DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Tuesday 4/9/19 Tuesday's MLB action brings us a bunch of aces hitting the mound throughout the day plus another game in Coors. There's a lot to like for FanDuel and DraftKings value though we may need to decide if it's worth paying up for arms or bats. Now’s your chance to get DFSR PRO, which will give you access to our MLB and NBA optimizers and our new player lab! Get started for free by clicking the button below. START YOUR FREE TRIAL NOW! Pitchers Gerrit Cole FD 11200 DK 10500 Opponent - NYY (Jonathan Loaisiga) Park - HOUFD - 40.81 DK - 22.7 Cole has opened this season much like he performed in 2018: striking everyone out. He has 19 K’s in his first 12 innings pitched this season against the Rays and Rangers respectively. He’ll get a *tougher* matchup against the Yankees on Tuesday, but it’s worth noting that this version of the Bronx *Bombers* is playing without Giancarlo Stanton, Miguel Andujar and Aaron Hicks at the top of the lineup. While still a somewhat imposing team, they’ve taken injury hits that have greatly compromised how imposing they look as a lineup. Cole’s been as good as any pitching in the league to start the year, posting a 6.3:1 K:BB ratio in dominating fashion. He’s a -170 home favorite against the Yankees on Tuesday, among the best win odds on the main slate. Jacob deGrom FD 12000 DK 11600 Opponent - MIN (Kyle Gibson) Park - NYMFD - 40.46 DK - 22.68 Speaking of win odds, deGrom actually has the best at -215 against the Twins at home. He, like Cole, is striking out just every thing in sight with 24 strikeouts in 13 innings against the Marlins and Nationals respectively. The Twins aren’t especially prone to strikeouts with their current order, but deGrom cares not for your batter profiles. This dude is just mowing people down. It helps getting Minnesota at home where he’ll get the pitcher slot and the only real question is if it’s worth paying the 7% (or so) more for deGrom over Cole. It’s very close considering what they bring to the table. Joey Lucchesi FD 7900 DK 9200 Opponent - SF (Derek Holland) Park - SFFD - 34.69 DK - 18.33 Joey “Lucky” Lucchesi has had a strong start to the season, striking out more than 11 batters per nine and keeping the walks under three per nine. He hasn’t allowed an earned run yet though the xFIP sits at 2.19. You love to see the control in check and he’s gifted another plus matchup against the Giants in San Francisco. He struck out seven...

DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Monday 4/8/19 Monday's MLB action brings us another series starting in Coors, a matchup between the Astros and Yankees, some daytime baseball and much more. Now’s your chance to get DFSR PRO, which will give you access to our MLB and NBA optimizers and our new player lab! Get started for free by clicking the button below. START YOUR FREE TRIAL NOW! Pitchers Justin Verlander FD 10700 DK 10400 Opponent - NYY (Masahiro Tanaka) Park - HOUFD - 42.05 DK - 23.69 Pitching isn’t pretty on this slate. We have some names and talent, but every single one of them is uncomfortable to say the least. Out of the top four arms, there isn’t a safe match-up. The Astros are deadly. The Cardinals and Padres are tough against southpaws. Even our top arm in Justin Verlander is in a risky match-up with the Yankees. They’re a lot weaker without Stanton, Hicks, and Andujar in the lineup, but still have some power. Verlander struggled his last time out against the Rangers, but got BABIP’d to death and just didn’t have his K pitch. Going back home, where he pitches a lot better, he should be comfortable and back to his easy seven inning self. Verlander, at 35 years old in 2018, held a .260 wOBA against both sides of the plate while striking out 12 batters per nine. He’s still one of the best pitchers in baseball and it’d because he has the most efficient fastball in baseball. The Yankees are obviously dangerous, but they do strikeout 23.3% of the time against righties and are missing some of their most important bats. Verlander is the safest pitcher on a slate full of uncertainties at the position. Madison Bumgarner FD 9200 DK 9300 Opponent - SD (Eric Lauer) Park - SFFD - 37.6 DK - 19.75 Madison Bumgarner has been very solid to start the season and the Padres have one of the lowest implied run totals on the slate. Yes, they’re a lot better against righties and made a lot of improvements, but they’ll strikeout a ton (24%) and this ballpark really depresses power. Bumgarner is fairly priced and always has upside as one of the guys that can get stretched to 100 pitches early in the season. He isn’t the pitcher he once was, but a .290 combined wOBA with a 8 K/9 is nothing to whiff at. He is only 29 years old, so you never know when he could return to his superstar self. He’s still an elite arm and the Giants have to lean on him. He’s a cash game play on this slate, but is still a clear step...

DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Sunday 4/7/19 Now’s your chance to get DFSR PRO, which will give you access to our MLB and NBA optimizers and our new player lab! Get started for free by clicking the button below. START YOUR FREE TRIAL NOW! Pitchers Mike Clevinger FD 10800 DK 9900 Opponent - TOR (Marcus Stroman) Park - CLE FD - 39.97 DK - 21.51 We’re just focusing on the main slate, so keep that in mind here at pitcher. On the all day slate, you add options like Blake Snell and Chris Sale to the mix. On the main slate, it’s between Max Scherzer and Mike Clevinger at the top. Clevinger is not as good of a pitcher as Scherzer, but he’s going 100+ pitches and sees a phenomenal match-up with the Blue Jays. Clevinger is still one of the best pitchers in baseball, though, sporting a . 286 combined wOBA allowed with a near 10 K/9. He faces off with an offense that has already proven how ugly it is and that’s not going to change all season. Justin Smoak and Grichuk are going to have some big games, but it’s a lineup that will maintain the 23% K rate and bottom five team wOBA. Clevinger is as safe as it gets and you can play him for cheaper than Scherzer. Max Scherzer FD 11900 DK 11900 Opponent - NYM (Zack Wheeler) Park - NYM FD - 47.71 DK - 27.26 The leader in terms of raw points, Max Scherzer is facing off with the New York Mets. He dominated them in his first start of the season, going 7.2 innings and striking out 12, allowing just 2 runs. The Mets have been playing well, but they held a 23% strikeout rate in '18 and we know Scherzer can K as many as anyone. The Mets will split righties and lefties, and only a couple of lefties are any good. They still K and I think the 12 strikeouts on opening day is repeatable. Clevinger is a bit cheaper and has similar upside, but Scherzer has guaranteed strikeout upside and could be lesser owned. Brad Keller FD 7600 DK 7200 Opponent - DET (Tyson Ross) Park - DET FD - 26.19 DK - 12.6 If you’re looking to save some salary at pitcher, I love Brad Keller. In the same price range, I think most will prefer German and Newcomb. Newcomb is having trouble throwing strikes right now and German is a pure GPP play. Brad Keller was a 2017 rule 5 draft player and has impressed ever since joining the club. He’s a true sinker ball pitcher, which we don’t see much of anymore. Think...

DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Saturday 4/6/19 Now’s your chance to get DFSR PRO, which will give you access to our MLB and NBA optimizers and our new player lab! Get started for free by clicking the button below. START YOUR FREE TRIAL NOW! Early Slate Pitchers Carlos Carrasco FD 10,000 DK 10,600 Opponent - TOR (Thomas Pannone) Park - CLE FD - 41.48 DK - 23.04 Despite a poor effort in his first game, Carrasco is probably the best option on this slate. What really makes him enticing is this matchup, with Toronto posting a .190 average and .599 OPS while ranking 10th in total strikeouts in the opening week. That should be no surprise when taking a look at this lineup, as their best players are Justin Smoak and Teoscar Hernandez. All that should allow Carrasco to bounce back here, as he's simply one of the best pitchers in the game. Over the last five years, Carrasco is posting a 3.35 ERA and 1.10 WHIP while recording a K-rate close to 30 percent.   Trevor Williams FD 8,100 DK 8,000 Opponent - CIN (Tanner Roark) Park - PIT FD - 28.73 DK - 14 There are a lot of Trevor Williams haters out there but he's tough to fade in a spot like this. Not only did he throw six scoreless innings in his first start of the season en route to 27 DK points, he also gets the best matchup in baseball. It's an admittedly small sample size so far, but Cincinnati ranks dead-last in average, slugging percentage, on-base percentage and OPS. What's funny is that Williams' first start came against these Reds but it was played at Great American Ballpark. Playing in Pittsburgh is much more pitcher-friendly too, as Williams posted a 2.86 ERA and 1.10 WHIP at PNC Park last season. He also did well against the Reds last season too, picking up two wins in two starts while allowing just two runs in total across 12 innings.  Team Cash Stacks Detroit Tigers Park - DET Opposing Pitcher - KC (Jorge Lopez) Vegas Implied Run Total - 4.48 Potential Players to Stack Jeimer Candelario FD 2600 DK 3800 Opponent - KC (Jorge Lopez) Park - DET FD - 9.52 DK - 7.22 Miguel Cabrera FD 3300 DK 4000 Opponent - KC (Jorge Lopez) Park - DET FD - 10.91 DK - 8.28 Christin Stewart FD 3000 DK 4000 Opponent - KC (Jorge Lopez) Park - DET FD - 9.74 DK - 7.36 While the Tigers are a tough team to trust, it's even more difficult to trust Jorge Lopez. That's evident by the fact that he's the cheapest pitcher on this slate. Lopez' career...

