Daily Fantasy MLB Baseball Picks for FanDuel and DraftKings - 5/16/17 Now’s your chance to get DFSR PRO, which will give you access to our MLB optimizer, our NBA Optimizer, and our new player lab! Get started for free by clicking the button below. START YOUR FREE TRIAL NOW! First time with MLB? Be sure to read our free MLB and NBA Ebooks on building lineups, general strategy and more. We've got you completely covered.   Pitcher Yu Darvish FD 10600 DK 17000 Opponent - PHI (Eflin) Park - @TEX FD - 39.9 DK - 26.3 Compared to Monday night's menagerie of mediocrity, we're blessed with an abundance of real, live MLB arms to choose from tonight. You can make a valid case for a bunch of dudes in all formats, but for cash games, we're siding with Darvish against the Phillies. The park is a strike against him, but other than that, there's a lot to like here. Darvish has been the guy we've come to expect him to be so far this season, with one exception: the Ks and swinging strike rate are both down a tick. He's still fanning better than a batter per inning, so it's not like a massive drop-off or anything, and the velocity looks like it's still there -- even considering the possibly elevated numbers seen around the league this year. So we think the 10+ K/9 potential is just lying dormant for now, and even if he doesn't quite match his career numbers this season, he should fare just fine against a subpar Phillies lineup. So far in 2017, the Phils rank 18th in wRC+ and have the seventh highest K% (22.9) in the league vs. RHP. Stephen Strasburg FD 10400 DK 18000 Opponent - PIT (Kuhl) Park - @PIT FD - 37.28 DK - 24.51 Or if you'd rather go with Stras in a more pitcher-friendly park, the projection system's got no qualms with that either. Like Darvish, Strasburg's K numbers don't quite match what he's done previously, but 8.58 K/9 is still pretty solid, especially when it comes paired with higher groundball rates and excellent home run suppression. Strasburg's 50% GB percentage is easily outpaces his career number and is a big jump over last year's rate. It's still too early to say definitively that he's forgoing Ks and pitching to contact, but whatever the case, he's getting the job done, as his 2.82 FIP will attest. Meanwhile, the Pirates have been really bad vs. RHP this season, ranking 27th in wRC+ and 28th in wOBA. That sort of ineptitude helps make up for the fact that they don't strike out all that much. John Lackey FD 8800 DK 14500...

Daily Fantasy MLB Hitter Stacks for FanDuel and DraftKings - 5/15/17 Here's where you can find some recommendations for GPP stacks to target for FanDuel and DraftKings. Find our main set of cash game picks here. Now’s your chance to get DFSR PRO, which will give you access to our MLB optimizer, our NBA Optimizer, and our new player lab! Get started for free by clicking the button below. START YOUR FREE TRIAL NOW! First time with MLB? Be sure to read our free MLB and NBA Ebooks on building lineups, general strategy and more. We've got you completely covered.   TORONTO BLUE JAYS Ugh. The Blue Jays haven't been good this season. They rank 23rd in wRC+ and 25th in wOBA vs. RHP this season -- but under-performing offenses are going to be a theme in this article today. Such is the slate we're given. On the bright side, Toronto has picked up the pace lately, but we're less impressed by hot streaks than we are by the opportunity to face Bartolo Colon in a great hitter's park. Like we wrote about last week, it looks like we're nearing the end of the line for Bartolo. He's getting hammered in 2017, and his HRs allowed continue to trend in the wrong direction. After giving up eight runs and three homers in 5.2 innings against the Astros last time out, he's now allowing 2.08 HRs/9 this year. The Blue Jays don't pack the same kind of firepower as found in Houston's lineup, but there's enough here to blow up a scuffling starter who's looking every bit of his 44 years old. Kevin Pillar and Ezequiel Carrera have been very effective table setters vs. RHP this season, each with a wOBA over .350. Meanwhile, Jose Bautista and Kendrys Morales both have ISOs north of .200 in the split dating back to last season, and Joey Bats is (finally) showing signs that he might still have something left. LOS ANGELES ANGELS As awful as this slate is for pitching, it's not that much better for stacks. We've only got three games with totals over 8.5, and no individual team with an implied total over five. So, here we are recommending the Angels in a bad park. They actually come in with the highest implied total on the board as of Monday morning, no doubt owing to Mike Pelfrey's continued inability to get big-league hitters out. He's one of the worst pitchers in baseball when it comes to missing bats (4 Ks/9 dating back to 2016), and the numbers don't get much better elsewhere (.371 wOBA allowed, 5.17 xFIP). He doesn't get burned often by homers, but that's OK -- if we're...

