Daily Fantasy MLB Baseball Picks for FanDuel, DraftKings and Draftster 5/31/15
Daily Fantasy MLB Baseball Picks for FanDuel, DraftKings and Draftster 6/1/15 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 and Draftster. Pitchers Madison Bumgarner - FD 10000 DK 10300 The Braves have the 2nd worst wOBA against left handed pitching, and are pairing it with the 5th highest strike out rate. As you can probably intuit by now, this makes it a dream spot for the Giants' left-handed ace. While Bumgarner hasn't put up the same lofty K totals he put together last season, the dream spot against the Braves more than makes up for it. Throw in a shaky Julio Teheran, and you have yourself an awfully safe match-up for cash game play. Danny Salazar - FD 9300 DK 8500 Salazar is a step down in safety from Bumgarner, but arguable a considerable step up in upside. The diminutive right hander has 10.69 K/9 for his young career, including a 12.60 number so far in 2015. For a frame of reference, Clayton Kershaw has a 9.53 career K/9. Randy Johnson had a 10.61 career K/9. The bottom line is this - Salazar can flat K a brother. In this game, he'll go up against the Mariners, who have compiled the league's 3rd highest K% against right handed pitching to go with the league's 9th worst wOBA. Happ has been pretty decent for the Mariners, so a win is far from guaranteed, but Salazar could really put up a huge game here. Drew Hutchison - FD 8100 DK 7500 The riskiest play of the bunch at first glance, but when you look a little deeper it looks a lot like a decent GPP gamble. The 24 year old Hutchison is on his second season in a row with a sub 4 xFIP, and while he hasn't been able to match the peripherals to the ERA just yet, he's shown flashes of putting it together recently - most notably his complete game 8 K shut out his last time out. With the league's 6th worst wOBA and 5th highest strike out rate against right handed pitching, the Twins make a fantastic spot for a repeat performance. Throw in what's left of poor Ricky Nolasco, and Hutchison should also have a pretty good shot at a win. All in all, I like this as an...
Daily Fantasy MLB Baseball Picks for FanDuel, DraftKings and Draftster 5/30/15
Daily Fantasy MLB Baseball Picks for FanDuel, DraftKings and Draftster 5/30/15 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 and DraftKings. Pitchers Early Slate Dallas Keuchel - FD 9400 DK 8700 Keuchel makes for an interesting big money play today, because he's not a guy we normally recommend. His ERA is dramatically outperforming his peripherals, and it looks like his price bubble is fit to bursting. So what gives? The White Sox of Chicago, that's what. They've put together an utterly pathetic .246 wOBA against left handed pitching this season. If you're not big into wOBA, let me give you a frame of reference. Yovani Gallardo has a career .241 wOBA as a batter. CC Sabathia has a .246 wOBA. They are horrible against lefties. In light of this, I think Keuchel makes a fine play in any format, but I'll really play him a ton in cash games. Also considered Jon Niese. Late Slate Tyson Ross - FD 9000 DK 9400 Ross has a sparkling 2.74 xFIP at home this year, and a ridiculous 12+ K/9. He's priced as less than an ace, but can absolutely put up ace level performances in the right circumstances. The Pirates have been almost exactly league average against right handers this season, so there's nothing to fear there. And while Charlie Morton escaped his first start with a win, his 3 Ks in 7 innings pitched are more indicative of his true talent level than his 2.57 ERA. I like Ross in all formats here, as playing him still allows you to pay up a bit for good hitting elsewhere. Yordano Ventura - FD 8300 DK 7500 If you want a cheaper home run play, consider Yordano Ventura. His ERA is a full run worse than his xFIP, and while his xFIP (3.73) isn't anything to write home about, that's not while he's getting recommended here. That would be the Chicago Cubs. The North-Siders have a .303 wOBA, good for the 12th worst in the majors. "But James," you begin, "that really doesn't sound too terrible." Well, hypothetical objector - what about this? The Cubs are striking out in more than a quarter of their plate appearances against RHP this season. Their 25.9% figure is good for worst in the league. Lots of upside here, even if...