DFSR's Daily Fantasy MLB Podcast for FanDuel and DraftKings Friday 4/5/19 Listen to "DFSR's Daily Fantasy MLB Podcast for Friday on FanDuel and DraftKings" on Spreaker. DFSR’s Doug Norrie and James Davis are back on the podcast discussing a full Friday of baseball action for FanDuel and DraftKings. On the early afternoon slate we have a game in Coors between the Dodgers and Rockies. It’s our first Coors action of the season and the guys talk about the inflated run lines there. They also discuss Tyler Glasnow and Jack Flaherty as solid pitching options coming rather cheap on both sites. For the evening the guys look at Shane Bieber making his first start for the Indians and the insane peripherals he’s put up in his short major league time. They also discuss Nick Pivetta and Brandon Woodruff. For stacks, they look at the Pirates and Angels. Be sure to subscribe through iTunes or Stitcher...

DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Friday 4/5/19 Friday's MLB action brings us two slates, some cheaper pitchers and out first game in Coors Field. That's a recipe for a fantasy bonzanza. Let's take a look at the early and main slate of games and what we can expect from a full day of baseball. Now’s your chance to get DFSR PRO, which will give you access to our MLB and NBA optimizers and our new player lab! Get started for free by clicking the button below. START YOUR FREE TRIAL NOW! Early Slate Pitchers Tyler Glasnow FD 8800 DK 9700 Opponent - SF (Dereck Rodriguez) Park - SFFD - 36.34 DK - 19.43 The Giants have started out the season much like you’d expect after taking just one glance at their Opening Day roster. They are a disaster and there isn’t much reason to expect things to get better. While they might not end up striking out a ton as a team, they have almost no power (talent) to speak of in the lineup. Glasnow transitioned from the bullpen to a starter’s role late in the season last year and opened 2019 with a solid 5IP/ 1 ER/ 4K line against the Astros. He’ll have a chance to even improve on the innings pitched in this matchup against the Giants. He’s a -125 road favorite, coming into a great pitcher’s park with a game total hovering around 7. On an evening without much in the way of big-money arms (and a game in Coors) I think we can roll Glasnow out as a safe-ish option. Jack Flaherty FD 9500 DK 10200 Opponent - SD (Nick Margevicius) Park - SDFD - 36.43 DK - 19.74 Flaherty was really roughed up in his first start of the season, allowing four earned runs in four innings against the Brewers. The long ball got him and he was BABIP-ed a little as well. But this is a guy who struck out 10.5 batters per nine over 151 innings in his first full major league season. The Padres improved in the offseason, but are still a very righty-heavy lineup (especially at the top of the order). Flaherty strikes out righties at an 11.5 per nine clip and has allowed a 3.23 xFIP against that split. He’s a -162 home favorite at the open which represents the best starting pitcher win odds on the slate. Listen to "DFSR's Daily Fantasy MLB Podcast for Friday on FanDuel and DraftKings" on Spreaker. Early Slate Team Cash Stacks Los Angeles DodgersPark - COLOpposing Pitcher - COL (Tyler Anderson)Vegas Implied Run Total - 5.51Potential Players to Stack Kike Hernandez (FD $4500 DK $4700) Justin Turner (FD $4700 DK...