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.
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
A.J. Pollock ($2,200): Outfielder, Chicago White Sox
Pollock has struggled mightily for most of the season, as shown by his $2,500 salary drop. His current .221 batting average is well below his career .280 mark, and he has just one home run on the year.
With the price drop, he has been a high-ownership budget play over the last week for the White Sox and has come through with four-straight positive Plus/Minus games.
He is a solid bargain option at this price point against Yankees lefty Nester Cortez tonight, who may scare off some fantasy owners with his 1.35 ERA this season.
Pollock is an intriguing one-off play in GPPs if you need the salary relief.
MLB DFS FanDuel Bargain
Keibert Ruiz ($2,500): Catcher, Washington Nationals
A boom or bust bargain option, Ruiz has five 15+ FanDuel point performances since May 3.
In his first full major league season, Ruiz is batting a respectable .282 with a .375 xwOBA. His catching eye seems to work in the batter’s box, too as he is in the top-3% of the league in K%, according to Baseball Savant.
Something will have to give tonight in Milwaukee as Ruiz will take on the Twins’ strikeout machine Eric Lauer. Lauer has 49 strikeouts in 34.2 innings this season.
MLB DFS Ceiling Projection Picks
Pitcher
Robbie Ray ($8,000 DraftKings, $9,100 FanDuel) at Boston Red Sox
The projections have Ray as the clear No. 1 pitching option on the slate. He is well ahead of all other hurlers in projected points and ceiling potential as he takes on the Red Sox at Fenway.
The reigning Cy Young winner in the American League is 4-3 with a 4.62 ERA on the year in his first season with the Mariners. HIs strikeouts have been significantly down this season, but he is coming off two strong positive Plus/Minus performances.
The Red Sox are implied for 4.7 runs, but Ray’s slate-high K Prediction should hopefully give him some safety.
Hitter
Mike Trout ($5,700 DraftKings, $4,500 FanDuel) vs. Oakland Athletics
The perennial MVP candidate having the highest ceiling and projection on the slate is no surprise. The question is whether his high upside is worth the salary in your lineup today.
Trout is having another stellar season. He is batting .320 with 11 home runs already and leads the league with 32 runs scored.
He has a difficult matchup on paper tonight against Paul Blackburn of the Athletics. With a career 4.87 ERA, Blackburn has pitched out of his mind so far this season with a 4-0 record and 1.67 ERA. If you’re waiting on the bottom to fall out, Trout clearly has the potential to make that happen in Anaheim.
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 belongs to the Mets. 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.
Note: There is snow projected in the forecast for this game. Be sure to monitor the status of this game leading up to lock.
At the top of the stack is Peter Alonso, who has jumped $700 in salary over his last 10 games while posting a +3.12 Plus/Minus rating. He is 5-for-8 with two home runs and seven RBI in his last two games.
Francisco Lindor has been an on-base machine as of late. He has six walks in his last four games and three 13+ DraftKings point performances in his last five outings.
Hoping for a Friday return to the diamond, Starling Marte missed the Cardinals series for personal reasons. His average exit velocity and walk percentage have been abnormally low this season, but Marte can still produce some big games with two 25+ DraftKings point performances since May 5.
The stack finishes with Brandon Nimmo and Eduardo Escobar. Nimmo has a solid .376 xwOBA and 13.7 BB% in 2022.
Escobar is eighth in projected points for third baseman on the slate, with the 20th highest salary. He should be a solid low-budget bargain play.
The Mets get the Colorado boost today as they take on Rockies right-hander German Marquez in the mile-high city. Marquez is 1-3 on the year with a 6.16 ERA. He has given up at least three earned runs in all but one of his seven starts.
