DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Sunday, 8/14/22
DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Sunday, 8/14/22 I've been battling a nasty sickness all week, but I finally started feeling better on Saturday. That actually led to one of my better DFS days of the year, and I'm ready to keep rolling here. We have almost every team in action for this Sunday card, so let's get started with the pitching! 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 Cristian Javier FD - P 10600 DK - SP 8700 Opponent - OAK (Cole Irvin) Park - HOU FD - 41.65 DK - 22.56 The Astros have one of the best rotations in baseball, and Javier is a significant reason why. The 25-year-old has a 3.14 ERA and 1.05 WHIP this season but has really taken his game to another level recently. In fact, Javy has a 3.07 ERA, 0.97 WHIP, and 12.3 K/9 rate across his last 10 starts. That strikeout stuff makes him one of the best options in DFS, particularly in a matchup like this. The A's rank 29th or 30th in runs scored, OBP, OPS, wOBA, and xwOBA, with Christian allowing three runs or fewer in his last five starts against them. That has Javier and the Stros entering this matchup as a -260 favorite. Alex Wood FD - P 9200 DK - SP 9000 Opponent - PIT (Zach Thompson) Park - SF FD - 35.51 DK - 18.9 Wood got off to a terrible start this season, but he's really starting to find his stroke. The goofy left-hander allowed six runs to the Dodgers last week but allowed two runs or fewer in his other six starts since the end of June. Even with that one stinker, Wood has a 2.54 ERA, 0.90 WHIP, and 9.0 K/9 rate in that span. We can omit that LA result because everyone struggles against the Dodgers. Facing Pittsburgh is nothing like facing LA either, with the Pirates ranked 28th in xwOBA, OBP, and K rate. That's why Wood is a -230 favorite, with Pittsburgh projected for just 3.5 runs. Lance Lynn (FD $9000 DK $6800) is showing signs of life and should never be $6,800 against a 29th-ranked Tigers offense. Catcher/First Base C.J. Cron FD - 1B 4300 DK - 1B 5700 Opponent - ARI (Tommy Henry) Park - COL FD - 18.3 DK - 13.76 Cron is my favorite play of the day. This guy has become a stud since he put on a Rockies uniform and always plays well in these circumstances....
DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Saturday 8/13/22
DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Saturday 8/13/22 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 10800 DK 10600 Opponent - PHI (Aaron Nola) Park - PHI FD - 44.99 DK - 26.15 Despite a strict pitch count in his first two starts of the season, deGrom has looked as dominant as ever striking out 18 of 36 batters he has faced. Read that again! With around a 25% increase in that pitch count from start one to two he likely gets up around a full workload on Saturday so these prices definitely feel like a buy-low. The matchup on paper may not look great but the Phillies are already without Bryce Harper and are likely still without NL home run leader, Kyle Schwarber. Fire up deGrom in all formats. Lucas Giolito FD 8500 DK 7500 Opponent - DET (Matt Manning) Park - DET FD - 38.08 DK - 20.18 To say 2022 has been a roller coaster ride for Giolito would be a massive understatement but it has helped keep the price in check which is great news considering he gets the best matchup on the board tonight. He faces a Tigers' team that ranks dead last on the season and has been even worse in the second half with an ugly .261 wOBA, 67 wRC+, and 27% K rate. For Giolito, the walks have been the biggest issue but he has battled through them lately winning two straight while posting 18+ DK points in each. All things considered, he is my top SP2 on this slate. Catcher/First Base Freddie Freeman FD 3900 DK 5400 Opponent - KC (Brad Keller) Park - KC FD - 15.15 DK - 11.42 The Dodgers are scorching hot right now winning 11 straight games and have scored seven or more runs in eight of those and we are going to continue to ride that high on Saturday. It starts with MVP hopeful Freddie Freeman who checks all the boxes starting with a price that is somehow sitting in the mid $5K range on DraftKings and sub $4K range on FanDuel. It's not like he has cooled off hitting .338 in the second half with a .391 wOBA/155 wRC+ and now faces a pitcher in Brad Keller who has recorded a 6.65 ERA/5.22 xFIP in the second half and has given up home runs at almost double the rate to lefties. All things considered, Freeman is our top play at first and one of our top overall...
DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Thursday 8/11/22
DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Thursday 8/11/22 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 Dylan Cease FD - P 10900 DK - SP 10400 Opponent - KC (Zack Greinke) Park - KC FD - 43.63 DK - 24.55 The American League Cy Young race is heating up and it's not that Verlander is slipping but more that Cease is on a historical pace at the moment. He comes into Thursday having held opponents to one or fewer earned runs in 13 straight starts(.59 ERA) while striking out 31% of batters and he has also picked up a win in seven of his last eight. He now faces a bottom 10 Royals offence and while they don't K much overall(21%), Cease has dominated them twice with 18 total strikeouts. He is our top pitcher and once again an elite play in all formats. Merrill Kelly FD - P 10100 DK - SP 9100 Opponent - PIT (JT Brubaker) Park - ARI FD - 33.53 DK - 17.81 The D-Backs won't be playing in October this season but they are definitely building a core that should contend in years to come and veteran Merill Kelly has and will continue to be a big part of that. He hasn't quite been Cease-level good but has still been very good lately holding opponents to two or fewer earned runs in seven straight starts(1.49 ERA). He also gets arguably the best matchup on the board against the struggling Pirates who rank bottom three in almost all statistical categories including strikeouts(25% K rate). The price has peaked but I am fully invested on this smaller slate in all formats. Also Consider: Zach Plesac(CLE) as a value SP2 on DraftKings Catcher/First Base C.J. Cron FD 4300 DK 5000 Opponent - STL (Dakota Hudson) Park - COL FD - 15.95 DK - 11.99 If you have the salary, paying up for MVP odds leader, Paul Goldschmidt, presents the most upside but he also comes at a huge cost. For cash games, I will turn to the other dugout in this game and roll with C.J. Cron who has been just as good or better in the short term as he enters with hits in five straight and eight of his last 10 games including seven extra-base hits. He is also on pace to set a new career high in home runs(23 coming into tonight) and more importantly sits 7th overall with 80 runs batted in this season. With salary cap in mind,...
DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Wednesday 8/10/22
DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Wednesday, 8/10/22 This has been a fun week of baseball. It feels like every game is getting more critical by the day, and it was fun staying up late and watching the west coast games last night. I also watched the Coors Field shootout, with those two teams combining for 21 runs. It's hot in Denver right now, and that ballpark will play like a little league field for the remainder of the season. It'll surely be featured heavily in this article, so let's find some pitchers to pair with those Coors Field bats. 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 Brandon Woodruff FD - P 11000 DK - SP 9600 Opponent - TB (Jeffrey Springs) Park - MIL FD - 38.4 DK - 20.75 Many people get scared to use a pitcher against Tampa Bay, but this lineup has been struggling ever since Wander Franco went down. The Rays rank 24th in wOBA, 25th in xwOBA, 23rd in runs scored, and 27th in K rate. That makes them one of the best matchups in the sport, and it's no surprise when looking at the personnel. That's bad news against a stud like Woodruff, generating 2.90 ERA and 1.03 WHIP since 2020, striking out 406 batters across those 338 innings. He's been rolling recently, too, registering a 2.28 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, and 10.7 K/9 rate across his last nine starts. One of those was against this terrible Tampa offense, striking out 10 batters across five one-run innings. Taijuan Walker FD - P 8400 DK - SP 8400 Opponent - CIN (T.J. Zeuch) Park - NYM FD - 39.23 DK - 20.26 Walker had one of the worst starts of his career in his most recent outing, but this dude was unstoppable before that. In fact, Taijuan tallied 2.53 ERA and 1.10 WHIP across his previous 15 starts. That's a large sample size of mowing down bats, and that should be easy to do against Cincy. The Reds rank 22nd in OBP, 26th in wOBA, and 25th in OPS and K rate. That's scary since they get to hit in Great American Smallpark, and they surely won't see an uptick in a pitcher's park like Citi Field. Walker had his second-best start of the season against this team, dropping 46 FanDuel points on July 4. Sandy Alcantara (FD $11200 DK $10300) has been one of the best pitchers in baseball this season and is a good pivot if you want...
DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Monday 8/8/22
DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Monday 8/8/22 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 Chris Bassitt FD - P 10400 DK - SP 9300 Opponent - CIN (Justin Dunn) Park - NYM FD - 41.78 DK - 22.97 Despite Jacob deGrom making just two starts this season, the Mets have a Top 5 starting rotation in terms of ERA(3.58) and a lot can be attributed to Chris Bassitt who came over from Oakland in the offseason. While the strikeout upside has been league-average(24%), he has been very consistent going into the sixth inning or deeper in eight straight starts thanks to a near-elite walk rate(6.6%). The Reds have been sneaky good recently winning six of their last eight but still rank bottom 10 in wOBA and wRC+ while striking out nearly 25% of the time and have been considerably worse against right-handed pitching. All things considered, he is our top arm on this slate. Zac Gallen FD - P 9600 DK - SP 7900 Opponent - PIT (Tyler Beede) Park - ARI FD - 32.01 DK - 17.13 Gallen has been one of the few bright spots for the rebuilding D-Backs in 2022 thanks to a somewhat transformation in his game. He is throwing fewer fastballs and more offspeed and while that has hurt his overall K upside(23.3% K rate), he has been more consistent with fewer walks, flyballs, and home runs which has led to a 3.31 ERA overall. What really stands out here is the matchup as he faces a Pirates team that ranks dead last in wOBA(.267) and wRC+(70) in the second half while striking our nearly 26% of the time. Finally, he is in play on both sites tonight but especially stands out on DraftKings where the price is back in the sub $8K range. Catcher/First Base Vladimir Guerrero Jr. FD - 1B 4300 DK - 1B 6200 Opponent - BAL (Jordan Lyles) Park - BAL FD - 14.65 DK - 11.04 We definitely have some tough decisions to make on this smaller slate as we have a plethora of high-priced talent and it starts at first base. First up is Vladdy who extended his season-long hit streak to 18 games on Sunday and in that time is hitting .420 with a .487 wOBA, 223 wRC+ and surprisingly has also added four stolen bases! On Monday, he gets a matchup against Jordan Lyles who has been better in the second half but still sits with a 4.40 ERA/4.45 xFIP and...
DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Sunday, 8/7/22
DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Sunday, 8/7/22 It feels crazy to say, but the season is starting to wind down. Teams are well past the century mark in terms of games played, and every matchup feels critical at this point of the season. The Dodgers-Padres series has been the talk of baseball circles, but that's one of two games that won't make it onto this slate. There's still a ton to talk about, so let's kick things off with the arms! 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 Aaron Nola FD - P 10800 DK - SP 10000 Opponent - WSH (Cory Abbott) Park - PHI FD - 43.75 DK - 23.84 Nola has been one of the best pitchers in the NL this season, and he could be in line for one of his best starts against this offense. Washington ranks 22nd in OPS and 25th in runs scored but could have the worst lineup in baseball after trading Juan Soto and Josh Bell. Those two inflated the averages in this offense, and they certainly won't fair well with Nelson Cruz and Luke Voit as the two most dangerous bats. Nola will show how bad they are, providing a 2.98 ERA, 0.91 WHIP, and 9.9 K/9 rate since the end of April. That's why he enters this matchup as a -300 favorite, with the Nats projected for just 3.5 runs. Jacob deGrom FD - P 10300 DK - SP 10200 Opponent - ATL (Spencer Strider) Park - NYM FD - 40.97 DK - 23.74 I personally believe that deGrom is the best pitcher in baseball. It's been a long road back for him to get back on the mound, but we might never see him this cheap for the remainder of the season. Since 2018, Jacob has maintained a 1.94 ERA and 0.88 WHIP while striking out 780 batters across 586 innings. Those are easily the best stats in the sport, and he could be looking at 70-80 pitches in this spot. That's really all he needs to be a beast, with deGrom dropping 30 FanDuel points across 59 pitches in his debut. Atlanta is a tough matchup, but they own the second-worst strikeout rate in the league. In their two meetings last season, deGrom struck out 20 batters across 12 innings while allowing just three runs. Corbin Burnes (FD $11300 DK $10300) took down NL Cy Young last season and should have another gem against a 25th-ranked Reds offense. Catcher/First Base Ty...