Daily Fantasy MLB Baseball Picks for FanDuel, DraftKings and Starsdraft 10/17/15

Quick warning. From a pricing standpoint, most of these picks are going to look the same on a night-to-night basis. That's the nature of these two game slates where almost everything is the same except for the pitchers. And even those aren't wildly divergent.

If you're new to the playoff picks, I'll be giving you one play per position to whet your appetite. You can also grab a free trial of the projection system that makes these picks possible. Your free trial also includes access to our NFL and NHL tools - so get started today!

Pitchers

Noah Syndergaard - FD 10400 DK 10800
Opponent- CHC (Arrieta) R Park- @Nym
These slates are always so tough with the pitching because there are oh so many good arms going this time of year. This slate is particularly tricky because there are three good arms going (now that Cueto didn't look completely dead last time out). So I'm going to go with the system here. Syndergaard is up against Arrieta of course and the latter's been a little piece of strikeout magic in the short term. But Thor's coming at a significant discount as opposed to Jake and I'm willing to buy on that alone. His peripherals are awesome this season, striking out more than a batter an inning and rocking an xFIP less than three. He might be the dog here, but that's built into the price.

Editor's Note: With these two game slates you are going to see a lot of repeat plays. There's no way to avoid it and the narratives don't change too much as long as the prices stay put. So please don't hate on the repeats here. There are only so many words.

Catchers

Salvador Perez - FD 2400 DK 3300
Opponent- Tor (Stroman) R Park- @Tor
Though he went 0-4 yesterday, and there are some injury issues possibly. But this sticks from yesterday:
With some of the plays today you'll see that I'm taking the path of cheap resistance. That's because I'm perfectly happy getting some money in on the Jays' bats, but to do so one will need to punt in a position or two. Perez showed flashed of power in the series against the Astros, though I wouldn't necessarily pencil him in as the next Mike Piazza or anything. That being said, hitting around 7th in the order, he can put the bat on the ball from time to time.

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First base

Eric Hosmer - FD 3100 DK 4300
Opponent- Tor (Stroman) R Park- @Tor
Didn't have Hosmer yesterday, opting for Rizzo instead. This was, of course, a mistake. Hosmer was one of the best plays on the day going 1-3 with a couple of runs scored, an RBI and a walk. When it comes playoff time, that's practically a Herculean effort. In this case the system likes him enough against Stroman and Hosmer's vastly superior split is against righties. I'll take him against Stroman even with the ballpark crushing power.

Second base

Ben Zobrist - FD 3200 DK 3900
Opponent- Tor (Stroman) R Park- @Tor
Yesterday I wrote about Zobrist as the clear play because he crushes lefties and even with Price on the mound, I'd take the platoon dominance. Today it's just because he's batting second and facing one of the weaker arms on the slate. Not to say Stroman's a pushover or anything, but with the dudes taking the bump today Stroman doesn't rate right with them. Zobrist coming on the cheaper side hitting second in the lineup is just good enough to go in cash games. He chipped in some against Price yesterday and dude's in a good spot again today.

Shortstop

Alcides Escobar - FD 2300 DK 3300
Opponent- Tor (Stroman) R Park- @Tor
This write up is coming from now until the Royals are eliminated (or they move Alcides out of the leadoff slot.
Look, this dude is destined to sit in this spot from now until the end of the DFS playoffs. The reasoning is simple and we've been through it a 1,000 times. But for the newly initiated (or for people who love to listen to this crap on repeat) you just have to take the cheapest SS play who happens to also hit leadoff for his squad. Should he hit leadoff? Of course not. But the Royals don't seem concerned with this and have him there for the long haul (brutal OBP be damned).

Third base

David Wright - FD 3400 DK 3700
Opponent- CHC (Arrieta) R Park- @Nym
I put Wright in the picks yesterday because he was a cheaper option facing the better side of his splits. And that line of thinking was perfectly fine for the moment. Today, he's just the best offensive dude coming at the cheaper price. It's really, really tough to pay up for Donaldson unless you are totally and completely punting at another position (which may very well happen). But Wright, hitting second in the lineup is better at these dollars than anyone considering all matchups.

Outfield

Jose Bautista - FD 4400 DK 5100
Opponent- KC (Volquez) R Park- @Tor
Ben Revere - FD 2800 DK 3600
Opponent- KC (Cueto) R Park- @Tor
Chris Colabello - FD 3000 DK 3400
Opponent- KC (Cueto) R Park- @Tor
I'm a little torn on how to go with outfield on this slate. Obviously there are legit arms going and picking any bats against any of these guys gets really tough. I think Joey Bat-Flip, Chris C and Revere come at fine enough prices considering Revere is the lead-off hitter, Bautista is well, Bautista and when Colabello is hitting cleanup he's worth it. What we will be saying for as long as this series lasts is that you want to take the cheapest Jays in the best spot. These guys are those bats. It's not rocket science when it comes to a team that put up a crushing amount of runs over the long term.

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