DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Friday 6/25/21 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 Carlos Rodón FD - P 11200 DK - SP 10700 Opponent - SEA (Yusei Kikuchi) Park - CHW FD - 35.08 DK - 18.82 While Jacob deGrom is sort of running away with the National League Cy Young at this point, the race is much closer in the American League and Rodon has been near the front since the start of the season. It has been a spectacular comeback story that includes a no-hitter(near perfect game) and he enters the night having held opponents to one or fewer earned runs in 10 of his 12 starts. A lot of the success comes on the back of an elite fastball/slider combination that he throws 82% of the time and helped him to a career-high 36.6% K rate. The prices are near season high's but he gets an elite matchup vs. a bottom 5 offense so fire him up in all formats. Chris Paddack FD - P 8500 DK - SP 8800 Opponent - ARI (Corbin Martin) Park - SD FD - 34.42 DK - 18.56 After a rocky April, Paddack has really started to come into form posting a 3.35 ERA and even better 3.24 xFIP over his last eight starts. What really stands out is the K upside he has provided lately with six or more strikeouts in four straight starts including 20 over his last two starts. He now gets an elite matchup vs. a struggling(to put it kindly) D-backs team that has posted a league-worst .280 wOBA, 75 wRC+, and .119 ISO since the start of May while only winning five(5!!) games. Paddack is my favorite SP2 on DraftKings and a nice GPP pivot play on FanDuel tonight. Also Consider: Alek Manoah(TOR) in a plus matchup vs. the Orioles if he starts. He is still waiting on his appeal decision after hitting Franco in his last meeting with the O's Catcher/First Base Yuli Gurriel FD - 1B 3300 DK - 1B 5000 Opponent - DET (Wily Peralta) Park - DET FD - 15.3 DK - 11.73 It is going to be really hard not to go back to the Astros once again and I don't think we can fade them at this point until they really cool down or get priced out of the park. Gurriel has seen his price go up slowly and finally hit $5K on DraftKings but he is having a better season than Jose...

DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Wednesday 6/23/21 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 Early Brandon Woodruff FD - P 10700 DK - SP 10300 Opponent - ARI (Caleb Smith) Park - ARI FD - 40.98 DK - 23.2 As well as Kevin Gausman has pitched this season, the decision at top pitcher on this slate is pretty easy here. To start with, Woodruff gets the much better matchup against the D-backs who are among the worst offenses in the league and much worse against right-handed pitching. For Woodruff, he is coming off his worst start of the season but it was in Coors and before that he had held opponents to just 11 earned runs over his previous 12 starts. All things considered, Woodruff is my top pitcher in all formats on the early slate. Also Consider: Dylan Cease(CHW) in a plus matchup against the Pirates Main Jose Urquidy FD - P 8500 DK - SP 8100 Opponent - BAL (Thomas Eshelman) Park - BAL FD - 32.46 DK - 16.92 The main slate is a much tougher decision at pitcher tonight with Bauer and Musgrove going head to head and add in Trevor Rogers and all three top pitchers have pretty terrible matchups. I will bypass those guys in cash and head down the board a bit with Jose Urquidy who is a -200 favorite tonight against the Orioles. The K upside(22%) or lack thereof is a bit of an issue but the price is low enough that we can deal with it an on DK we are looking for about 16 points and he has tallied 15 or more in six of his last seven starts with 22 or more in three of his last four. All things considered, I love the PTS/$ value here making him my fav pitcher for cash games on the main slate. Catcher/First Base Early Paul Goldschmidt FD - 1B 3900 DK - 1B 5000 Opponent - DET (Matt Manning) Park - DET FD - 11.6 DK - 8.72 After a slow start to the season, Goldy has really started to heat up hitting over .300 in the month of June with an elite .392 wOBA and 153 wRC+. With it, however, is a huge spike in price but it is also slightly relative to the size of this early slate. The Cards sit right behind the White Sox in terms of implied runs and goldy is my favorite play at first in all formats. Main...

DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Tuesday 6/22/21 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 Freddy Peralta FD - P 9500 DK - SP 10000 Opponent - ARI (Zac Gallen) Park - ARI FD - 40.65 DK - 23.19 If you are into pitching as much as I am, this is the slate for you. The system has Gerrit Cole up top in terms of raw points but I am taking the discount and rolling with Freddy Peralta as my top pitcher tonight. After running almost exclusively out of the bullpen in 2020, he is back in the rotation and has been terrific holding opponents to two or fewer earned runs in seven straight and 11 of 13 starts good for a 2.28 ERA/3.39 xFIP. He also gets the much better matchup against the D-backs team that went into Monday losers of 17 straight games while tallying a league-low 66 wRC+ and .109 ISO. He is my top overall pitcher and his best value comes on FanDuel in the mid $9K range. Lucas Giolito FD - P 10500 DK - SP 9400 Opponent - PIT (Tyler Anderson) Park - PIT FD - 40.15 DK - 21.59 What I like more about fading Gerrit Cole in cash is that it allows us to easily pay up for two really good pitchers and my favorite for SP2 is Giolito who is back down in the mid $9K range on DraftKings. While he has been having issues keeping the ball in the yard(7 HR last 4 starts), he has hit at least 2x value on DK at these prices in six straight starts thanks to his K upside as he has struck out 35% of batters in that time. The power issue is also less of an issue in this matchup as the Pirates have a league-worst .125 ISO on the season and produce runs close to 20% below league average(park-adjusted). All things considered, Giolito is in my player pool in all formats. Catcher/First Base Yuli Gurriel FD - 1B 3200 DK - 1B 4700 Opponent - BAL (Jorge López) Park - BAL FD - 16.01 DK - 12.28 The first thing that jumps off the page when looking at the bats for this slate is how underpriced most of the Astros are tonight. The value mostly comes on DraftKings where Gurriel, Correa, and Alvarez are all still in the $4K range while 40 players on this slate are in the $5K or more. What makes that even...

DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Sunday 6/20/21 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 Hyun-Jin Ryu FD - P 8500 DK - SP 8900 Opponent - BAL (Matt Harvey) Park - BALFD - 32.99 DK - 17.25 The strikeout stuff isn’t anything to write home about for the lefty Ryu, especially considering what some other starting pitchers have done with that stat this season. But he still has very good control and a 4:1 K:BB ratio. His solid 3.79 xFIP is thanks to a nearly 50% groundball rate, a big reason he’s able to keep the runs down and the ball in the park. The Orioles are below-average offense on the season and strike out around 24% of the time. This is a rough main slate for starting pitching with very little in the way of ace-level talent taking the mound. Ryu looks like a solid option. Taijuan Walker FD - P 9400 DK - SP 9400 Opponent - WSH (Patrick Corbin) Park - WSHFD - 31.35 DK - 16.09 Walker’s been a nice surprise for the Mets this season, posting a 2.12 ERA and striking out more then 9.5 batters per nine control still isn’t perfect and the 3.58 xFIP points to plenty of good luck on his side. Some of that has come in the form of a lower .246 BABIP which is likely set to come up over the course of the rest of the season. He’s a slight, -132 favorite on the road against the Nationals but the run line at eight is one of the lowest on the board. The story here is that the pitching on the afternoon slate is just pretty bad so we need to take what we can get. Consider Nathan Eovaldi (FD $8900 DK $8300) against the Royals Catcher/First Base Yuli Gurriel FD - 1B 3000 DK - 1B 4400 Opponent - CHW (Dallas Keuchel) Park - HOUFD - 12.23 DK - 9.38 Gurriel is having a great season at the plate with an OPS sitting right around .900 thanks to a lot of patience and some power as well. He’s walking (11%) more than he’s striking out (9%) and has 10 home runs on the season. That all lines up great facing Dallas Keuchel who’s peripherals are abysmal striking out only 5.26 batters per nine. Sure, he generates a lot of groundballs still, but the xFIP is in the 4’s. This is a good spot for the Astros. After Gurriel, the options are pretty...

DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Friday 6/18/21 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 Trevor Bauer FD - P 10500 DK - SP 10600 Opponent - ARI (Caleb Smith) Park - ARI FD - 44.03 DK - 24.18 Looking at the top-tier pitchers tonight, both Rodon and Burnes have better xFIP's and K rates but it's Bauer who I like the most tonight and it really comes down to matchup. He gets to face a D-backs team that has dropped 14 straight while averaging just 3.5 runs per game and in terms of wRC+ they are 18% worse against right-handed pitching. All things considered, Bauer is my top payup at pitcher on this slate. José Berríos FD - P 9000 DK - SP 8500 Opponent - TEX (Mike Foltynewicz) Park - TEX FD - 31.97 DK - 17.33 With the other top-priced pitchers in either tough matchups(Rodon vs. HOU) or terrible pitching environments(Burnes in Coors) my choice at SP2 is pretty easy here with Jose Berrios. The Twins are early -160 favorites against a bottom-five offense in the Rangers that has been even worse lately losing 16 of their last 19 games while averaging a league-low 3.5 runs per game during that stretch. For Berrios, he has been very consistent all season with a 3.49 ERA/.340 xFIP and has held opponents to two or fewer earned runs in three of his last four starts. All things considered, Berrios is my top pitcher on this slate.   Catcher/First Base Jared Walsh FD - 1B 3600 DK - 1B 5500 Opponent - DET (Jose Urena) Park - LAA FD - 11.87 DK - 8.9 The decision to release Pujols was in large part to Walsh needing more playing time at first. While the average(.254) has been lower than expected since Pujols departure, Walsh does have nine home runs and 25 RBI in that time. What I like best here is the elite matchup against Jose Urena(5.16 ERA/4.98 xFIP) and had given up a .306 average and .356 wOBA to lefties. Fire up Walsh in all formats. Daniel Vogelbach FD - 1B 3700 DK - 1B 4500 Opponent - COL (Antonio Senzatela) Park - COL FD - 11.44 DK - 8.46 For value at first base, it is hard to ignore the price on Vogelbach as the Brewers continue their series in Coors Field. What stands out more than the park factor is the fact he has been red hot in June with hits in 10 of...

DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Wednesday 6/16/21 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 Early Lucas Giolito FD - P 10000 DK - SP 9900 Opponent - TB (Ryan Yarbrough) Park - CHW FD - 38.24 DK - 20.68 The early slate gives us a choice between two ace pitchers in average-at-best matchups and while the system has Peralta slightly ahead I personally lean Giolito. There have been a few starts that have gotten away from him but he has been consistent lately with a 2.86 ERA/3.55 xFIP while striking out 31% of batters over eight starts since the start of May. While the overall matchups are almost identical, Giolito gets the edge as the Rays strike out 27% of the time overall(2nd most) and 26% vs. right-handed pitching(4th most). Fire up Gioito in all formats. Also Consider: Tyler Mahle(CIN) as a GPP pivot in a plus matchup against the Brewers who have a 83 wRC+ and 26% K rate vs. right-handed pitching Main Gerrit Cole FD - P 11000 DK - SP 10500 Opponent - TOR (Ross Stripling) Park - TOR FD - 46.14 DK - 26.36 The main slate also gives us a big choice to make at the top but I just can't fully trust deGrom will get his max innings after leaving early(80 pitches) in his last start. I also like the fact that Gerrit Cole has dropped below $11K on DraftKings for the first time in close to a month. While the K rate is down some(36.7%) it is still in elite territory and he has been consistent holding opponents to two or fewer earned runs in 11 of 13 starts(1 or less in 7 starts) this season. He has also had the Jays number holding them to just three earned runs over two starts with 16 strikeouts. All things considered, he is my top pitcher in cash games and my exposure in GPP will come down to deGrom status throughout the day. Also Consider: Clayton Kershaw(LAD) as a -150 favorite in a low total(7.5) game facing a Phillies team that strikes out 27.6% vs. left-handed pitching Catcher/First Base Early Matt Olson FD - 1B 3700 DK - 1B 5700 Opponent - LAA (Griffin Canning) Park - OAK FD - 11.98 DK - 8.88 The price is pretty much at its peak on DraftKings but first is pretty thin on the early slate and Matt Olson is not only having a breakout season, but he also gets an elite...