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Fantasy Baseball Rankings: DraftKings MLB DFS Picks for May 17

Matt Meiselman ranks the top fantasy baseball plays in each salary range for Monday’s main DraftKings MLB slate.

Los Angeles Angels center fielder Mike Trout rounds the bases after hitting a solo home run against the Tampa Bay Rays during the sixth inning at Angel Stadium. Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Monday’s main DraftKings MLB slate starts at 7:10 p.m. ET. For up-to-the-minute news related to today’s DraftKings MLB slate, download the DK Live app and follow DK Live on Twitter at @dklive.

The idea of this fantasy baseball rankings page is to rank the top DraftKings options in each salary range, helping you make quick decisions when debating which players to roster for the upcoming main DraftKings MLB slate.

One of the best ways to find hitter value in DraftKings MLB contests is through lineup slot upgrades after pricing has been set. These lineup slot upgrades often do not happen until teams release lineups a few hours before the game locks. Check back before lock to see potential updates to the rankings.


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Notable Lineup Absences

Team Name Position Injury Status
Team Name Position Injury Status
New York Yankees Giancarlo Stanton DH Stanton has been placed on 10-day IL with a quad strain.
Chicago White Sox Jose Abreu 1B Andrew Vaughn will slide to 1B with Abreu out.

DraftKings Sportsbook Betting Odds

Teams Moneyline Total Runs
Teams Moneyline Total Runs
SF Giants +118 Over 8
CIN Reds -137 Under 8
NY Mets +128 Over 8
ATL Braves -148 Under 8
WAS Nationals +132 Over 8.5
CHI Cubs -152 Under 8.5
CHI White Sox -112 Over 9.5
MIN Twins -106 Under 9.5
NY Yankees -295 Over 8
TEX Rangers +240 Under 8
CLE Indians +117 Over 9
LA Angels -137 Under 9
DET Tigers +150 Over 7.5
SEA Mariners -177 Under 7.5
ARI Diamondbacks +180 Over 7
LA Dodgers -215 Under 7
COL Rockies +155 Over 7
SD Padres -182 Under 7

Pitchers

All

Player Name Position Opp Salary
Player Name Position Opp Salary
Gerrit Cole SP TEX $10,900
Yu Darvish SP COL $10,200
Walker Buehler SP ARI $10,000

Hitters

Studs ($5,000+)

Player Name Position Opp Salary
Player Name Position Opp Salary
Ronald Acuna Jr. OF NYM $6,300
Mike Trout OF CLE $6,100
Mookie Betts OF ARI $5,900
Giancarlo Stanton OF TEX $5,700
Freddie Freeman 1B NYM $5,600
Aaron Judge OF TEX $5,600
Juan Soto OF CHC $5,300

Midrange ($4,000-$4,900)

Player Name Position Opp Salary
Player Name Position Opp Salary
Pete Alonso 1B ATL $4,800
Shohei Ohtani 1B/OF CLE $4,700
Mitch Haniger OF DET $4,200
Franmil Reyes OF LAA $4,200

Salary Relief ($3,900 and under)

Player Name Position Opp Salary
Player Name Position Opp Salary
Kyle Schwarber OF CHC $3,700
Kyle Lewis OF DET $3,400
Josh Bell 1B CHC $3,200
Jarred Kelenic OF DET $3,000
Miguel Cabrera 1B SEA $2,500
Taylor Ward OF CLE $2,300
Jonathan Schoop 1B SEA $2,300

Offense Notes

Added Incentive to Save Salary

Finding underpriced hitters is always part of the goal when playing MLB DFS, but the need for cheap hitting is going to be amplified even further on Monday night’s slate. There are three top-end pitchers who are all in good matchups: Gerrit Cole ($10,900) at Texas, Yu Darvish ($10,200) vs the Rockies, and Walker Buehler ($10,000) vs the Diamondbacks, and the cheaper pitching doesn’t look especially appealing. With that in mind, a large percentage of the lineups tonight are going to try to fit two of these stud pitchers, and that’s going to mean extra attention for inexpensive hitters.

GPP Ownership Contingent on Lineups

Figuring out ownership seems to be more of a challenge today because of the salary crunch, and the most popular team stacks are going to be determined to a large degree by the presence of cheap hitters, especially near the top of the batting order. The Yankees, Mariners, Angels, and Nationals all have a mix of expensive hitters as well as cheap options, so those stacks will likely to be popular due to the combination of high-end hitters and affordability. The Mariners are the least capable offense of these four teams, but they’re also the cheapest, and they could be this slate’s most prominent target for lineups that contain two of the aforementioned pitchers.

Paying Way Up (or Way Down) to be Contrarian

There are two teams that stand out as having a lot of upside while also being low owned: the Braves and the Cubs. Both teams are in pretty good spots, but both are extremely expensive and the ownership on both is likely going to be pretty low as a result. Using a cheaper pitcher (or two) is almost certainly going to be necessary to fit 4 or 5 hitters from one of these teams, but it could be the best way to generate leverage on tonight’s slate. One other potential route is paying all the way down to the Detroit Tigers, which certainly will make it easy enough to fit two high-end pitchers. The Tigers could be the lone inexpensive team on Monday’s slate that stays low owned, in large part because the pitcher they’re facing is probably going to be popular. Yusei Kikuchi ($7,800) figures to be the go-to choice for most people trying to save some pitcher salary, and a Tigers stack provides some leverage against what should be this slate’s highest owned cheaper pitcher.

Set your DraftKings fantasy baseball lineups here: MLB $300K SUPER Knuckleball [$100K to 1st]


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