DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Saturday 8/3/19 Saturday’s baseball action brings us a slightly different schedule than we’re used to seeing for a weekend set. There are only two day games and everything else is being played at night. That’s a departure than the typical afternoon schedule we get on Saturdays. But we’ve got you covered for the main slate of games with some offenses in great spots and some value pitching as well. 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 Aaron Nola FD 10500 DK 10100 Opponent - CHW (Ross Detwiler) Park - CHWFD - 37.84 DK - 20.59 Nola hasn’t turned in the same season as his 2018 campaign with both the ERA and xFIP trending higher across the board. I’m mostly concerned with the 3.66 BB/9 walk rate that’s nearly a whole free pass higher than his career average. And it’s been problematic of late as well with three or more walks in five of his last six games. But it’s not all doom and gloom. He’s striking out more than 10 batters per nine on the season (a career high) and gets a choice matchup against the White Sox. Chicago strikes out 26% of time against righties this season and rank 3rd to last in wOBA in that split. Nola is a whopping -255 home favorite and the clear cash game pitcher for Saturday’s main slate. Kyle Gibson FD 8100 DK 8900 Opponent - KC (Danny Duffy) Park - KCFD - 32.38 DK - 16.86 Gibson isn’t too far behind Nola in terms of win odds on Saturday with Minnesota opening as -220 home favorites against the Royals. Kansas City is slightly better than the White Sox, but it isn’t by much and Gibson is coming considerably cheaper than Nola. The former has worked more strikeouts into his repertoire in the last two years and this season is K-ing more than a batter an inning. His 3.67 xFIP is excellent and he continues to induce groundballs at around a 50% rate. This is a good spot for the righty and though the over/under is a bit high (10) the price is right on Gibson. I’m definitely interested to see what changes the Astros make with Aaron Sanchez (FD $6600 DK $5300). They have success taking pitching reclamation projects making them viable (or awesome) MLB starters. Catcher/First Base Howie Kendrick FD 2500 DK 4600 Opponent - ARI (Robbie Ray) Park - ARIFD - 8.92 DK - 6.93 Even in mostly a platoon basis, Kendrick...

DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Friday 8/2/19Now’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 have a game playing in Coors Field for this Friday slate, so you know what that means! This article will be littered with players from that game while including some other value plays throughout the Majors. PitchersLance Lynn FD - P 10500 DK - SP 11700 Opponent - DET (Tyler Alexander) Park - TEXFD - 34.67 DK - 18.52It seems crazy to use Lynn as a five-figure player but he's probably the best option on this slate. The simple fact is, Lynn is one of the best pitchers in the Majors right now. That's evident by his 3.05 ERA and 1.08 WHIP over his last 15 starts, striking out 124 batters in barely 100 innings of action. That's a ridiculous stretch from a guy people weren't even considering two months ago and it's clear he's changed his game. What really adds to Lynn's intrigue here is this matchup, with the Tigers ranking bottom-three in OPS, xwOBA, wOBA, OBP and runs scored. That's why Lynn enters this game as a -230 favorite. Steven Matz FD - P 7800 DK - SP 7700 Opponent - PIT (Trevor Williams) Park - PITFD - 27.95 DK - 14.19Matz just had his best outing of the season in his most recent start and guess who it came against? Yes, it was these Pirates, as he struck out seven batters en route to a complete-game shutout. That sort of upside is incredible and it's surprising Matz isn't above $8,000 on both sites. A major reason why he's a great option against this club is because of Pittsburgh's struggles against southpaws, with the Pirates ranked 26th in runs scored, 29th in OPS and dead-last in OBP against them this season.  Also consider Martin Perez (FD $7000 DK $7900)as a big favorite against the Twins. Catcher/First BaseBrandon Belt FD - 1B 3600 DK - 1B 4000 Opponent - COL (Peter Lambert) Park - COLFD - 15.11 DK - 11.4It's rare that we ever want to use the Giants but they're always in play at Coors Field. The last time they were there, San Fran dropped 40 runs in a four-game series and that tells you everything you need to know about this wild ballpark. Belt has quietly been the Giants best hitter this season too, posting a .353 OBP and .750 OPS. That's actually below his career averages, with Belt providing a .365 OBP against right-handers since 2017. His career numbers in Coors are absurd too,...

DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Thursday 8/1/19 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 Early Zack Wheeler FD - P 9600 DK - SP 10400 Opponent - CHW (Dylan Cease) Park - CHW FD - 34.32 DK - 18.06 Michael Pineda FD - P 9300 DK - SP 9300 Opponent - MIA (Jordan Yamamoto) Park - MIA FD - 28.58 DK - 14.62 Despite only four games on the early slate(three on FanDuel), I really don't mind the pitching options. Let's start with Zach Wheeler who didn't end up getting traded yesterday and will now make his 21st start of the season. Things have been very up and down for Wheeler who enters with a 4.71 xFIP but the good news is that the xFIP(3.84) is almost a full run lower to go with his above-average 26% K rate and he is also allowing a low 33.9% hard contact rate and an average exit velocity of 87.2 mph (via Baseball Savant). Michael Pineda has a fairly rough start to the season(6.21 ERA/5.08 xFIP first six starts) but has been solid since allowing more than three earned runs in just one of his last 14 starts(3.62 ERA/4.30 xFIP). He has also seen a slight increase in K rate(23.6%) in that time with a low 4.8% walk rate and 1.07 WHIP. Both pitchers have plus matchups today as Wheeler is a -160 favorite going up against the White Sox who have a 26% K rate and 84 wRC+ against righties and have struggled with a 67 wRC+ and 29% K rate over the last 14 days overall. Pineda sits as a -155 favorite against arguably the league's worst offense in the Marlins who have a 75 wRC+ and 25% K rate against righties and a 54 wRC+ and 27% K rate over the last 14 days. Both pitchers are in play in all formats today. Main Clayton Kershaw FD - P 11400 DK - SP 10700 Opponent - SD (Joey Lucchesi) Park - LAD FD - 36.86 DK - 19.93 On the main slate, while Gerrit Cole has arguably been the best pitcher in baseball this season I will be riding with Clayton Kershaw for a couple of reasons. He is a slightly bigger favorite(-195), in a game with a total(7.5) a full run lower, and he also gets the much better matchup. While Cole faces a red-hot Indians team that is striking out under 20% over the last few weeks, Kershaw gets the Padres who have been league...

DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Wednesday 7/31/19 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 Jacob deGrom FD - P 12000 DK - SP 11800 Opponent - CHW (Lucas Giolito) Park - CHW FD - 38.63 DK - 21.9 The top tier is somewhat loaded tonight and deGrom leads the way in terms of raw points projections. Since being roughed up by the Marlins back in the middle of May, he has returned to elite status holding opponents to two or fewer earned runs in 11 of his last 12 starts(2.10 ERA/3.26 xFIP) with a 31.7% K rate and 15.2% swinging-strike rate. He now gets arguably the best matchup on the board as a -163 favorite going up against a White Sox team that has scored a league-low 51 runs since the All-Star break with an ugly 26.7% K rate. The decision on FanDuel is a lot closer with deGrom's price hitting $12K but on DraftKings, he is easily my top pitcher on this slate in all formats. Jose Berrios FD - P 10400 DK - SP 10700 Opponent - MIA (Sandy Alcantara) Park - MIA FD - 37.28 DK - 19.58 The pivot for me on FanDuel, at least in cash games, will be Jose Berrios. He is coming off an excellent start on the road against the aforementioned White Sox and now gets another plus matchup against a Marlins team who have been equally as bad in the second half(.284 wOBA, 77 wRC+) and rank second to last with a .282 wOBA and 76 wRC+ against right-handed pitching. I am not willing to pay up for him in cash games on DraftKings with a K rate 10% lower than deGrom but on FanDuel the price gap is larger making him a target for me in all formats. Vince Velasquez FD - P 7500 DK - SP 7500 Opponent - SF (Jeff Samardzija) Park - PHI FD - 25.39 DK - 13.08 Jose Urquidy FD - P 8000 DK - SP 7000 Opponent - CLE (Zach Plesac) Park - CLE FD - 33.39 DK - 17.34 The reason I am so high on deGrom on DraftKings at a near $12K price tag is the value options that are on the slate and these two are most definitely my favorites. I wrote up Velasquez in his last start and he didn't let us down going 5.2 allowing the Tigers just four hits while striking out nine(31.2 DK/50 FD points). At his current price, he only needs about half...

DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Tuesday 7/30/19Now’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!With the trade deadline only 24 hours away, this is one of the wildest periods of the season. There are going to be scratches and weird lineups across the Majors and that always makes for a strange DFS schedule. Be sure to monitor all of these situations and don't get stuck with any big fat 0's into your lineup. PitchersJake Odorizzi FD - P 7300 DK - SP 9400 Opponent - MIA (Zac Gallen) Park - MIAFD - 35.71 DK - 18.95We always like to use pitchers against the Marlins and getting one in the midst of a breakout season is a huge bonus. So far this season, Odorizzi is pitching to a 3.84 ERA and 1.21 WHIP while striking out 108 batters across 103 innings. That's all you can ask for from a player in this price range, as he should cruise right through this lineup. Not only is it an NL lineup without a DH, the Marlins currently rank 29th in runs scored and dead-last in wOBA, xwOBA and OPS. That's why Odorizzi enters this matchup as a -165 favorite, with Miami projected for only 3.5 runs.  Griffin Canning FD - P 6700 DK - SP 7900 Opponent - DET (Drew VerHagen) Park - LAAFD - 34.27 DK - 17.98Canning's recent form is downright terrible but he's much better than those numbers would indicate. Having a start against the Astros and Rangers will do that to anyone's statistics and it doesn't even take into consideration the five runs he allowed in a surprise relief appearance in his last outing. He was forced into that 16-inning game and it just exemplifies how unlucky this guy has been recently. Prior to that, Canning had a 3.68 ERA and 0.99 WHIP over his first 10 starts while striking out 63 batters across 61.2 innings of action. That's awesome against a lineup like this, with Detroit ranked 29th in K rate and dead-last in runs scored, SLG and wOBA. Not to mention, Canning enters this gams as a -270 favorite. Catcher/First BaseDaniel Murphy FD - 1B 3600 DK - 1B 5000 Opponent - LAD (Tony Gonsolin) Park - COLFD - 14.9 DK - 11.44This is the first of many Rockies and Murphy is actually quite the value on FanDuel. Any player hitting in Coors Field should be above $4,000, let alone a guy as hot as Murphy. Over his last 57 games, Murphy is hitting .328 while generating a .915 OPS in...

DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Monday 7/29/19 Monday's baseball action brings us a game in Coors, the Reds against a dude who's been lit on fire of late and a possible chance to stack the Nationals against a lefty. 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 Chris Paddack FD - P 8900 DK - SP 10200 Opponent - BAL (Undecided) Park - SDFD - 33.06 DK - 18.05 Though he hasn’t been quite as good as his 2.84 ERA would suggest (4.03 xFIP), Paddack still is rocking some fantastic peripherals on the season with a 27% K rate while only walking batters at a 5.6% clip. That’s good for a 4.7:1 K:BB ratio and on Monday he’ll face a bottom-feeding Orioles team rank 25th in wOBA against righties this season. The strike out 23% of the time in that split and just generally stink. This is a great spot for Paddack. There’s no early line on the game presumably because the Padres were deciding on whether he or Lamet would start on Monday. Both MLB and ESPN list Paddack as the guy so we’ll start there. Caleb Smith FD - P 9400 DK - SP 10600 Opponent - ARI (Merrill Kelly) Park - MIAFD - 33.71 DK - 18.79 Smith plays on the Marlins which is one of the key aspects of his downside. i.e. The team stinks. But it isn’t because of him. He’s had an excellent season with 11 K’s per nine and a 4.04 xFIP. The 3.30 ERA is lower thanks to some run hot around the .232 BABIP. He doesn’t get the best matchup against Arizona on Monday, the Marlins are +100 home underdogs which is about as good as you can ask for them out of Vegas. The park in Miami really helps suppress power all around and Smith is coming cheap because he’ll always struggle to pile up many wins. We aren’t exactly teeming with stud pitchers against weak bats on this slate, so I’m fine trying to pick off some value around the margins. Strongly consider Jaime Barria (FD $7200 DK $7200) against the Tigers. Catcher/First Base Joey Votto FD - 1B 3300 DK - 1B 4000 Opponent - PIT (Jordan Lyles) Park - CINFD - 13.57 DK - 10.17 Look, I know 2017 Joey Votto isn’t walking back through that door. It’s not lost on me that the power has dried up almost completely at this point. And he’s also showing less patience at the plate with the walk...