DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Sunday 5/9/21 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 Jacob deGrom FD - P 12500 DK - SP 11700 Opponent - ARI (Riley Smith) Park - NYMFD - 40.37 DK - 23.27 The stats are getting a little dumb here. He has 59 strikeouts in his first 35 innings, good for an absurd 48% K% and has a nearly 15:1 K:BB ratio. The ERA is sitting at 0.51 which is only slightly better than the 1.37 xFIP. He’s just the best pitcher in baseball right now which is really saying something considering the number of quality arms that are out there. He’s coming in as a -315 home favorite against the garbage-y Diamondbacks and will likely be chalk on this slate. There’s absolutely no reason at all to fade him here and deGrom deserves to be the highest-owned pitcher on this slate. It shouldn’t be close. Kenta Maeda FD - P 7400 DK - SP 8300 Opponent - DET (Matthew Boyd) Park - DETFD - 36.1 DK - 19.09 Kenta Maeda is about 1.25 runs better on his xFIP than the 5.00 ERA meaning we are getting him at something of a discount thanks to early-season run bad. His BABIP allowed is 70 points higher than his career average and he’s running unlucky on the LOB% as well. The strikeouts aren’t where they’ve been the last couple of seasons, but the matchup against the Tigers is a good one. I like him here though think he’s a significant step below deGrom obviously. Lucas Giolito (FD $9600 DK $9500) is also a good value and is so much cheaper than deGrom on FanDuel that some might go this direction. Catcher/First Base José Abreu FD - 1B 3800 DK - 1B 4700 Opponent - KC (Mike Minor) Park - KCFD - 11.42 DK - 8.64 Abreu has tuned up lefty pitching for his career with a 149 wRC+ and .926 OPS through his time in the majors. The matchup against Minor isn’t a perfect one, but he’s still in a good spot here to take advantage. the White Sox implied run line is pushing to around five runs and the platoon advantage really favors Abreu in this game. Pete Alonso FD - 1B 3900 DK - 1B 5000 Opponent - ARI (Riley Smith) Park - NYMFD - 11.24 DK - 8.35 Alonso might never get back to the mid-.900s OPS guy we saw in his first season, but he also doesn’t...

DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Saturday 5/8/21 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 Joe Musgrove FD - P 9400 DK - SP 9100 Opponent - SF (Kevin Gausman) Park - SFFD - 41.13 DK - 22.36 Musgrove has been a total ace this season, throwing a no-hitter already and putting up some of the best numbers in the game. He’s striking out opposing batters 36% of the time and has a nearly 9:1 K:BB ratio. He’s a -135 road favorite against the Giants on Saturday. San Fran has been a patient team and rank in the top half of the league in terms of OPS, but that’s set to dip over the course of the season based on their lineup. Musgrove is a pretty easy cash play for the afternoon slate. Ian Anderson FD - P 7900 DK - SP 8900 Opponent - PHI (Vince Velasquez) Park - ATLFD - 38.57 DK - 20.41 The Phillies have been in the bottom third of the league in terms of offense this season and are dealing with some injuries as well. They are striking out 28% of the time as a team and offer a good chance to roster arms against them. Anderson is striking out about 10 batters per nine this season and owns a 3.11 xFIP. He’s a -175 home favorite in this matchup and is one of the better options on the evening slate of games. I don’t mind Lance Lynn (FD $10400 DK $9500) against the Royals. Catcher/First Base Anthony Rizzo FD - 1B 3600 DK - 1B 5000 Opponent - PIT (Wil Crowe) Park - CHCFD - 10.66 DK - 7.98 Wil Crowe has been horrible through his first 20 or so major league innings and the Cubs are in a great spot on Saturday. Crowe has actually walked more batters than he’s struck out and has an xFIP that’s pushing 7.00. Rizzo meanwhile hasn’t been displaying the power from earlier in his career, but he’s still walking as much as he’s striking out and he's tough to put down on strikes. This is just too good of a matchup to pass up for the Cubs. Freddie Freeman FD - 1B 4000 DK - 1B 5300 Opponent - PHI (Vince Velasquez) Park - ATLFD - 13.93 DK - 10.42 For the evening slate, it’s going to be tough fading the Braves who have such a potent top of the order. They are facing Vincent Velasquez who’s walking 15% of opposing...

DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Tuesday 5/7/21 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 Jack Flaherty FD - P 10200 DK - SP 9400 Opponent - COL (Austin Gomber) Park - STL FD - 40.69 DK - 22.06 We get a nice selection of top pitchers tonight but Flaherty stands out and it starts with the price as he is 4th in pricing on DraftKings in the mid $9K range. He and the Cards are also the biggest favorites(-196) on the slate facing a Rockies team that ranks 25th in wRC+(74) on the road and come in with a terrible 80 wRC+ vs. right-handed pitching. For Flaherty, it has been a tremendous rebound after a rough opening day(6 ER) and has only given up seven earned runs over his last five starts(2.10 ERA/3.57 xFIP) with a 27% K rate. All things considered, Flaherty is my top pitcher in all formats. Mike Foltynewicz FD - P 7700 DK - SP 6800 Opponent - SEA (Chris Flexen) Park - TEX FD - 30.12 DK - 15.31 There are a ton of different ways to go at SP2 tonight including double pay-up, a mid-tier option, or my favorite, a trip to value town. The system likes Charlie Morton a ton here and it makes sense if the Phillies are without Harper to open the series. Sure, Folty has some ticks against him as well but comes $900 cheaper and has held opponents to three or fewer earned runs in four of his last five starts. He also faces a Mariners team that has struggled lately(64 wRC+ last 7 days) and rank bottom five in almost all offensive stats for the season. There is not a ton of upside here but at these prices, I live the PTS/$ floor he provides allowing us to spend up for 2-3 big bats. Catcher/First Base Mitch Garver FD - C 2700 DK - C 5200 Opponent - DET (Tarik Skubal) Park - DET FD - 11.72 DK - 8.76 Targeting against Tarik Skubal early the season has most definitely paid off this season so why stop why? He enters the night with a 6.14 ERA, 6.83 xFIP, and has twice given up three home runs in a game. What really stands out, however, is the damage righties have been doing to the tune of an 8.27 xFIP and .446 wOBA against. That is where this pick of Garver at catcher leads off the bats in this slate. He is projected to...

DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Thursday, 5/6/21 It's rare that we don't have many night games, but that's just what we have here. This slate is actually made up with all day games, starting at 1ET. That means the Los Angeles-Tampa Bay and Miami-Arizona matchups are off the board, with eight games making up the main slate. That means you night owls need to get up a little early and check lineups and weather before submitting lineups. With that in mind, let's get into it! 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 Michael Pineda FD - P 8700 DK - SP 7500 Opponent - TEX (Jordan Lyles) Park - MIN FD - 33.16 DK - 17.28 I truly believe that Pineda has been one of the most underrated pitchers in baseball over the last three years, and it's a wonder why he's never received the attention he deserves. Between 2019-20, Pineda pitched to a 3.91 ERA and 1.16 WHIP while generating an 8.8 K/9 rate. His statistics are even more impressive this year, generating a 2.30 ERA, 0.91 WHIP, and 9.0 K/9 rate. That makes it hard to believe that he's priced so reasonably on both sites, especially when you see this tasty matchup. Texas currently ranks 24th in xwOBA and 29th in K rate, boasting one of the worst lineups in baseball. Nathan Eovaldi FD - P 8600 DK - SP 8400 Opponent - DET (Spencer Turnbull) Park - BOS FD - 36.91 DK - 19.7 I've never been a huge fan of Eovaldi's game, but he's looked like a different pitcher since the beginning of last season. In fact, Eovaldi has a 3.69 ERA and 1.18 WHIP in that span, striking out 84 batters across 83 innings of action. He's always shown elite velocity, but his spin rate and other pitches are finally coming around. The best part about using him is this matchup, though, with Detroit ranked last in nearly every offensive category. They currently sit 30th in runs scored, OBP, OPS, xwOBA, and K rate. That means you can use any pitcher against them, especially a hot one like this. Catcher/First Base Dominic Smith FD - 1B 2800 DK - OF 4100 Opponent - STL (John Gant) Park - STL FD - 9.66 DK - 7.32 Dom has made minced meat of righties throughout his career, and we love that the Mets are finally giving this guy the opportunity he deserves. Since 2019, Smith is hitting .283 against right-handers, en route to a...

DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Wednesday 5/5/21 Welcome back baseball fans. We have a few afternoon games today but we will be focusing our attention on the 11-game main slate looking at some core plays at each position for FanDuel and DraftKings. Let's get started. 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 Shane Bieber FD - P 12200 DK - SP 10400 Opponent - KC (Brady Singer) Park - KC FD - 47.33 DK - 26.92 What an absolutely loaded main slate in terms of pitching tonight with three elite options right at the top. You really can't go wrong with either of them but the system has a clear favorite and it's Shane "don't call me Justin" Bieber who is projected for about 15% more than Darvish in the same price range. Bieber has also been one of the best pitchers in baseball to this point in the season as he comes in with a 2.76 ERA/2.34 xFIP and has double-digit strikeouts in five of six starts for an incredible 39.5% K rate. My only concern here is the matchup as the Royals have only struck out around 21% of the time on the season but I am not concerned as Bieber struck out 12 Royals in their first meeting in early April. Fire up Bieber in all formats. Martin Pérez FD - P 6700 DK - SP 6600 Opponent - DET (Casey Mize) Park - BOS FD - 33.99 DK - 17.12 First of all, on DraftKings, I really don't mind pairing Buehler with Bieber as it only takes us slightly over $20K but it leaves us searching for multiple punt plays to tier it all together. This build may look better closer to lock when lineups come out but for now, I will be looking for a value SP2, at least in cash games. Martin Perez doesn't stand out on his own merit here as he enters his sixth start with a 4.70 ERA and his high walk rate(8.5%) has not helped him get deep into games. What I do like is the price(obviously) but more importantly, the matchup vs. the Tigers who rank dead last in wOBA(.261), wRC+(67), and K rate(31%) on the season. Making it even more enticing is that they have an embarrassing 33 wRC+ and 38% K rate vs. left-handed pitching. This alone puts Perez, who is also a -190 favorite, at the top of my PTS/$ value list tonight. Catcher/First Base Ryan Zimmerman FD - 1B...

DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Tuesday 5/4/21 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 Jacob deGrom FD - P 12500 DK - SP 11100 Opponent - STL (Johan Oviedo) Park - STL FD - 47.43 DK - 27.25 Anytime deGOAT takes the mound the slate is centered around him as he is putting up absolutely insane numbers. He has gone at least six innings in all five starts while limiting opponents to three or fewer hits in four of five, has allowed just two earned runs all season, and has a 59:4 strikeout to walk ratio. Looking at the stats, the matchup is average as the Cards sit with a 92 wRC+ on the season but do produce runs 16% less against right-handed pitching which is just more confirmation deGrom is the top pitcher in all formats. Huascar Ynoa FD - P 8000 DK - SP 8200 Opponent - WSH (Joe Ross) Park - WSH FD - 32.38 DK - 17.23 I have been on Ynoa through this whole price climb on DraftKings and I still feel he is a bit underpriced based on the underlying stats. He has gone five innings or more in four of his five starts and limited the opponent to four or fewer hits and two or fewer earned runs in all four. Not only has he been consistent, but he has also flashed a ton of upside with a 32% K rate backed up by a 14.6% swinging-strike rate. The Nats aren't a great matchup but it is a huge upgrade with no Soto and have one of the biggest split differentials in the league with a 136 wRC+ vs. lefties and a 76 wRC+ vs. righties. At these prices, he is in play in all formats on both sites. Catcher/First Base Eric Hosmer FD - 1B 3300 DK - 1B 4600 Opponent - PIT (Mitch Keller) Park - SD FD - 10.23 DK - 7.77 The Padres are my top team to target on tonight's slate in a plus matchup vs. the struggling Mitch Keller. Over five starts, he has already given up 24 hits and 13 walks for a 1.98 WHIP and has been punished with 17 earned runs and a 50% hard contact rate(via statcast). For Hosmer, he has been consistent getting on base lately with hits in eight of his last 11 games with six walks but hasn't provided any power with a .000 ISO in that time. I am willing to somewhat dismiss...