Welcome to May! Friday kicks off a new month in the MLB schedule, and it's a busy Friday as per usual. There are 11 games starting at 7:05 p.m. ET or later. To try and help you start May off strong, here are my MLB DFS lineup recommendations.
Pitching
Shane McClanahan, TAM vs. SFG ($8,200): McClanahan's 3.91 ERA is high for him, but it would be workable over a full season all things considered. You know, in the right matchup. However, he also has a 3.20 FIP, and his 5.09 BB/9 rate likely will drop as the season progresses. Speaking of the right matchup, though, the Giants are last in runs scored, so this is that kind of matchup.
Eury Perez, MIA vs. PHI ($8,000): Something has emerged since Perez returned from missing the 2024 season. On the road, he's had a 5.76 ERA and 1.9 HR/9 rate. At home, he's posted a 2.80 ERA and 0.6 HR/9 rate. This game is in Miami, and it's against a Phillies team in the bottom five in runs scored.
German Marquez, SDP vs. CWS ($6,300): This is the pitcher option on a lower salary I decided was worth a shot. This is Marquez's first season not pitching for the Rockies, and he has a 4.37 ERA. Weirdly, he has a 2.16 ERA on the road but has been smashed in his two home starts. However, Petco Park is generally good for pitchers. It's only been two starts. The White Sox are in the bottom 10 in runs scored with a .699 team OPS. I think Marquez can have his first good home start as a Padre on Friday.
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Top Targets
On the one hand, Vladimir Guerrero ($5,500) might need to swing for the fences more with how his teammates are hitting. On the other hand, his approach is maybe too good to mess with. The son of a Hall of Famer has a .354 average, a .438 OBP and seven doubles. Simeon Woods Richardson has never cracked MLB hitters, but this year he has an 1.15 K/BB ratio, an 1.80 HR/9 rate, and thus a 6.30 ERA.
Like the Blue Jays, the Mariners have scuffled a bit out of the gate, and like Guerrero, Randy Arozarena ($4,000) has still managed to handle his business. He has a .381 OBP with 12 extra-base hits and seven stolen bases. Cole Ragans, a lefty, has had an alarmingly poor start. He has a 5.00 ERA, a 2.33 HR/9 rate, and a 6.04 FIP.
Bargain Bats
The threshold for hitting as a catcher being what it is, Agustin Ramirez ($3,700) stands out simply through his counting stats. He has two homers, three stolen bases and a triple this season, and as a rookie last year he had 21 homers and 16 swiped bags. Andrew Painter's own rookie season is going rather poorly. He has a 5.25 ERA, and righties have hit .343 against him.
Last season, Brooks Lee ($2,900) had 16 homers and 15 doubles in 139 games. Sure, he had a .285 OBP, but, for a shortstop, that works for me! This year the switch-hitter has five homers, but also a .242 batting average. For as long as Patrick Corbin is an MLB pitcher, I will recommend righties against him. Since 2020 he has a 5.37 ERA and righties have hit more than .300 against him.
Stack to Consider
Atlanta at Colorado (Jose Quintana): Ronald Acuna ($5,900), Ozzie Albies ($4,900), Mauricio Dubon ($3,700)
New series at Coors Field has dropped! Quintana is your classic pitching cockroach, and I don't say that as a criticism. He's moved from team to team to grab a role in a rotation, happy to take a roster spot and a salary if offered to him. The Rockies are his eighth team in seven seasons, but the dude has made generational wealth in the process. Now, my admiration for Quintana sticking it out and making money aside, he has a 6.77 FIP, a 0.82 K/BB ratio and a 1.96 HR/9 rate. Since he is a southpaw, I have three Atlanta players who can hit right-handed.
Acuna is off to a slow start, but he also has an MVP to his name. He has eight doubles, two homers and six stolen bases this year, and he can handle a pitcher like Quintana at Coors Field. Oddly, Albies isn't running at all but he's hitting notably well, so maybe that's a fair trade. The second baseman has a .323 average with seven homers and six doubles. Dubon, who is eligible at shortstop and in the outfield, has been a nice addition to Atlanta's lineup. He's hit .275 and has eight doubles, a triple and two homers.
Guardians at Athletics (J.T. Ginn): Jose Ramirez ($6,200), Chase DeLauter ($4,400), Daniel Schneemann ($3,400)
Ginn is one of the guys who must be thinking, "I was promised Las Vegas." The Athletics' stopover in Sacramento has served multiple pitchers remarkably poorly, and Ginn is one of those, to be sure. He has an ERA over 6.00 at home since the team made the move. In his career, including a season in Oakland, lefties have hit .308 against Ginn, so this is a stack of three guys who can hit left-handed.
Ramirez is so good that even with a .222 average (driven by a .215 BABIP) he's delivered the goods. The third baseman has six homers, seven doubles and a whopping 12 stolen bases. DeLauter is a rookie, so he's had his ups and down, but this season has still been impressive. The 24-year-old has an .845 OPS with 12 extra-base hits. Skepticism is fair, given this is Schneemann's age-29 season, but he's having an excellent campaign thus far. He's slashed .321/.391/.564 with four homers and two stolen bases. Schneemann isn't slowing down either, as he has an 1.192 OPS over the last three weeks.
