Daily Fantasy MLB Baseball Picks for FanDuel, DraftKings and Victiv 9/3/15
Daily Fantasy MLB Baseball Picks for FanDuel, DraftKings and Victiv 9/3/15 Oooooh, a juicy little short slate today. Some people are scared of short slates. "Where are all the options?" they say. "There aren't good enough players!" they say. Hogwash. We don't need great plays in a vacuum to crush a short slate - we just need plays better than the competition. In a lot of ways, that makes short slates some of the very most profitable. Even still - we'll never be able to give you every single play on even a short slate like this. If you want the rest of our top plays? Go ahead and get access to the exclusive projection system that produces these picks. Sign up now and get a free 3 day trial to our lineup construction tool for FanDuel, DraftKings and Victiv. Click here for a free 3 Day Free Trial Pitchers Jordan Zimmermann - FD 9300 DK 10400 Victiv Opponent- Atl (Wisler) R Park- @Was Well, it's a pretty short slate. Have I mentioned that? I waffled back and forth between Zimmermann and Liriano for the top slot here, and so I'll cop out on you a little bit. I like Liriano in terms of raw point-total upside, but actually prefer Zimmermann for safety. A few reasons. The first is price. On short slates, it's a heck of a lot tougher to find really good value at every price point. To that end, Zimmermann's relatively low price means greater flexibility for your other positions. The other big thing in play here is the match-up. The Braves don't strike out a ton, but they still have the third lowest wOBA in the majors against right handed pitching. And, frankly, Liriano has kinda sucked recently. For my cash game purposes, I'll be looking at the big Zimm. Mat Latos - FD 6200 DK 7300 Victiv Opponent- SD (Rea) R Park- @SD Oh, baby. We're this far off board and it's only the second player recommended. So, in case it isn't obvious, Latos is probably not a guy I'd dive right in and start in a 50/50. But I mean, there is kind of a lot to like here. First of all, Latos himself has been better than his ERA suggests. His 3.71 xFIP is above league average, and his K% is approaching his 2013 levels. And then there's the match-up. This one is truly a dream - the Padres themselves have the 8th highest K% in the majors, and the 4th lowest wOBA against right handed pitching. That takes into account their whole track record - they're even worse at home. He's also up against Colin Rea, who just isn't a major...
Daily Fantasy MLB Baseball Picks for FanDuel, DraftKings and Victiv 8/31/15
Daily Fantasy MLB Baseball Picks for FanDuel, DraftKings and Victiv 8/31/15 Ahhh, Monday. One of the oddest days of the daily fantasy baseball week due to the number of teams who get a day off. Still, though, there's a lot of money to be made on these smaller slates. The reason? Fewer guys to choose from means choosing the wrong players is a bigger mistake than it is on a deeper night. Even still, though, there's no way we could do a write-up for every single player, even on a short slate. If you want all of our projections? Go ahead and get access to the exclusive projection system that produces these picks. Sign up now and get a free 3 day trial to our lineup construction tool for FanDuel, DraftKings and Victiv. Pitchers The big boys - should you play one? A lot of people will grab Archer, Keuchel, or Price for their 50/50s today. I'll be cautious. Our projection system doesn't like any of them on a points per dollar basis in an absolute sense, but if it were forced to pick one, it would go with Dallas Keuchel. He's got a fantastic ground ball rate, a nice K rate, and a solid match-up with the Mariners (the owners of the 8th worst K% against left handed pitching in the majors). Still, it feels like a lot to pay, and on a short slate, it might be tough to get the money in good hitter-wise if you play him. Tyson Ross - FD 8900 DK 9700 Victiv Opponent- Tex (Lewis) R Park- @Sd Stuff starts getting weird early. Ross is a tough guy to root for because of his absurd walk-rate. His 4.10 BB/9 is the worst in the majors among qualified pitchers. But the crazy thing? As you go down the BB/9 wall of shame, you have to get down to Jake Arrieta at 2.22 BB/9 before you guy who can outpace Ross' 3.13 xFIP. Even with his unorthodox approach, Ross has put together the 13th best xFIP in the major leagues. It all comes down to two things: his great K rate, and his absurd ground ball percentage. His 62.5% GB% is 3rd in the majors (just .1% behind Dallas Keuchel). That's pretty damned good. But again, Ross has warts. What it means for your purposes is that Ross often makes a great 50/50 play. He can erase walks with double-plays, and wiggle out of jams by striking people out. But it also means he doesn't pitch deep into a lot of games, limiting his upside. As for the match-up, the Rangers have a nice wOBA against righties this season, but they actually dip to...
