DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Monday 5/10/21 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 Alex Wood FD - P 8900 DK - SP 9800 Opponent - TEX (Kyle Gibson) Park - SF FD - 34.89 DK - 18.25 Wood and Gibson are the two most expensive pitchers on the slate today, and while both are nice bounceback stories to start the season, I'm pretty firmly in the Wood camp here. He has better peripherals (nearly 1 extra K/9, and an xFIP a whole run lower), he's cheaper, and he arguably has the better match-up. The Rangers have the 6th highest K rate this season, and a wOBA .006 points behind the Giants. I'll grab Wood, and the savings, and feel pretty good about it. Tyler Mahle FD - P 8900 DK - SP 9400 Opponent - PIT (Mitch Keller) Park - PIT FD - 30.5 DK - 15.98 Speaking of incredible stories to start the season, have you glanced at Tyler Mahle's line so far? He's not going deep into games, but he's averaging 12+ K/9 with a 3.53 xFIP. That's incredible production. He's also got a great match-up with the Pirates, who have managed just a .291 wOBA this season, good for 2nd worst in the Majors. I think Wood is a little safer given the longer track record, but don't be surprised to see big Mahle ownership as well. Catcher/First Base C.J. Cron FD - 1B 3400 DK - 1B 4100 Opponent - SD (Dinelson Lamet) Park - COL FD - 10.32 DK - 7.78 First base is pretty thin today, and while it isn't exactly accurate to say we're reaching to play a first baseman in Coors, it feels that way to some degree. Cron has fulfilled his sleeper status this season, raking to the tune of a .999 OPS at home this year. Dinelson Lamet doesn't present a great match-up on paper, but he only threw 30 pitches last game as the Padres continue to stretch him out. There is plenty of time for Cron to pay these paltry prices, and I'm fine taking his floor on a day like today. Yuli Gurriel FD - 1B 3400 DK - 1B 5100 Opponent - LAA (Alex Cobb) Park - HOU FD - 9.04 DK - 6.93 Why are we running a 36 year old who came up at age 31 in a match-up where he doesn't even have the platoon in his favor? Well, Gurriel isn't your average big league...

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...