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Clayton Kershaw has been one of the biggest names in the MLB DFS player pool for the majority of the last two decades and often one you'd want to avoid when building an MLB DFS strategy. However, now at 37 years old and coming off multiple injuries over the last few seasons, could he be a pitcher you actively want to form MLB DFS stacks against? The future Hall of Fame pitcher is making his second start of the season on Friday, and he allowed five runs in four innings against the Angels on Saturday heading into his road start against the New York Mets on Friday. 

The Dodgers vs. Mets matchup as a part of a full Friday MLB DFS schedule is filled with star power for potential MLB DFS picks, including Juan Soto and Francisco Lindor, Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman. Should daily Fantasy baseball players roster multiple Mets in Friday MLB DFS lineups against Kershaw? Before locking in any MLB DFS picks for Friday, be sure to check out the MLB DFS advice, strategy and projections from SportsLine's daily Fantasy expert Mike McClure.

McClure is a daily Fantasy pro who has won more than $2 million in his career. And when it comes to daily Fantasy baseball, McClure is at his best. Recognized in the book "Fantasy Football (and Baseball) for Smart People: How to Turn Your Hobby into a Fortune" as a top MLB DFS player, McClure's proprietary projection model simulates each game 10,000 times, taking factors such as matchups and recent results into account. This allows him to find the best values on every site.

On Wednesday (when McClure last made MLB DFS picks), McClure identified Angels shortstop Zach Neto as one of his top MLB DFS picks on both sites. The result: Neto went 2-for-5 with a two-run home run and two runs scored, returning 26 points on DraftKings and 34.4 points on FanDuel. Anybody who included him in their lineups could have been well on the way to a profitable day.

Now, with the 2025 MLB season continuing on Friday, McClure has locked in his top MLB daily Fantasy picks for May 23. You can head to SportsLine now to see them.

McClure's top MLB DFS picks for Friday, May 23

One of McClure's top MLB DFS picks for Friday is Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge, who is $7,000 on DraftKings and $5,300 on FanDuel for MLB DFS lineups. Despite being less than two months into the 2025 MLB season, Judge is still the overwhelming favorite to win the American League MVP with odds of -2500 (risk $2,500 to win $100) at some sportsbooks. That's unheard of this early into a season, but given he leads baseball in categories such as batting average (.396), OPS (1.230), RBI (44). Judge has 16 home runs, which is tied for the third-most in baseball.

The Yankees begin their weekend series at Coors Field against the Colorado Rockies, who are on a historically poor start. The Rockies are 8-41, including 2-16 over their last 18 games, and putting Judge in Coors Field at the moment with how dominant he's been seems almost unfair. The Rockies are starting Tanner Gordon, who allowed seven runs (four earned) over 6 1/3 innings against the Tigers on Thursday in his only start of the season.

McClure is also rostering Rays first baseman/third baseman Yandy Diaz ($4,600 on DraftKings and $2,900 on FanDuel). Diaz went 2-for-5 with a three-run home run and two runs scored on Wednesday to extend his hitting streak to six games. He has three multi-hit games during that stretch. Diaz has hit .280 or better in each of the previous three seasons, including leading the AL with a .330 batting average in 2023. 

The Rays are playing the Blue Jays and Diaz has a career .286 batting average with an .849 OPS against Toronto. Diaz has multiple metrics better than 90% of the league, including average exit velocity and squared-up percentage better than 91% of the league and a hard hit rate better than 94% of baseball, as he's hit into some bad luck this season. That bad luck has lowered his price to where McClure sees strong value in adding Diaz to Friday MLB DFS lineups. See McClure's full MLB DFS player pool right here.

How to set your MLB DFS lineups for May 23, 2025

McClure is also targeting an undervalued player who is set to explode for huge numbers on Friday. The stars are aligning for him to return tournament-winning value and he comes at a price that won't break the bank. You can only see who it is, and get the rest of McClure's MLB DFS picks, here.

So what are the top MLB DFS picks for Friday? Visit SportsLine now to see DFS millionaire Mike McClure's complete player pool and picks for FanDuel and DraftKings, all from the DFS expert who has won more than $2 million.