Daily Fantasy MLB Baseball Picks for FanDuel, DraftKings, and Victiv 8/30/15
Daily Fantasy MLB Baseball Picks for FanDuel, DraftKings, and Victiv 8/30/15 Full disclaimer - this is a massive slate, and there's no way I could ever possibly list every decent play today. So, I'll do my best in highlighting whom I believe to be the elite plays. If you want the rest? Go ahead and get access to the exclusive projection system that produces these picks. Sign up now and get a free 3 day trial to our lineup construction tool for FanDuel, DraftKings, Victiv, and Yahoo. Pitchers Stephen Strasburg - FD 10100 DK 10000 Victiv Opponent- Mia (Hand) L Park- @Was I can't even field questions as to whether there's a clearer play for double-ups and 50/50s tomorrow. Strasburg has been on point since returning from injury - 32 Ks again 3 BBs and a 1.73 ERA. That's the pure ace we were expecting coming into this season, and our projection system would have you believe that this is the guy we ought to have been expecting all along. His price is still depressed from his early season woes, making him one of the best buying opportunities in the game. And today? He also happens to have the definition of an ideal match-up. The Marlins are dead last in the majors when it comes to wOBA against right handed pitching, and they're trotting out a guy in Brad Hand who's got a dismal 4.51 career xFIP. I'm all in, here. James Shields - FD 8500 DK 8500 Victiv Opponent- Phi (Asher) R Park- @Phi Shields isn't the guy he used to be, but recent struggles have him priced well below what you ought to be able to expect from him. His 3.54 xFIP is still better than league average, and his 9.64 K/9 this season is actually the highest of his career. And yes, that number is buoyed by pitching in the National League. But guess what? This game is being played against a National League team! And a really horrid one, at that. The Phils have been battling the Marlins for worst wOBA in the majors against RHP (they're currently tied for 2nd worst), and they actually strike out more against righties than the fish do. They also have the very lowest walk rate in the majors against RHP. For my fifteenth "also," there's Alec Asher. The 23rd ranked pitcher in the Phillies system, per FanGraphs. Love Shields for big tournaments, today. Lance McCullers - FD 6700 DK 9300 Victiv Opponent- Min (Santana) R Park- @Min My favorite super cheap, big tournament only guy. McCullers is a pitcher with a true prospect pedigree, true put-away stuff, and a handful of very good starts we can point...
