus/Minus metric.

Seeing how Plus/Minus helps you project how many points a player is expected to score compared to what their salary implies them to score, this is a good company for Bargain Rating.

MLB DFS DraftKings Bargain

Ryan Mountcastle ($2,900): First Baseman, Baltimore Orioles

Several Baltimore hitters are high on the Bargain Ratings today against Minnesota.

Mountcastle’s salary has dropped throughout the season from a high of $4,300. He has been steady when swinging at the plate with a .327 xBA, but his minimal walk totals have lowered his on-base statistics and DFS floor considerably.

Don’t expect a tournament-winning breakout performance from Mountcastle, but he does have a +2.13 Plus/Minus rating over his last 10 games. He could be a safe low-budget play today against Chris Paddack and the Twins.


MLB DFS FanDuel Bargain

Jazz Chisholm Jr. ($3,000): Second Baseman/Shortstop, Miami Marlins

In just his second full year in the big leagues, Chisholm came out of the gates on fire with six 20+ point FanDuel performances in his first 12 games, including a massive 56.10 total on April 23.

Since that game, he has maintained consistent production at the plate but without a high-upside result. The 24-year-old is in the top 5% of big-league hitters with a .433 wOBA and adds production with his feet. He leads the league with three triples and has already tacked on four stolen bases this season.

Zac Gallen has been tremendous thus far on the mound for the Diamondbacks, but look for a big result from Chisholm Jr. tonight for the price tag.

MLB DFS Ceiling Projection Picks

Pitcher

Chris Bassitt ($9,600 DraftKings, $10,000 FanDuel) vs. Atlanta Braves

The 33-year-old veteran right-hander has gotten better with age, making his first All-Star team last season.

Coming off a stellar 12-4 season in Oakland, Bassitt is off to a hot start in his first season with the Mets. He is 3-1 with a 2.25 ERA, and opposing batters have managed just a 2.49 wOBA.

Bassitt has the highest strikeout prediction on the slate with the wind blowing in. Expect him to produce another top-end performance against a Braves team with one of the lowest implied run totals on the slate.


Hitter

Aaron Judge ($5,800 DraftKings, $4,400 FanDuel) at Toronto Blue Jays

Judge is simply on a tear. He has seven home runs and 14 RBI over his last eight games. Five of those games were 18+ point DraftKings performances.

Few players in the league have the upside that Judge possesses. He is in the top 5% of the league in wOBA, xSLG, and max EV, according to Baseball Savant.

The Yankees have the highest implied run total on this short slate in Toronto. They will face Ross Stripling on the mound, who gave up 23 home runs in 101.1 innings pitched last season.

Get Your First Deposit Matched Up to $100!

Sign up and deposit up to $100

Your deposit will be fully matched

New users only

Top Stacking Pick from THE BAT X

One of the great features of being a FantasyLabs Pro member is the option to purchase additional items in the FantasyLabs Marketplace.

A new addition to our MLB projections is THE BAT from Derek Carty of RotoGrinders. With this purchase, you can use his projections alone or create aggregate projections within our Player Models.

The top five-man DraftKings stack from THE BAT using projected points in our stacking tool comes from the Seattle Mariners. When you load them into our Lineup Builder, you’ll have the option to hand-build the rest of your team or optimize the rest of it.

 

The Mariners don’t often scream offensive production, but they have surprised thus far in 2022. As a team, they currently sit fifth in the league in OPS and eighth in runs scored.

Ty France leads the team with five home runs and 21 RBI. He is hitting .333 on the year but is looking to break a streak of six straight negative Plus/Minus performances.

The biggest surprise on the Mariners, J.P. Crawford has been incredible thus far. He is among league leaders with a .372 batting average and 1.091 OPS. He already has 10 multi-hit games on the season and a +4.78 Plus/Minus rating over his last 10 games.

On the other hand, the remaining trio on the stack is looking to reverse course from sub-par starts in 2022.

Adam Frazier has struggled to produce with a .297 wOBA. Jesse Winker has just four multi-hit games on the season, but two have come in his last two outings. Eugenio Suarez has posted the highest strikeout percentage of his career and is hitting just .215.

Seattle will take on Jake Odorizzi in Houston with a strong Weather Rating. Odorizzi has disappointed in 2022 with a 6.00 ERA and just nine strikeouts in 15.0 innings. The Mariners should be able to put the bat on the ball tonight to provide some strong stack potential in lineups.

About the Author

Ben Strunk writes MLB and NFL DFS content for FantasyLabs. He earned bachelor's degrees in journalism and sports management at Ohio University and a masters in sport management from the University of Florida. Strunk has written for a variety of media outlets, including The Gainesville Sun over his career. He has more than a decade of fantasy sports experience and aims to provide data-driven analysis in a clear, efficient voice. Outside of fantasy sports, Strunk is a long time sports card collector, high school sports official, and ultrarunner.