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The top daily fantasy baseball lineup picks for FanDuel and DraftKings on May 22, 2022. Thunder Dan's MLB DFS analysis and sleepers for building optimal DFS rosters.
Another solid Sunday of baseball lies ahead and here I find myself writing our signature Free MLB DFS picks piece for the third straight day! I don't usually write this piece but I've been pinch-hitting for a different team member each day and I've been actually really enjoying it as a nice change of pace from my usual MLB premium daily content.
I had someone on Twitter send me a DM just yesterday saying they won some decent money off my Darin Ruf call and I was thrilled to see that! The irony is that I ended up with only a few shares of him by the time my final lineups were made on Friday, but I am always happy when readers or premium members hit big with their lineups. Yesterday's pitching picks did well and Luis Urias got us a home run for our bats, but I whiffed on a few picks too and was apparently on the right track with righties vs. Hunter Greene but had the wrong player (I picked Springer) since it was Bo Bichette who homered twice.
As always, this article will provide my daily fantasy baseball lineup picks for DraftKings and FanDuel on Sunday, 5/22/2022. The lineup picks will range from some elite high-priced players to mid-priced options, and value plays. I'll give you a few of my top pitching options and then some infielders, outfielders, and teams to stack! You can also read more DFS advice and lineup picks for other sports here. It's also essential to monitor injury news and today's MLB starting lineups. Now that we got all of that out of the way, it's onto the picks!
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DraftKings, FanDuel Pitchers - MLB DFS Lineup Picks
Freddy Peralta, MIL vs. WAS ($10,500 DK, $10,500 FD)
The top tier of pitchers comes down to three aces for me today and it's between Peralta, Logan Gilbert, and Sandy Alcantara. I'm fading Gilbert due to the match-up with Boston, but I have a ton of interest in Sandy against Atlanta, especially on DraftKings where he's only $8800. On FanDuel, where Peralta and Sandy are almost the same prices, give me Peralta who has rounded into form nicely over his last few starts and coming off his longest outing (7 IP) of the season. He struck out 10 Braves in that one and was allowed to throw 102 pitches. He has the best match-up of any ace today against Washington and as long as you have the salary to afford him, he's my top option for cash games.
Yusei Kikuchi, TOR vs. CIN ($6,900 DK, $8,200 FD)
I'm hoping that people are sleeping on "the Kuch" today but I am not sure they will be. Or maybe everyone who plays MLB DFS will read this article today and I am hurting myself by inflating his ownership? That's probably not the case! But anyway, Kikuchi has quietly righted the ship and turned in three straight solid starts his last three times out, and two of those were against a really good Yankees lineup. It seems as if Pete Walker in Toronto can fix anyone (other than Jose Berrios maybe) and might be working the same magic that he worked on Robbie Ray on Kikuchi this time. The match-up here against the Reds is a good one as they continue to be a bottom-five offense and our guy Manoah breezed right through them yesterday. I'd fire up Kikuchi with confidence as my SP2 on DraftKings and his FD price makes him a compelling option for tournaments.
Also consider: Sandy Alcantara vs. ATL, Shane Bieber vs. DET, Brady Singer vs. MIN
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DraftKings, FanDuel Infielders - MLB DFS Lineup Picks
Rowdy Tellez - 1B, MIL vs. Aaron Sanchez ($4,300 DK, $3,000 FD)
What if I told you that you could get a top-15 hitter for only 3k on FanDuel today? Crazy, right? If you haven't joined the Rowdy bandwagon, there's still time to jump on. The burly left-handed big man has mashed nine homers and driven in 32 runs already this year and is facing a high-contact sinker pitcher here in Sanchez. Rowdy can elevate the sinker with his uppercut swing and is a great bet for multiple bases (I'm literally going to be betting his over 1.5 total bases prop) and maybe even another dinger.
Corey Seager - SS, TEX vs. Jose Urquidy ($4,700 DK, $3,500 FD)
Seager's power surge from late April and early May seems to have to transferred over to his teammate Kole Calhoun (more on him in a minute), but the Texas shortstop has still been the most consistent hitter in this lineup and is riding an eight-game hitting streak. He's a solid cash play today with his ability to get on base and I think the Texas lefties have some decent HR upside against Urquidy, who has been pretty poor thus far in 2022.
