Thursday, May 20, has a variety of short slates with teams preparing to travel to their upcoming weekend series. Tonight’s five-game main slate is frontloaded with four games in the 7 o’clock hour. There was another no-hitter last night, which brings the total to six nine-inning no-nos. Do not worry; there are still lineup stacks worth targeting and pitchers worth attacking. 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, Thursday, May 20th
Yahoo Stack of the Day: Miami Marlins at RHP Vincent Velasquez — 3.8 implied runs
Citizens Bank Park should provide an offensive boost for the Marlins, as they play most of their home games with the roof closed in Marlins Park. Vincent Velasquez is no stranger to the Spotlight Hitters and Stacks series given his propensity for allowing home runs. Though he has above-average surface statistics — a 3.68 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP — danger lies beneath. With seven home runs allowed in his last five starts, he is now averaging 2.15 HR/9 and a dangerous 5.8 BB/9 rate. While his 11.35 K/9 rate is outstanding, challenging hitters as he does always has him flirting with disaster.
With the relatively short five-game main slate, gamers need to find some value options with upside among the 10 teams in the player pool. This looks like the perfect spot to go home run hunting with Adam Duvall ($14) and Corey Dickerson ($11), who have excellent power against right-handed hurlers. While a full stack is not advisable, it can easily be achieved with Brian Anderson ($8) and Jesus Aguilar ($19). The seemingly inflated salary for Aguilar, along with the opportunity cost of using the first base slot in a game with a sub-4.0 total, is going to keep most gamers at bay.
Early Slate
Tampa Bay Rays at RHP Dean Kremer — 5.0 implied runs
The Tampa Bay stack certainly paid off in the first two games of this series with 22 runs and eight home runs among the 13 extra-base hits. While Dean Kremer has had to face the Yankees three times and the Red Sox, he had two early-season starts against the woeful Mariners offense and yet still has a 5.81 ERA and eight home runs allowed over 31 innings. This afternoon will mark just the 12th start in The Show for Kremer. Even with the early start, it is already going to be in the low- to mid-80s in Camden Yards for the first pitch.
Gamers will be flocking to this matchup, though they will naturally be focusing on the obvious power upside of Ji-Min Choi, Austin Meadows, Brandon Lowe and Randy Arozarena. Gamers should not shy away from those batsmen, but differentiation at the bottom of the order with Kevin Kiermaier, Francisco Mejia and Brett Phillips is just fine. This trio has above-average pop, provides salary relief and can still be used in a synergistic strategy as a wrap-around stack.
Afternoon Slate
Wrigley Field Fun — 10.0 implied runs
It is going to be in the low-80s this afternoon in Wrigley Field, and there is a 15 to 18 mph wind blowing out to left field. On the mound will be a pair of right-handers in Joe Ross and Trevor Williams. Ross is a little bit better against righties but a little worse against lefties. This duo has above-average walk rates, below-average strikeout rates while allowing above-average power.
The Nationals targets are going to be the usual suspects, with Trea Turner, Juan Soto and Ryan Zimmerman leading the way. Kyle Schwarber should be batting cleanup, and he is very familiar with the hitting conditions in Chicago.
When looking at the hometown team, literally anyone making the lineup is in play. Naturally, gamers will want to focus on power, which will be the top of the order with Joc Pederson, Kris Bryant, Javier Baez and Willson Contreras. Anthony Rizzo is dealing with a sore back and may not be in the lineup. That would likely result in the promotion of Ian Happ or the currently hot-as-the-sun Matt Duffy into a prime position in the batting order.
Final Thoughts for the Thursday, May 20th MLB DFS Slate
There is beautiful weather across the country, which is creating some excellent hitting environments in Oakland and in Florida (where Toronto is playing their home games) in addition to the locations detailed above. There is a condensed main slate and just one late game, so be sure to register for contests early. 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.