Daily Fantasy MLB Baseball Picks for FanDuel, DraftKings and Draftster 5/29/15
Daily Fantasy MLB Baseball Picks for FanDuel, DraftKings and Draftster 5/29/15 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 Draftster. Pitchers This is the kind of day where you are going to want to pay up for pitching. Matt Harvey - FD 10700 DK 10600 Our system isn't through the roof on Harvey tonight, but I see him as a very safe play on this slate. He is turning in a solid season with more than a K an inning while only walking about 1.5 per nine. The 3.09 xFIP won't knock your socks off (literally or figuratively), and he got knocked around last game. But this is an elite arm facing a Marlin team coming in the bottom third of the league in team wOBA against righties. Citi Field helps pitchers by depressing power though the Marlins don't have much of that to begin with. Cole Hamels - FD 9800 DK 10200 If can feel weird taking pitchers against the Rockies but that's because we have Coors Field in mind when thinking about that Denver team. But understand, they aren't a very good hitting team. Even factoring in about half of their games at Coors, the Rockies rank 23rd in the league in team wOBA against lefties and are striking out more than 25% of the time. Take away some Rocky Mountain air and the reality is probably much worse. Hamels strikes out enough batters though I don't love the walk rate. Still, I'm willing to pay up for him on this slate with the matchup. James Shields - FD 9300 DK 9800 Francisco Liriano - FD 9100 DK 9200 Hate that they are facing each other, but love the ballpark they're throwing in. Both guys rate out almost identical pts/$ plays on this slate even with the win expectation diminished for both because of the other (follow that?). I'd consider Shields the safer play of the two as he's been a total ace this season. He's striking out close to twelve batters per nine with a 2.79 xFIP. Dude must be loving San Diego for more than just the weather. Meanwhile, Liriano is putting together one of his best seasons. He's also mowing batters down, but is bitten by the walk bug every once in awhile. More of a tournament play for me just because of the other arms. But you can see why we want to pay way up for pitching today. If you are looking to go super cheap and load up on bats, think about Tim Hudson against...
Daily Fantasy MLB Baseball Picks for FanDuel, DraftKings and Draftster 5/24/15
Daily Fantasy MLB Baseball Picks for FanDuel, DraftKings and Draftster 5/24/15 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 and Draftster. Pitchers Sonny Gray - FD 10200 DK 9700 After a dud last time around, some will have soured on Gray. But these things happen. The A's 25 year old stud was due for a little regression after out-performing his xFIP so dramatically early in the season. He's still been more than solid, though, and he's been performing for fantasy owners consistently all season. Gray had 5 starts in a row with 14 or more fantasy points before his last game, and his combination of swing and miss stuff and great control make him a decent bet on any given night. But tonight he's a particularly great play. First of all, Tampa Bay is one of the more underrated pitcher's parks in the majors. Second, Erasmo Ramirez is essentially not a major league caliber pitcher. Last, the righty-heavy Rays' .302 wOBA is good for just 19th in the majors. Taken together, this makes Gray easily the safest play of the day. Trevor Bauer - FD 8400 DK 8500 Bauer enters this game on the heels of two fantastic starts, and our projection system thinks that trend should continue. Bauer's posted his highest K rate since 2011 in the minors, and while his command hasn't been perfect, he's been able to wriggle out of jams with his elite stuff. While the Reds had developed a reputation as righty killers over the last few seasons, that hasn't been the case this season - they've put together just the 20th best wOBA against right handed pitching this season. Raisel Iglesias, the starter for the Reds on Sunday, is similarly un-intimidating. He's K'd fewer than 6 batters per 9 innings across AAA and the majors this season, and better than 3.2 walks per 9. Should be a great opportunity to snag a win and potentially a pile of Ks. Francisco Liriano - FD 8700 DK 8000 If you like living dangerously and trying to catch lightning in a bottle, or really if you like any cliches at all, Francisco Liriano might be for you today. The Bucs' lefty has been unlucky this season. His 3.38 xFIP trails his ERA by about .7 of a run. This (and...
Daily Fantasy MLB Baseball Picks for FanDuel, DraftKings and Draftster 5/23/15
Daily Fantasy MLB Baseball Picks for FanDuel, DraftKings and Draftster 5/23/15 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 and Draftster. Pitchers Early Slate Corey Kluber - FD 10500 DK 11300 By now, you've heard of Corey Kluber. He's averaged 15 strike outs per start in his last two outings (you read that right, if you are just learning this for the first time). But the crazy thing is, our projection system loves him without even knowing that he is as hot as the sun right now. It's simply that the man's got skills. In this game, he'll go up against Anthony Desclafani. While the youngster shows promise, his 34 Ks against 21 BB in 45 innings tell the real story. It's a pitching mismatch, and Kluber should be heavily favored to grab a win here. Throw in the Reds' .302 wOBA (good for 19th in the majors) against righties and you have yourself a favorable and relatively safe match-up all around. Stephen Strasburg - FD 8700 DK 9500 I gave you Strasburg before his outing against San Diego, and while he didn't utterly dominate or anything, he turned in a more than serviceable performance against the Dads. I actually believe the hype - Strasburg's mechanics haven't fully recovered from his injury. Even if you take that into consideration, though, his xFIP is a full 2.30 runs below his year to date ERA. It simply can't keep going at that rate. He's maintained an excellent K rate and BB rate, and a lot of those seeing eye singles are going to turn into outs. In this game he'll go up against Philly, who has managed the 2nd worst wOBA against right handed pitching in the majors in spite of their favorable home park. He's facing a tough pitcher in Hamels, but I think Washinton's superior lineup should help Stras net the win. Late Slate Oy, this is a tough slate to project for me. So few respectable pitchers, and those that do have warts. CJ Wilson has been pitching decently and should be a favorite to snare a win against the underqualified Steven Wright, but do you really want to play him in hitter friendly Fenway? Jake Arrieta is off to a good start this season, but Arizona has some legit bats. Mike...