Daily Fantasy MLB Baseball Picks for FanDuel and DraftKings – 9/5/17
Daily Fantasy MLB Baseball Picks for FanDuel and DraftKings - 9/5/17 Now’s your chance to get DFSR PRO, which will give you access to our MLB optimizer, our NFL Optimizer, and our new player lab! Get started for free by clicking the button below. START YOUR FREE TRIAL NOW! First time with NFL or MLB? Be sure to read our free MLB and NFL Ebooks on building lineups, general strategy and more. We've got you completely covered. Pitcher Jacob deGrom FD 10100 DK 12600 Opponent - PHI (Lively) Park - @NYM FD - 41.57 DK - 27.37 We've got a few ace types to choose from on tonight's 15-game slate, but as far as we're concerned, deGrom is the runaway choice for SP1 in cash games. Not to oversimplify it, but of the four biggest guns going -- including Strasburg, Verlander and Greinke -- he's got the easiest matchup by a solid margin. The Phillies rank 26th in the league in wRC+ vs. RHP this season, and while the recent addition of Rhys Hoskins has helped, he's still the only guy among the regulars with a wOBA over .350 in the split. Of course, deGrom hasn't been at his best lately, but we're not overly concerned. He's still missing bats, and outside of back-to-back rough outings at Yankee Stadium and against the Marlins in the middle of their August hot streak, there's really not a lot here to quibble with. On the season he's compiled 10.38 Ks/9 with a 3.43 ERA and 3.32 xFIP with nearly 8 Ks per start. That's not at the Sale/Scherzer/Kershaw level, but it's good enough to provide the high floor/high ceiling combo we're looking for in cash games. Stephen Strasburg FD 10600 DK 12500 Opponent - MIA (Despaigne) Park - @MIA FD - 36.61 DK - 24.06 If you're moving away from deGrom for whatever reason, the choice gets quite a bit tougher. We're not all that enthused about Greinke against the Dodgers, but Verlander's FanDuel price is going to make him really interesting in his first start with the Astros. Ultimately, we're giving a slight edge to Strasburg, though, based again on matchup. The Marlins have come back down to earth over the last week or so, and are performing much more like the team they were for the first four months of the season. It's not a terrible lineup -- and the prospect of facing Giancarlo Stanton 3 to 4 times is always daunting, but we'll take the opportunity to pick on the Marlins (18th in wRC+ vs. RHP) over the Mariners (5th in wRC+ vs. RHP). Meanwhile, Strasburg is having one of his best seasons. His 2.90 ERA represents a career...
Daily Fantasy MLB Hitter Stacks for FanDuel and DraftKings – 9/4/17
Daily Fantasy MLB Hitter Stacks for FanDuel and DraftKings - 9/4/17 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 NFL Optimizer, and our new player lab! Get started for free by clicking the button below. START YOUR FREE TRIAL NOW! First time with NFL or MLB? Be sure to read our free MLB and NFL Ebooks on building lineups, general strategy and more. We've got you completely covered. CLEVELAND INDIANS There are things we are powerless to resist, and the combination of James Shields against a good lineup in a hitter's park with a 20 mph wind blowing out is near the top of that list. As we talked about last time Shields was on the hill, he's done a decent job of preventing the catastrophic meltdowns this season, but that doesn't change the fact that he's been one of baseball's worst starters, as evidenced by a 5.72 ERA and a 5.47 xFIP. And while he's given up more than four runs only four times this season, he's living dangerously virtually every time he's out there with 4.4 BBs/9, 2.2 HRs/9 and at least one HR allowed in 14 of 16 starts. Meanwhile, the Indians lineup is stocked with guys we're happy to stack with. Ramirez, Encarnacion, Bruce and Chisenhall all have ISOs over .260 vs RHP this season, and Lindor and Santana are both over .200. Also worth noting: lefties own a .315 ISO (!!) vs. Shields this season, and US Cellular is one of the best venues in baseball for HR factors. MILWAUKEE BREWERS Before we dive into the Brewers, we probably need to acknowledge the fact that baseball is being played in Coors Field today, so we've at least gotta think about both teams there. After due consideration, if we decide to fade (strong possibility), we're going to need to look for stacks that have the potential to keep pace in the event the Coors stacks go off. And when the question is which game is most likely to turn into a HR derby, the one being played in the Great American Ballpark is never a terrible answer. It's one of baseball's best launching pads, and with Homer Bailey on the hill, the Brewers are in good position to flex some muscle today. Each of their top six regulars have an ISO over .200 vs. RHP this season, and Bailey is struggling against pretty much everybody. Righties are doing the most damage (.434 wOBA, .208 ISO), but he's not faring much better...
