DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Sunday, 9/19/21
DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Sunday, 9/19/21 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! If you love strange slates, this one's for you! This marks the two-week line until the final day of the season, and it feels like we just started playing a month ago. That's what can be genuinely bizarre about baseball because it felt like we were four months in come May. We're motivated to have some big nights before the regular season commences, and we truly feel like our projection system is speaking on this slate. It likes two of the stud pitchers to build around, so let's kick things off there! Pitchers Gerrit Cole FD - P 11500 DK - SP 10900 Opponent - CLE (Eli Morgan) Park - NYY FD - 49.77 DK - 28.26 Anytime the AL Cy Young favorite is taking the mound, he needs to be taken into consideration for DFS. What makes him an enticing option here is the matchup with Cleveland, with the Indians ranked 27th in OBP, 23rd in wOBA, and 24th in OPS. All of that doesn't matter when it comes to a pitcher like this, with Cole leading every player with 25.4 DK points per game. No other starter is even above 20, and it's a good indicator of how far above the field this guy is right now. Vegas loves him too, with the Yanks entering this matchup as a -300 favorite and Cleveland projected for about 3.5 runs. Sandy Alcantara FD - P 10800 DK - SP 10200 Opponent - PIT (Undecided) Park - MIA FD - 35.62 DK - 19.04 It's crazy that Alcantara is not the second-highest pitcher on both of these sites. To put it simply, he's been one of the best pitchers in the NL for nearly two months. Sandy surrendered 10 runs in Coors Field on August 6 but has a 1.55 ERA, 0.75 WHIP, and 11.0 K/9 rate since then. We can omit that Coors Field game because of all the nightmares it gives opposing pitchers, and it's far from the tasty spot he has here. Not only is Miami one of the most pitcher-friendly ballparks around, but Pittsburgh also ranks 28th in xwOBA, 29th in wOBA, and dead-last in runs scored. Catcher/First Base José Abreu FD - 1B 4000 DK - 1B 4700 Opponent - TEX (Jordan Lyles) Park - TEX FD - 13.53 DK - 10.23 I don't understand this pricing on DraftKings. Abreu received an AL MVP last season for his heroics and...
DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Saturday 9/18/21 – Afternoon and Evening Slates
DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Saturday 9/18/21 - Afternoon and Evening Slates Now’s your chance to get DFSR PRO, which will give you access to our MLB, NBA, PGA, NHL, and NFL optimizers and our new player lab! Get started for free by clicking the button below. START YOUR FREE TRIAL NOW! Pitchers Early Max Scherzer FD 11300 DK 10700 Opponent - CIN (Sonny Gray) Park - CINFD - 39.92 DK - 22.56 Scherzer is the most expensive arm on the early slate and for good reason. He’s hands down the best pitcher going here early and it isn’t particularly close. He gets a tough matchup with the Reds for sure, and you hate that he’s going in Great American Ballpark which plays as well for hitters as any place in the majors not named Coors. Scherzer is having another lights-out season with a 12.17 K/9 rate and a 3.12 xFIP that is about a run higher than his 2.17 ERA. He’s a moderate -184 favorite against Cincy here, but on the early slate, I think he will be a tough fade. For a DraftKings SP2, I like Nick Pivetta (FD $7700 DK $8100) and Ryan Yarbrough (FD $6000 DK $5700). The latter is coming very cheap and allows you to stack some of the bigger bats. Evening Corbin Burnes FD 11200 DK 10500 Opponent - CHC (Justin Steele) Park - CHCFD - 49.09 DK - 28.25 Oh boy, is this one ever easy. Burnes is in the driver’s seat for the NL Cy Young Award this season thanks to just some filthy numbers. He has a 35% K rate on the season, sick peripherals with a 7.2:1 K:BB ratio, and a 2.30 xFIP. He faces the rebuilding Cubs as a -291 home favorite, easily the highest of the slate. This is a slam dunk for cash games and he will likely be the chalk play. It’s worth paying all the way up for Burnes here even with some other strong arms on the slate. Lance Lynn (FD $10300 DK $8700) is just cheap enough on DraftKings to pair with Burnes here. He’s facing the Rangers on the road as a heavy favorite. Catcher/First Base Early Bobby Dalbec FD 3400 DK 3200 Opponent - BAL (Zac Lowther) Park - BALFD - 13.42 DK - 10.03 Dalbec should hit around the 6th or 7th spot for the Red Sox on Saturday and was a chalkier play on Friday in a similar situation. He’s significantly better against lefties for his career with an .868 OPS and .362 wOBA in that split. The Red Sox mostly use him in a platoon when they are facing lefties, one of the reasons his...
DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Friday 9/17/21
DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Friday 9/17/21 Now’s your chance to get DFSR PRO, which will give you access to our MLB, NBA, PGA, NHL, and NFL optimizers and our new player lab! Get started for free by clicking the button below. START YOUR FREE TRIAL NOW! Pitchers Walker Buehler FD 9900 DK 10200 Opponent - CIN (Luis Castillo) Park - CIN FD - 36.68 DK - 20.2 The CY Young awards are coming down to the wire and Buehler is firmly in the conversation in the National League. He has been especially dominant lately holding opponents to two or fewer earned in 11 of his last 12 starts(2.09 ERA). While pitching in Great Amercian Smallpark can be dangerous at times, the Reds have really struggled lately going 7-14 over their last 21 games while averaging under 3.5 runs per game. Buehler is my top pitcher on both sites and I will have exposure in all formats. Dylan Cease FD 8600 DK 9100 Opponent - TEX (Taylor Hearn) Park - TEX FD - 38.36 DK - 20.4 He has a little blip on the radar in his last start but overall has been a very consistent arm for the White Sox and fantasy. Before the last start, he had gone 5+ qualifying for a win in 14 straight and has been striking out about 4% more batters in the second half. Tonight he opens as a -195 favorite in a great matchup against the Rangers who rank dead last in every offensive category in the second half. Fire up Cease in all formats. Catcher/First Base Yuli Gurriel FD 3000 DK 4600 Opponent - ARI (Madison Bumgarner) Park - ARI FD - 14.99 DK - 11.5 The Astros offense has been putting up runs at will recently(35 last 4 games) and I am going right back to the well on Friday. It starts with Gurriel who remains a tremendous value at these prices on both sites given his consistency all season(3.15/.382/.465 slash line) and especially lately as he enters with multi-hit efforts in four of his last five games. At these prices, he is easily my play at first in all formats. Paul Goldschmidt FD 4000 DK 4200 Opponent - SD (Vince Velasquez) Park - SD FD - 11.99 DK - 9.01 This is a case of a huge price differential between the sites as Goldy has reached the $4K mark on FanDuel yet comes cheaper than Gurriel on DraftKings. I am very interested in the latter and making it even better is the fact he comes in red-hot with hits in three straight including two doubles, two home runs, and seven runs scored. He nows faces Velazquez who...
DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Thursday 9/16/21
DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Thursday 9/16/21 Now’s your chance to get DFSR PRO, which will give you access to our MLB, NBA, PGA, NHL, and NFL optimizers and our new player lab! Get started for free by clicking the button below. START YOUR FREE TRIAL NOW! Pitchers Kevin Gausman FD 10600 DK 10600 Opponent - SD (Pierce Johnson) Park - SD FD - 36.97 DK - 20.34 Leading the way on this early slate is Kevin Gausman who is making the most of his one-year deal in San Fran. He enters the night with a 14-5 record but more importantly, an elite 2.65 ERA backed up by a 3.32 xFIP while adding a ton of upside with a 29.4% K rate and the 7th best swing rate(51.4%) in the majors. He now gets a slumping Padres team that went into Wednesday's game losers of five straight while scoring just six runs. There are some slim pickens on this slate and Gausman is easily the top option in all formats. Ian Anderson FD 8000 DK 7900 Opponent - COL (Germán Márquez) Park - COL FD - 34.13 DK - 17.73 From a PTS/$ perspective, Anderson is right at the top of my list under $8K in his fourth start back since injury. He saw mixed results in the first starts but looked very sharp in his last starts holding the Marlins to two earned runs over five innings while striking out nine. He now faces a Rockies team that ranks dead last in almost every offensive stat on the road. Despite the rising price, Anderson will be in my player pool in all formats. Catcher/First Base Jared Walsh FD 2900 DK 4400 Opponent - CHW (Reynaldo López) Park - CHW FD - 9.06 DK - 6.8 Despite the smaller slate, there are some good spots for value and at first, that starts with Jared Walsh. He has been terrific down the stretch with hits in 15 of his last 17 games with five home runs and a .436 wOBA. This is a player who has spent quite a bit of time in the mid to high $5K range on DraftKings and is now heating up and coming at a big discount. Fire him up in all formats. Darin Ruf FD 2500 DK 3900 Opponent - SD (Pierce Johnson) Park - SD FD - 9.83 DK - 7.43 With all the injuries to the Padres rotation, they have signed Ross Detwiler who is projected to get a start on Thursday afternoon. This ties into this value play at first base as Darin Ruf crushes lefties(.428 wOBA/173 wRC+) and has gotten a ton of at-bats near the top of the...
DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Wednesday, 9/15/21
DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Wednesday, 9/15/21 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! We're down to the final three weeks! It's been a long grind to get to this point, and it's definitely been full of some major ups and downs. The good news is that we have the upper hand on a lot of the competition right now, with a lot of dead money coming in from NFL DFS goers. These people are making the prize pools more full than usual, making things a bit easier on us. We're just going to keep riding our projections and building solid lineups, which should lead to success for the final few weeks! Pitchers Julio Urías FD - P 10300 DK - SP 10500 Opponent - ARI (Madison Bumgarner) Park - LAD FD - 38.11 DK - 20.38 If it were 1976, Urias would be one of the frontrunners for NL Cy Young behind his 17-3 record. That alone is truly ridiculous, but a 2.98 ERA and 1.03 WHIP are equally as impressive. That doesn't even include his 175 Ks across 163 innings, making him the best pitcher on this slate. What we love here is that he gets to face Arizona. This club is battling for the worst record in baseball and ranks 24th in runs scored, 26th in OPS, and 29th in xwOBA. That's on full display when you see that Urias is averaging 28.7 DK points in their two meetings this season, backed by a 0.77 ERA and 0.60 WHIP. Jose Urquidy FD - P 8700 DK - SP 10000 Opponent - TEX (Kohei Arihara) Park - TEX FD - 34.49 DK - 17.98 Not many people talk about Urquidy regarding Houston's success, but maybe they should. This guy has a 3.51 ERA and 1.02 WHIP in one of the quietest great seasons from any pitcher in the league. That alone makes him a brilliant value on FanDuel, with Urquidy averaging 27.2 FD points per game. The best part of this play is the matchup, though, with the Rangers ranked dead-last in OBP, wOBA, and runs scored. That was crystal clear last season when Urquidy threw seven innings in each of their two meetings, averaging over 40 FD points per game. Not to mention, Jose and the Stros enter this matchup as a -230 favorite. Dallas Keuchel is a good GPP play against a shorthanded Angels team as a -200 favorite. Catcher/First Base Pete Alonso FD - 1B 3800 DK - 1B 4700 Opponent - STL...
DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Tuesday 9/14/21 – Main Slate
DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Tuesday 9/14/21 - Main Slate Now’s your chance to get DFSR PRO, which will give you access to our MLB, NBA, PGA, NHL, and NFL optimizers and our new player lab! Get started for free by clicking the button below. START YOUR FREE TRIAL NOW! Pitchers Gerrit Cole FD 11400 DK 10700 Opponent - BAL (Alexander Wells) Park - BALFD - 46.58 DK - 26.26 Cole is a massive favorite against the Orioles today, coming in at -325. That is one of the biggest lines you will see and it makes total sense considering his talent against the disaster that is Baltimore. Though the grip issue from earlier in the season looked like it was going to be an issue, the numbers have remained elite with Cole striking out more than 12 batters per inning on the season and carrying in a 2.81 xFIP. Baltimore is a bottom-third team on the season and have started trotting out some younger guys as we get near the end of the season. No reason to fade Cole here considering he is head and shoulders above the rest of the group today. Kyle Gibson FD 8600 DK 8100 Opponent - CHC (Adrian Sampson) Park - CHCFD - 33.5 DK - 18.02 After Cole, there is a lot to like with the secondary options on DraftKings especially. Gibson is a big favorite against the rebuilding Cubs on the slate, coming in as a -212 home favorite. Chicago has been using mostly a skeleton crew since shipping most of its talent off at the trade deadline. Gibson isn’t probably as good as the low 3’s ERA would suggest, but he is coming at a reasonable price on DraftKings and shouldn’t face all that much resistance in this matchup. Catcher/First Base Luke Voit FD 3200 DK 3800 Opponent - BAL (Alexander Wells) Park - BALFD - 14.49 DK - 10.83 You are going to see a decent amount of Yankees on this list today for sure. They are in just such a good spot on the mound but also at the plate as well. Against the lefty, Voit should find himself around the middle of the lineup which bodes well for the run-scoring oppportunites. Voit has actually been platoon neutral for his career, above-average against both sides with a 131 wRC+ and .866 OPS against southpaws. Wells has been terrible through his first 22 major league innings and there is a reason the Yankees are expected to put up runs. Ryan Zimmerman FD 2000 DK 2900 Opponent - MIA (Jesús Luzardo) Park - MIAFD - 10.66 DK - 8.05 I really prefer Voit over the rest of the field here...