Daily Fantasy MLB Baseball Picks for FanDuel, DraftKings, and Victiv 8/29/15
Daily Fantasy MLB Baseball Picks for FanDuel, DraftKings, and Victiv 8/29/15 Happy weekend, everyone! Well, it's a massive day of games today. Like we often do on multi-slate days, we'll give 1 play per position for the early slate, and 2-3 for the late slate depending on who's jumping off the page. If you want projections for every single player going today? Go ahead and get access to the exclusive projection system that produces these picks. Sign up now and get a free 3 day trial to our lineup construction tool for FanDuel, DraftKings, Victiv, and Yahoo. Pitchers Corey Kluber - FD 11700 DK 12900 Victiv Opponent- LAA (Richards) R Park- @Cle All the big name pitchers today have a fairly tough match-up today, but the one I like best is Corey Kluber. Lester's got the Dodgers, who have the fourth best wOBA in the majors against LHP. Lance Lynn's got the Giants, who rank 6th in wOBA against righties. So, there's Kluber. Perennially underrated by casual fans, Kluber's ~2.70 xFIP over the last two seasons is phenomenal, and his 2.92 number for this year ranks 9th in the majors. He's a true ace, whatever his ERA suggests. And then there's the Angels. Did you know that, even including Mike Trout's ridiculous year, the Angels are 20th in the majors in wOBA against right handed pitching? That's just terrible. It also means the Angels are more reliant on Trout for scoring runs than you might realize - they can put up some bad games when his hits find gloves. I don't think there's a ton of upside here, but I'll play him in all my 50/50s. Jordan Zimmermann - FD 8700 DK 9500 Victiv Opponent- Mia (Koehler) R Park- @Was The boring, cheap answer if you don't think Kluber quite justifies the price tonight. Zimmermann's a tick above league average, but he plies his trade in a way that's not exactly exciting for fantasy purposes. He's got great control, below average put-away stuff, and really gets by on his consistency. But hey, if you're in a 50/50, consistency probably sounds pretty good! He'll also be facing the team against whom it's easiest to be consistent. The Marlins are dead last in the league in wOBA this season, and that number is buoyed by the 3 months they got out of Stanton. I'm not sure there's incredible upside here, but there actually might be if he just goes deep and gets the W against Koehler and the Marlins. Jeff Samardzija - FD 8600 DK 8300 Victiv Opponent- Sea (Iwakuma) R Park- @Cws If you want to take a shot on a little off-beat upside, I find Samardzija pretty intriguing....
Daily Fantasy MLB Baseball Picks for FanDuel, DraftKings, and Victiv 8/24/15
Daily Fantasy MLB Baseball Picks for FanDuel, DraftKings, and Victiv 8/24/15 Happy Monday! A nice, small slate today. While this limits our options to some degree, we find short slates to be some of the very most profitable. The reason? The difference between the good plays, mediocre plays, and bad plays is that much bigger. Even still, I'll not be able to give every single good play on even a small slate like this. So, I'll do my best in highlighting whom I believe to be the elite plays. If you want the rest? Go ahead and get access to the exclusive projection system that produces these picks. Sign up now and get a free 3 day trial to our lineup construction tool for FanDuel, DraftKings, and Victiv. Pitchers Jacob deGrom - FD 11700 DK 12000 Victiv Opponent- Phi (Morgan) L Park- @Phi If there's a day to take off if you're looking for straight safety at the pitcher position, today might be the day. It's no slight to DeGrom - he's an excellent pitcher. His 2.98 xFIP, while it is a run higher than his 1.98 ERA, is still good for the 9th best in the majors. He's got a sparkling K rate, a stingy walk rate, and he's good at preventing the long ball. to make matters better, the Phillies really stink. Their .297 wOBA against right handed pitching is the 2nd worst in the majors. Also! Adam Morgan, the Phillies starter, really is pretty lousy. There's not a lot to complain about here... except the price. This is a lot to pay for a non Kershaw/Sale type, and really limits roster options elsewhere. Still, DeGrom is the clear 50/50 and double-up play from where I'm sitting, and I'll try to dig around for value elsewhere. Julio Teheran - FD 8500 DK 8100 Victiv Opponent- Col (de la Rosa) L Park- @Atl A huge step down from DeGrom in terms of absolute ability, but he's got some pretty solid points per dollar upside games on his track record. Teheran's taken a step back this season to be sure, but the 24 year old can still dial it up in the right match-up. I'd say this is that. While Colorado has the highest wOBA against right handed pitching in the majors this season, a lot of that has happened at home. On the road, they've got the second highest strike out rate in the majors (24.3%) and the league's 2nd lowest wOBA. Teheran can collapse on you, don't get me wrong, but there's also a chance he's the highest scorer at the position today, and he's priced in such a way that you can fit some nice...