Daily Fantasy MLB Pitchers for FanDuel and DraftKings – 9/4/17
Daily Fantasy MLB Pitchers for FanDuel and DraftKings - 9/4/17 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 NFL Optimizer, and our new player lab! Get started for free by clicking the button below. START YOUR FREE TRIAL NOW! First time with NFL or MLB? Be sure to read our free MLB and NFL Ebooks on building lineups, general strategy and more. We've got you completely covered. Trevor Bauer FD 8500 DK 7900 Opponent - DET (Shields) Park - @CHW FD - 31.62 DK - 20.94 The holiday is bringing us a rare Monday with 15 games (split over two slates), and it's loaded with good-not-great arms. Bauer might be the most representative of the bunch, with legitimate K upside and significant risk in nearly equal measure. By most metrics, the 26-year-old is enjoying his best season so far in 2017, with 9.97 Ks/9 and a 3.73 xFIP. He still walks too many guys, though, so consistency isn't one of his selling points, but at these prices, I'm OK with that. And while a stiff breeze is blowing out in US Cellular today, the matchup looks favorable for Bauer. Lefties are the ones who have given him trouble this season (.213 ISO), but the White Sox don't have many guys who can do damage from that side of the plate. Their projected starters have a sub-.300 wOBA and a 25+ K% vs. RHP this season, so as long as Bauer can keep it out of the jet stream, he should be in a position to return nice value today. Rich Hill FD 9000 DK 10900 Opponent - SD (Ray) Park - @LAD FD - 34.6 DK - 22.77 Jose Berrios should get a lot of attention on the late slate, which makes sense. There's quite a bit of swing-and-miss in the Rays lineup, and Berrios has exciting stuff. But the pivot off of him here isn't just about game theory -- actually, the projection system prefers both Rich Hill and Robbie Ray over him without even taking price or potential ownership into the equation. Interestingly, it's not alone. Vegas also has Hill and Ray giving up fewer runs, and Berrios and the Twins are underdogs against Alex Cobb tonight. So we think the choice at SP1 comes down to the pitchers in the D-backs/Dodgers game, and we're giving Hill a slight edge -- mostly due to the fact that he doesn't have to face his teammates. Of course, the Diamondbacks also have some dangerous right-handed sticks,...
Daily Fantasy MLB Hitter Stacks for FanDuel and DraftKings – 8/29/17
Daily Fantasy MLB Hitter Stacks for FanDuel and DraftKings - 8/29/17 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 NFL Optimizer, and our new player lab! Get started for free by clicking the button below. START YOUR FREE TRIAL NOW! First time with NFL or MLB? Be sure to read our free MLB and NFL Ebooks on building lineups, general strategy and more. We've got you completely covered. COLORADO ROCKIES The Rockies put up 13 hits last night, but still managed to disappoint, pushing across only three runs. While that hurt our bottom line last night, it could actually help us tonight if wide swaths of the field succumb to recency bias and decide to fade Colorado tonight. Regardless, ownership should be a little lower tonight, because Michael Fulmer is a better pitcher than Monday's foe, Jordan Zimmermann. But if we look beyond the surface stats, we see plenty of reasons to go right back to the Rockies. For starters, Fulmer's sinker is his primary pitch (38% usage), and something about the thin atmosphere in Colorado doesn't agree with sinkerballers. You'll need to get physicist to explain it further, but take it from Mike Hampton, the effect is real. Maybe equally relevant, Fulmer has been declining steadily throughout the season. Maybe it's related to the hand numbness that landed him on the DL earlier this month, but whatever the reason, there's no denying the trend of sagging Ks and a rising ERA. He's given up at least five runs in four of his last six starts and has a 4.48 ERA with 4.35 xFIP since the beginning of June. As for which Rockies to play, we're partial to the obvious guys (Blackmon, Arenado, Reynolds), but it's Coors Field and the Tigers have a terrible bullpen, so if things get sideways, anybody in the lineup is capable of going off. MINNESOTA TWINS James Shields is on the mound, so we're going to stack against him with at least one lineup. We're only human. He's actually only been blown up four times this season, but the next meltdown is always just one pitch away when you walk more than 4 and give up more than 2 HRs/9. Lefties are the first guys we want to look at here, because they're the one really doing the damage against Shields this season (3.38 HRs/9, 8.35 FIP, .422 wOBA). The Twins' left-handed bats aren't exactly the '27 Yankees, but Eddie Rosario, Max Kepler and Kennys Vargas all have a wOBA...
Daily Fantasy MLB Pitchers for FanDuel and DraftKings – 8/29/17
Daily Fantasy MLB Pitchers for FanDuel and DraftKings - 8/29/17 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 NFL Optimizer, and our new player lab! Get started for free by clicking the button below. START YOUR FREE TRIAL NOW! First time with NFL or MLB? Be sure to read our free MLB and NFL Ebooks on building lineups, general strategy and more. We've got you completely covered. Rich Hill FD 9400 DK 10900 Opponent - ARI (Godley) Park - @ARI FD - 30.56 DK - 20.3 Ok. Sure. Why not. Maybe it's the fish play of the year, but we'll take a shot on Hill. To be clear, we like Sale and Arrieta more, but since we already talked them up in the cash game recommendations we're moving on to our No. 3 guy for SP1 consideration here. And it's fitting that we talk about Rich Hill here, because GPPs are the only place we can see using him tonight. Chase Field is just too hitter friendly, the D-backs hit lefties too well, and the unknowns are just to plentiful with Hill coming off a near perfect game (and a loss) last time out. But if you told us we'd be getting Hill at low ownership, we'd feel a lot better about overlooking all of the preceding, because there's still upside here. Hill started slow this season, but he's been lights out over the last couple of months, recording 11.5 Ks/9 with a 2.38 ERA and 3.17 FIP over his last 11 starts. And yeah, Arizona has great numbers against southpaws this season, but we're not sure how directly that applies to Hill, because he's a different kind of pitcher. Using his curveball at a 40% clip this season, he's held righties to a .255 wOBA with a 31 K%. Trevor Bauer FD 8500 DK 7900 Opponent - NYY (Garcia) Park - @NYY FD - 26.28 DK - 17.65 Holy cow, the middle tier of pitching is gross tonight. As of this morning, the projection system has exactly half of tonight's starters projected for less than 12 DK points. That tells us Luke Weaver is going to be extremely chalky -- and he should be. We wrote him up with the cash game picks, and he's certainly a viable GPP play, as well. But if you're looking to break away from the pack, Bauer deserves consideration. He likely won't be super popular pitching at the Yankees, and he definitely comes with some risk, but there's legitimate...