Adley Rutschman - C, BAL vs. Corey Kluber ($2,000 DK, $2,400 FD)
Sometimes you have to point out an obvious play even when it's obvious. Maybe you already knew that Baltimore called up their top prospect yesterday, or maybe you didn't. I'm not here to judge. But anyway, Rutschman wasn't even in the player pool yesterday on DraftKings, which irked some folks. At least they got him in there today, but they slapped a min-price tag on him and now he's going to be massive chalk since he tripled and walked yesterday and is averaging 10 DK points per game. On DK where you have to play a catcher, just click on him and take the savings and move on. I think an interesting move on FanDuel would be to play him there since no one ever plays catchers on FanDuel and he won't have anywhere near the ownership that he will see on DK.
DraftKings, FanDuel Outfielders - MLB DFS Lineup Picks
Cody Bellinger - OF, LAD vs. Zach Eflin ($4,100 DK, $2,700 FD)
I want to spotlight some less obvious plays in the outfield today, so let's start with Bellinger here, who actually sports the best ISO against RHP of any Dodger this season. He's struggling with contact, as evidenced by his .215 batting average, but Belly is getting good results when he does square the ball up with five home runs already. He's also swiping bases with four steals and has collected six hits over his last three games. While Eflin has been solid against righties and gets a bunch of ground balls, he's still vulnerable to lefties and Belly has the type of launch angle we are looking for when hunting homers.
Chas McCormick - OF, HOU vs. Taylor Hearn ($3,100 DK, $2,900 FD)
Anytime we get Houston vs. a lefty, we tend to see people load up on Jose Altuve and Alex Bregman. But I really like targeting the bottom of their lineup with guys like Yuli Gurriel, Jeremy Pena, Jose Siri, and this man - Mr. Chas McCormick. He's pretty sneaky today, especially if he hits like eighth instead of up at the top of the lineup. He has a .348 wOBA against LHP this year and his batted ball profile looks tremendous against Hearn's fastball/slider combo.
Kevin Kiermaier - OF, TBR vs. Spenser Watkins ($2,900 DK, $2,300 FD)
Kiermaier is officially scalding hot right now, collecting three hits in each of his last three games. At one point, he looked like the most promising outfield prospect in the Rays system, and then he evaporated into a platoon player with some speed and the occasional home run. But you really can't ignore what he's doing with the bat recently, nor do I want to ignore how bad Spenser Watkins is as a pitcher. I love the Rays today and I like how inexpensive they are as a team stack, too. Make sure he's in your Rays' builds or use him as a punt in cash games.
Kole Calhoun - OF, TEX vs. Jose Urquidy ($2,600 DK, $2,300 FD)
I'll admit, I didn't see this coming from Calhoun at all, but he's having one of the better months of any hitter in baseball right now. He's now up to six home runs and 14 RBI and has moved his way up in the lineup to the five-hole, giving him a nice chance to increase his RBI totals. I think we can finally jump on some Texas bats today as they get the worst Houston starter on the hill here in Urquidy, who is carrying a 5.63 xFIP into this one. He's also giving up a 51.3% FB% to lefties so far this year and that lines up nicely with Calhoun's ability to elevate the ball off RHP.
DraftKings, FanDuel MLB DFS Stacks
Tampa Bay Rays vs. Spenser Watkins
This is probably a chalky spot, but I am not sure how you don't target a pitcher who has an xFIP of 6.92 with a walk rate (11%) that is higher than his strikeout rate (10%). I didn't write up that many Rays today (just Kiermaier), but the entire lineup is really in play here as Watkins has been that bad. He's been exceptionally bad to RHH so far this year with a .436 wOBA allowed to righties so don't forget to use guys like Yandy Diaz, Mike Zunino, or Randy Arozarena (who homered twice yesterday) in your builds.
Milwaukee Brewers vs. Aaron Sanchez
Once in a while, Sanchez will troll you when you stack against him as all groundball pitchers can do. But I don't think he does that today. He's carrying a 5.39 xFIP and is striking out only 12% of opposing hitters. He relies on those ground balls a ton and allows a lot of very hard contact.
The problem for Sanchez here is that Wong, Yelich, Tellez, and Narvaez all hit the sinker extremely well and if they keep it off the ground, they are going to hit the gaps with some of those batted balls or send some over the fence. Jace Peterson could crack the lineup, too, and Luis Urias is a guy who can hit anyone as a righty that I would include in your Milwaukee stacks, too.
I hope I gave you a head start on your research today and I wish you the best of luck! If you ever have questions about DFS or fantasy baseball, my DMs are always open and I appreciate you taking the time to read my picks today.
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