DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Thursday, 5/27/21 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! Thursday slates always tend to be lighter, and that's certainly the case here. We have six games making up this nightcap, with many West Coast teams taking the field. What I do love about this slate is all the value out there. It's clear that these DFS sites aren't reacting to hot stretches as quickly as they do in the NBA, leaving some of the pricing a bit soft. With that in mind, let's kick things off with a pitcher who has a ridiculous DraftKings price. Pitchers Stephen Strasburg FD - P 10000 DK - SP 8500 Opponent - CIN (Sonny Gray) Park - WSH FD - 38.15 DK - 20.67 As you probably know, DraftKings pricing is usually way stricter than FanDuel. That makes this Strasburg price all the more confusing, sitting $1,500 cheaper over there. We'd argue that he should be $10K on both sites because Stras is always a beast when he's healthy. We're talking about a guy with a 3.20 ERA and 1.09 WHIP for his career while generating a ridiculous 28 percent K rate. He showed some of that form in his first start off the IL, allowing one hit across 5.1 scoreless innings. It's not like Cincinnati is an easy matchup, but they're missing two of their potent lefties in Joey Votto and Mike Moustakas. That only adds to Strasburg's intrigue, with the Washington starter entering this matchup as a -150 favorite. Chris Flexen FD - P 5800 DK - SP 6200 Opponent - TEX (Kolby Allard) Park - SEA FD - 31.56 DK - 17.03 I watched this guy in the KBO last year (yes, I watched KBO during COVID times!), and I was really impressed with some of his stuff. That noble year with the Doosan Bears earned him a contract with the Mariners and then got him into this rotation. He actually had one of the worst starts of the year when he surrendered eight runs to the Padres in his last start but was pretty good before that. In fact, Flex had at least 19 FanDuel points in six of his first seven starts, pitching to a 3.46 ERA in that span. He actually has a 2.18 ERA at home this year, too, which is really no surprise when you see how spacious Safeco Field can be. The best part about using him here is the matchup, though, with Texas ranked 23rd in K...

DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Wednesday 5/26/21 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 Tyler Glasnow FD - P 10700 DK - SP 10500 Opponent - KC (Mike Minor) Park - TB FD - 42.21 DK - 23.38 At the top tonight, we are faced with the decision between two elite pitchers and while I will have exposure to both, the system has Glasgow slightly ahead and I agree for multiple reasons. First of all, the Rays are much bigger favorites(-193 to -136) facing a Royals team that is below average and ranks outside the Top 20 in almost all offensive stats both on the season and more recently. The only thing I have against Bauer here is that the Astros strikeout(18%) less than any team in baseball which both lowers his floor and ceiling. Glasnow is coming off a dud vs. the Blue Jays who have had his number but overall he has been very good with a 2.90 ERA/2.87 xFIP to go along with an elite 36% K rate. All in all, he is my top pitcher on this slate. Chris Paddack FD - P 7500 DK - SP 7700 Opponent - MIL (Adrian Houser) Park - MIL FD - 29.72 DK - 15.93 Night in and night out we keep getting pitchers on DraftKings that seem to be underpriced making it very easy to pay up for the elite arms. Tonight, DK is serving up Chris Paddack and to be fair he was inconsistent early on but is starting to heat up making this a nice buy-low opportunity. His last start was easily his best of the season as he went six innings(longest outing) holding the Mariners to just three hits and one earned run while striking out six. He now gets a plus matchup against a below-average Brewers offense that has been much worse against righties with a .285 wOBA, 78 wRC+, and 26% K rate. Paddack is my top SP2 tonight on DraftKings and a nice GPP pivot on FanDuel to get all the bats. Catcher/First Base Max Muncy FD - 1B 3900 DK - 1B/2B 5500 Opponent - HOU (Luis Garcia) Park - HOU FD - 12.59 DK - 9.27 Freddie Freeman FD - 1B 3800 DK - 1B 5600 Opponent - BOS (Nick Pivetta) Park - BOS FD - 13.69 DK - 10.24 First base is most definitely a pay-up spot for me tonight and I likely won't expand outside of these two superstars. Let's start with...

DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Tuesday 5/25/21 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 Max Scherzer FD - P 11000 DK - SP 10700 Opponent - CIN (Tyler Mahle) Park - WSH FD - 41.89 DK - 23.36 It is a terrific slate for pitching but I am iffy on paying up for deGrom who returns from the IL so instead I will turn to Mad Max as my top option. He has been elite in the month of May giving up just four total earned runs(1.37 ERA/2.45 xFIP) with an eye-popping 39% K rate. He gets a great shot to keep the good times rolling as a -165 home favorite against the struggling Reds who have dropped six of their last seven scoring just 3.6 runs per game and striking out 25% of the time. Fire up Scherzer in all formats. Clayton Kershaw FD - P 10000 DK - SP 8000 Opponent - HOU (Zack Greinke) Park - HOU FD - 34.18 DK - 18.42 Look. I get the Astros are a Top 3 team against left-handed pitching and in no way is Kershaw a safe play on FanDuel but this DraftKings price is straight up laughable. There have been a few hiccups along the way but overall, he is having a good start to the season with a 3.18 ERA/3.15 xFIP to go along with a 29% K rate. At a minimum, we are looking for a 2x return in cash games(16 pts) on DraftKings and he has provided 20+ DK points in eight of his 10 starts. I hate the matchup but cannot ignore the price making Kershaw easily my top SP2 tonight. Catcher/First Base Matt Olson FD - 1B 3600 DK - 1B 4600 Opponent - SEA (Logan Gilbert) Park - OAK FD - 11.18 DK - 8.28 As of writing this, Oakland is outside the Top 5 in implied runs but easily one of my favorite teams to target in all formats. It starts with the matchup against struggling rookie Logan Gilbert who has given up nine hits and seven earned runs through his first two starts(6.2 IP). For Olson, he checks off almost all boxes starting with recent play as he comes in red-hot with hits in seven of his last eight games including two doubles and four home runs. To be honest, he has played great all season with a .388 wOBA/156 wRC+, and best of all he comes at a buy-low price as the 11th and...

DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Monday 5/24/21 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 Blake Snell FD - P 9300 DK - SP 8900 Opponent - MIL (Brandon Woodruff) Park - MIL FD - 36.34 DK - 20.11 What a dream buy-low opportunity. After floundering for most of the beginning of the season, Snell roared back with a 6 IP, 11 K, 1 ER start against the Rockies his last time out. If he's still capable of starts like that, these prices are arguably 25% too low. The Brewers, meanwhile, are a fantastic match-up. They've struck out at the 6th highest rate this season while amassing the 3rd worst wOBA. I love Snell in every format at these prices. Frankie Montas FD - P 8400 DK - SP 6200 Opponent - SEA (Yusei Kikuchi) Park - OAK FD - 35.17 DK - 18.65 While it's true that Montas became overrated during his run-hot 2019 campaign, he's still a pretty good pitcher that we can consider on a slate where the best pitchers are over-priced. He's still a 28 year old pitcher that has struck out almost exactly a batter per inning for his career, and the match-up here looks fanastic as well. The Mariners pair the league's worst wOBA with the 5th highest strikeout rate, making Montas a fantastic pitcher 2 option on DraftKings. If you must pay up at pitcher, consider Lance Lynn. Catcher/First Base José Abreu FD - 1B 3700 DK - 1B 5100 Opponent - STL (Kwang Hyun Kim) Park - CHW FD - 11.27 DK - 8.53 With an .810 OPS, it hasn't been a banner year for the White Sox's Cuban first baseman. He has run .026 below his career BABIP levels, though, so his true performance this year probably lies north of the .810 OPS. As for the match-up, Kwang Hyun Kim is actually pretty good! He's run very hot on the ERA, but the 4.2 career xFIP so far is more than respectable for a guy who joined the Majors at the age of 31. You'll forgive me if I trust Abreu here, though, whose OPS goes .077 points higher with the platoon in his favor. C.J. Cron FD - 1B 2800 DK - 1B 4000 Opponent - NYM (David Peterson) Park - NYM FD - 8.95 DK - 6.75 If you're like most of the fantasy community, you've been in a deep sleep when it comes to CJ Cron this year. CJ has an outstanding...

DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Sunday 5/23/21 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 Max Fried FD 8500 DK 8600 Opponent - PIT (JT Brubaker) Park - PITFD - 35.83 DK - 18.64 Fried enters as a -199 home favorite in this one, the best moneyline odds on the main slate. He's striking out more than 10 batters per nine though the walks remain an issue. Don't let the 5+ ERA fool you, the xFIP is about 1.5 runs lower. And now he gets a bottom-feeding Pirates offense with barely a bat in it. This is a great spot for Fried and we are buying low on him because his BABIP is way too high and his LOB% is way too low. Freddy Peralta FD - P 9900 DK - SP 10500 Opponent - CIN (Luis Castillo) Park - CINFD - 38.37 DK - 21.26 This isn’t a great matchup for Peralta but there isn’t a ton of top-end talent taking the mound on the main slate for Sunday. Peralta might be as close as we get. He’s struck out 14 batters per nine this season good for a 39% K rate which is about as good as it gets in baseball. His 3.26 xFIP isn’t as good as the low 2’s ERA would suggest, but it’s still damn good. He’s a slight favorite against the Reds who have been a very good offense this season. And it’s in a good hitter’s park, but again, in terms of strikeout upside, Peralta is the best bet on the main slate. Cristian Javier FD - P 9100 DK - SP 9200 Opponent - TEX (Mike Foltynewicz) Park - TEXFD - 34.76 DK - 18.81 The Rangers are a bottom-third offensive team on the season and are striking out more than 26% of the time as a club. That’s going to have Javier in a good spot in the early games where he opens as a -163 road favorite. On the season, Javier is striking out close to 11 batters per nine and has kept the walks relatively in check. In terms of win expectation, his number is about as good as you’ll find on this slate and the cost isn’t prohibitive. He could be the chalk arm on the main slate. Jameson Taillon FD - P 6700 DK - SP 8100 Opponent - CHW (Dallas Keuchel) Park - NYYFD - 30.97 DK - 16.62 Taillon’s 5/3 ERA is, of course, bad. But his xFIP is nearly...

DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Saturday 5/21/21 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 Afternoon slate Lance McCullers Jr. FD - P 9400 DK - SP 9500 Opponent - TEX (Jordan Lyles) Park - TEXFD - 37.33 DK - 20.16 McCullers is one of the top options for the afternoon slate of games, coming in as a -174 road favorite against the Rangers. The run line is on the lower side, starting at 8.5 and McCullers looks fully healthy this season. He’s striking out more than 10 batters per nine on the season with an ERA under 3.00. The xFIP is a little higher and he’s gotten a bit lucky with the BABIP which is masking the walk rate just a tad. But he gets a Rangers offense that’s currently in the bottom-third of the league and strikes out more than 26% of the time. Shane Bieber (FD $11500 DK $11200) is the expenseive option here, but it’s hard to argue with him even at these price points. Evening slate Walker Buehler FD - P 10500 DK - SP 11000 Opponent - SF (Undecided) Park - SFFD - 35.18 DK - 19.38 Buehler isn’t striking batters out at the same rate he did over the last two seasons, with the K% under 28% for the first time in a while. But he’s mitigated that some by drastically reducing his walks per nine innings. The control has been elite and he’s sporting a 3.26 xFIP on the season. The Giants offense has actually been good this season with some turn-back-the-clock seasons from a few of their dudes. But Walker is still a value on this evening slate of games. He’s not cheap, but he’s the best arm going on this slate. Catcher/First Base Afternoon slate Josh Bell FD - 1B 3500 DK - 1B 4000 Opponent - BAL (Bruce Zimmermann) Park - WSHFD - 11.56 DK - 8.63 Bell has come out of the gate struggling and it’s been a carryover from his last season as well. There’s a good chance we aren’t going to see him return to the 2019 form when he cranked out 37 home runs. That season is looking like a blip for sure. But he’s still hitting in the middle of this Nationals’ lineup and they get one of the better matchups of the day against the lefty Bruce Zimmermann. Evening slate Danny Santana FD - DK - 1B 2400 Opponent - PHI (Spencer Howard) Park - PHIFD - 0...