Daily Fantasy MLB Pitchers for FanDuel and DraftKings - 5/15/17 Here's where you can find some recommendations for tournament pitchers target for FanDuel and DraftKings. Find our main set of cash game picks here. Now’s your chance to get DFSR PRO, which will give you access to our MLB optimizer, our NBA Optimizer, and our new player lab! Get started for free by clicking the button below. START YOUR FREE TRIAL NOW! First time with MLB? Be sure to read our free MLB and NBA Ebooks on building lineups, general strategy and more. We've got you completely covered.   Pitchers Luis Perdomo FD 6600 DK 6600 Opponent - MIL (Anderson) Park - @SD FD - 29.6 DK - 19.46 On a pitching slate this terrible, punt-and-pray is actually a viable tournament strategy at SP -- the logic running that none of the pitchers are that great, so why pay up for mediocrity when you can get it cheaply? That's part of the reason we're writing up Perdomo today, because unless you're playing all-day slates (and this would be a great time to try them out) there's not an ace to be found. But we should also mention that the projection system is reasonably high on the Padres starter. Petco is obviously a major contributor to the friendly projection, as is the Brewers' 24% K rate vs. RHP this season. As for Perdomo himself, he's an intriguing guy. His Ks are up through five starts in 2017 (7.94 K/9) and he's an extreme groundball pitcher. That drives up his BABIP (career .342), and with it the chances of death by a thousand cuts/singles. But it should prevent the long-ball damage and his HR:FB ratio is much closer to normal than it was last year when he surrendered a ridiculously high 21%. Of course, the Brewers remain one of the most dangerous offenses in baseball, with a league-leading .216 ISO vs. RHP, but Ryan Braun is out, and Travis Shaw left yesterday's game with a finger injury, so we could be looking at an impaired lineup. Either way, we're fine with Perdomo tonight. Zack Godley FD 7500 DK 6300 Opponent - NYM (Wheeler) Park - @ARI FD - 27.41 DK - 18.09 We're a little less sure about Godley, but if you're buying what he's done in two starts this season, it looks like there's some upside here. The downside comes in the form of a pretty sketchy extended track record and a home park that drives up offense. Godley was bad last year, with a 6.94 ERA more or less supported by a 4.97 FIP. He's undoubtedly been better in 2017, but over a larger sample size, that 75% ground ball...

Daily Fantasy MLB Hitter Stacks for FanDuel and DraftKings - 5/9/17 Here's where you can find some recommendations for GPP stacks to target for FanDuel and DraftKings. Find our main set of cash game picks here. Now’s your chance to get DFSR PRO, which will give you access to our MLB optimizer, our NBA Optimizer, and our new player lab! Get started for free by clicking the button below. START YOUR FREE TRIAL NOW! First time with MLB? Be sure to read our free MLB and NBA Ebooks on building lineups, general strategy and more. We've got you completely covered.   COLORADO ROCKIES Ok. Let's try this again. Here's what we said prior to last night's PPD: Hey guys, it's Coors Field, so do whatever you want. Stack the Rockies, stack the Cubs, do a double wraparound stack starting with the No. 7 hitters for both teams. Go crazy. Impossible is nothing. Dare to dream. ... So, we think the Cubs are probably the chalk play here, but since they were featured heavily with the cash game picks, we'll turn our attention to Colorado. There's a decent chance they'll go under-owned facing Jake Arrieta, but we think it'd be a mistake to bypass them based on the name value of the opposing pitcher. For one thing, the Rockies' numbers at home since last season are ridiculous (.373 wOBA, .217 ISO) and put them in play against virtually anybody. For another, Arrieta has scuffled a bit this season. The xFIP suggests his 4.63 ERA will be coming down a bit, but the fact that his groundball rate is down to 42% after sitting at 56% in 2015 and 53% last year is worrisome. And really, any bat is in play. Obviously the big-name bats that occupy the top and middle of the order are the most attractive as long as you've got the money to spend. Also, though the sample size is really small, Arrieta has struggled with lefties this season (.348 wOBA), so you might want to keep that in mind. It'll actually be John Lackey going for the Cubs tonight against Kyle Freeland from the Rockies and we think you're definitely going to want exposure on either side of this one. Repeat: an endorsement for the Rockies does not mean fade the Cubs, and if you're in a one-lineup-for-your-life situation, just go with the Cubs. But winning GPPs almost always requires something beyond the chalk (especially in large fields), and while John Lackey won't scare off as many Arrieta likely would have, there's still a chance to get the a Rockies team lesser owned and with virtually the same upside. HOUSTON ASTROS Man, we've got a lot of...

Daily Fantasy MLB Pitchers for FanDuel and DraftKings - 5/9/17 Here's where you can find some recommendations for tournament pitchers target for FanDuel and DraftKings. Find our main set of cash game picks here. Now’s your chance to get DFSR PRO, which will give you access to our MLB optimizer, our NBA Optimizer, and our new player lab! Get started for free by clicking the button below. START YOUR FREE TRIAL NOW! First time with MLB? Be sure to read our free MLB and NBA Ebooks on building lineups, general strategy and more. We've got you completely covered.   Pitchers Carlos Carrasco FD 10300 DK 10600 Opponent - TOR (Undecided) Park - @TOR FD - 35.17 DK - 23.19 We've got a pretty nice menu of pitchers to choose from tonight, including nine on the 14-game slate who average more than 9 Ks/9 since the beginning of last year. Hopefully, that'll help divert some attention away from Carrasco, because we think the Indians' starter could be a great under-the-radar option -- which is weird to a say for a guy with the best xFIP on the slate over the last year-plus among qualified guys. We think a lot of people will be scared away by the Rogers Centre and by the fact that it looks like the Blue Jays could be getting healthier tonight. Josh Donaldson and Troy Tulowitzki are expected back any day now, and that can only help a Toronto offense that has been one of the worst in baseball vs. RHP this season (26th in wRC+). But when it comes to Carrasco, we're not overly concerned. Most of the top options tonight are also going to be in hitter-friendly parks, and not many (probably only Scherzer) are as steady as Carrasco. He's turned in quality starts in five straight (and missed one in the opener by one out) en route to a 2.18 ERA and 3.05 xFIP on the season. He hasn't flashed double-digit K upside yet this year, but we know it's there; in fact, he struck out 14 Blue Jays in the Rogers Centre less than a year ago. We're not calling for a repeat of that performance, but we do think he can be a part of GPP-winning lineups tonight. Zack Wheeler FD 7200 DK 7700 Opponent - SF (Samardzija) Park - @NYM FD - 29.83 DK - 19.6 For the budget-conscious SP shopper, the options are also plentiful. Charlie Morton's actually our favorite guy in this price range, but since we wrote him up with the cash game picks, we'll pivot to Wheeler here. Julio Urias is another possibility, and the only trouble with him is the fact that loose command often leads to...