For Monday, May 17, all eyes will be on baseball with the NBA taking a day off before its postseason begins on Tuesday. Today there are several exploitable matchups, which should make tournaments a lot of fun. Let’s get into the top MLB DFS picks for hitters and stacks for Yahoo, DraftKings and FanDuel.
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MLB DFS Picks: Spotlight Hitters and Stacks, Monday, May 17h
Yahoo Stack of the Day: Chicago Whites Sox at LHP J.A. Happ – 4.8 implied runs
Everyone knows the drill: Target Happ with right-handed batsmen and wait for the home runs. Over his last 752 matchups against opposite-handed batters, Happ has allowed 1.87 HR/9, a 44.0% fly-ball rate and a 15.6% home run/flyball rate.
Yahoo is ahead of the game, goosing the salaries for Tim Anderson and Jose Abreu to $20 each, but they are still top targets tonight. Over the last two-plus seasons Anderson has a .409 wOBA and a .235 ISO against southpaws, while Abreu is even better with .411 and .278 in the same timeframe. Yermin Mercedes and Andrew Vaughn do not have much of a track record in The Show, but the early returns have been promising. Though he will be at the bottom of the order, Billy Hamilton provides salary relief and still has stolen base upside even in his part-time role. Finally, though Leury Garcia is never exciting, he is near the minimum salary across all the DFS sites and there is a decent chance will be batting second behind Anderson.
Main Slate
New York Yankees at RHP Jordan Lyles — 5.1 implied runs
The Yankees are down a few key players: Aaron Hicks is on the injured list with a wrist issue, Gleyber Torres is in the health and safety protocol, and Giancarlo Stanton is managing a quad injury. Depending on the status of Stanton and Gio Urshela, who has been working through knee soreness, there could be several discounted bats featured prominently in the lineup.
Across only eight starts spanning 38.0 innings this season, Jordan Lyles has already allowed nine home runs. Across his last 453 righty/lefty matchups, he has ceded a 1.77 HR/9, .224 ISO and an unsightly 12.1% walk rate. In that same time period, righties have had a field day as well with a 1.74 HR/9 and a .206 ISO.
In true Yankee fashion, even when they are short-handed, they are still a power-packed lineup. The obvious targets are the top of the order with Stanton, Urshela, Aaron Judge and D.J. LeMahieu as the leading options. For differentiation, gamers can roll with Luke Voit, Brett Gardner and Clint Frazier. Whoever is in the lineup at catcher between Kyle Higashioka or Gary Sanchez is also in play.
Late Slate
Seattle Mariners vs. RHP Casey Mize — 4.4 implied runs
Tonight the Mariners are a viable option on all slates in their matchup with Casey Mize. Mize made the jump from Double-A to The Show in the pandemic-shortened season. With only 123.0 innings in the minors, he has been getting some rough, on-the-job training after being thrown in the deep end of the pool. Projection systems have him slotting in as a mid-rotation starter, albeit with some power issues, particularly against lefties.
The top of the Seattle lineup is looking formidable with everyone healthy and the debut of rookie outfielder Jarred Kelenic, who is a top-five MLB prospect with favorable comparisons to Bryce Harper. Though he has hits in just one game since making his debut on Thursday, it was an impressive glimpse of his potential, as he went 3-for-4 with two doubles and his first career home run.
Kyle Seager has had a bit of a power resurgence with eight home runs, putting him on pace for a career-high 31 dingers. Mitch Haniger is healthy after missing 18 months, including all of last year, and he has a league-leading 12 home runs after hitting a pair this weekend. Three have been off lefties, and the other nine have come at the expense of same-handed hurlers. Kyle Lewis is arguably the Mariners’ best hitter, and he still only has 351 career at-bats under his belt. On the late slate look to J.P. Crawford or Jose Marmolejos, as one of the lefties is likely to see a boost in the batting order against Mize.
Final Thoughts for the Monday, May 17th MLB DFS Slate
There are no concerning weather issues, so everything should be all systems go. As always, keep in mind that salaries and scoring formats differ across the various fantasy sites, and a home run play on Yahoo may be a below-average MLB DFS pick on DraftKings or FanDuel.
