DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Sunday 8/23/20 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! It's hard to believe but we're approaching the halfway point in this truncated season. That seems absolutely crazy and it makes every game as critical as ever. That's why we're going to go with two high-end pitchers here and try to get value bats around them. With that in mind, let's kick things off with one of my favorite pitchers in baseball. Pitchers Yu Darvish FD - P 10200 DK - SP 11000 Opponent - CHW (Dylan Cease) Park - CHC FD - 36.51 DK - 20.04 Watching Darvish pitch is a special experience, throwing variations of pitches that many Major Leaguers couldn't dream of doing. That has hitters looking confused every time they step into the box against him and why he's been one of the best pitchers since last year's All-Star break. In fact, Yu has a 1.90 ERA and 0.90 WHIP in five starts this season, after generating a 2.76 ERA and 0.86 WHIP over his final 13 starts last year. That doesn't even take into consideration his elite 12.5 K/9 rate in that span too. What we like about this matchup is that Chicago is full of righties and currently rank 23rd in K rate. That's why he enters this matchup as a -185 favorite. Carlos Carrasco FD - P 9300 DK - SP 10500 Opponent - DET (Tarik Skubal) Park - CLE FD - 39.04 DK - 21.37 It's amazing that this guy overcame leukemia and returned to being one of the best pitchers in baseball. Between 2014 and 2018, Carrasco had a 3.27 ERA, 1.09 WHIP and 30 percent K rate. That obviously makes him one of the best pitchers in the game, generating a 3.71 ERA, 1.31 WHIP and 11.7 K/9 rate so far this season. That's not the guy we saw between 2014-18 but facing the Cubs, Twins and Reds surely played a factor in those subpar averages. Getting to face Detroit is a good way to get him back to normal, with the Motor City Kitties ranked dead-last in K rate this season and near the bottom in nearly every offensive statistic. That has Cookie and the Indians entering this matchup as a -240 favorite. Catcher/First Base Miguel Sanó FD - 1B 2900 DK - 1B 4800 Opponent - KC (Kris Bubic) Park - KC FD - 10.83 DK - 8 Sano has found himself in these articles as much as anyone and it's more...

DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Saturday 8/22/20 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! It's becoming evident just how many studs pitchers are injured right now. It feels like we're picking between a bunch of questionable guys every day and that's where we are again here. With that in mind, let's kick things off with a former top prospect who's shown flashes this season. Pitchers Justus Sheffield FD - P 7500 DK - RP 6500 Opponent - TEX (Jordan Lyles) Park - SEA FD - 33.62 DK - 17.02 Sheffield was a top prospect in the Yankees system a few years back and he's showing why with his early-season form. After allowing four runs in each of his first two starts, Sheffield has now gone at least six innings in back-to-back games while allowing just one total run and striking out 11 batters. That's the guy that we saw in the minors, generating a 2.89 ERA, 1.25 WHIP and 25 percent K rate between 2016 and 2018. What we really like is this matchup though, with Texas ranked 27th in runs scored and 28th in both BA and OPS. They are even worse against lefties, and playing in Seattle's great pitcher's park certainly sweetens the deal. All this makes Sheffield one of the best cheap options out there. Josh Lindblom FD - P 7100 DK - RP 6600 Opponent - PIT (Derek Holland) Park - PIT FD - 28.07 DK - 14.6 Anytime I write an article, I'm going to look for whoever's pitching against the Pirates first. This offense is easily the worst in baseball right now, owning a .210 AVG, .269 OBP and .595 OPS. Those are downright laughable numbers and it's very likely that you could replace them with a Korean lineup and they'd post better averages. I say that because Linblom was the MVP in the KBO last season, generating a 2.50 ERA, 1.00 WHIP and 25 percent K rate. He's yet to duplicate that at this level but facing the White Sox, Twins and Cubs in his last three starts will do that to anyone. Just bank on the price and matchup in your pitcher two slot on DraftKings. Zac Gallen is expensive but he's definitely in play against a poor San Fran offense the way he's throwing the ball right now. I also like Dustin May against the Rockies, who just got tortured by Walker Buehler last night. Catcher/First Base Rhys Hoskins FD - 1B 3100 DK - 1B 4200 Opponent -...

DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Friday 8/21/20 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! The pitching options on this slate are a bit tough, so, we're going to go with two values and get some stud bats in our hitting section. Whenever you have trouble picking a pitcher, this is always the best route to go in terms of lineup building. With that in mind, let's start off with Adrian Houser! Pitchers Adrian Houser FD - P 7400 DK - RP 8400 Opponent - PIT (Chad Kuhl) Park - PIT FD - 33.47 DK - 17.23 Starting pitchers against the Pirates is always a profitable proposition. This offense is truly one of the worst in baseball, particularly with Josh Bell struggling so badly. In fact, this club is hitting a measly .211 this season, en route to a .332 SLG and .603 OPS. Some of the worst slap hitters in the Majors have better averages than those and it makes them hard to avoid. It's not like Houser is some bum either, with the right-hander generating a 3.27 ERA and 1.18 WHIP this season. He showed in the opener that he can dominate this lineup too, allowing just one hit across five one-run innings. Not to mention, Milwaukee is a -165 favorite and Pitt is projected for just 3.8 runs. Robbie Ray FD - P 7000 DK - SP 7300 Opponent - SF (Logan Webb) Park - SF FD - 33.32 DK - 18.01 Recommending someone with an 8.59 ERA and 1.91 WHIP is certainly risky but Ray's last start might be a sign that he's starting to turn things around. The left-hander threw five hitless innings against a stout San Diego offense, despite walking six batters. It's his strikeout stuff that makes him really intriguing though, generating a 29 percent K rate for his career. That's fantasy gold and we certainly like that he faces a lineup that ranked near the bottom of nearly every offensive category last season. In 13.1 innings against the Giants last season, Ray had 20 Ks and we can't overlook the fact that he gets to throw in a pitcher's haven like ORACLE Park. If you want to pay up, Aaron Nola has been rolling and gets to face a Braves offense without Ronald Acuna. Catcher/First Base José Abreu FD - 1B 3100 DK - 1B 4100 Opponent - CHC (Jon Lester) Park - CHC FD - 10.88 DK - 8.27 Abreu has to be one of the most overlooked assets in...

DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Tuesday 8/18/20 We've got a packed MLB slate for Tuesday. Let's take a look at DraftKings and FanDuel baseball plays. 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 Yu Darvish FD - P 9900 DK - SP 10500 Opponent - STL (Daniel Ponce de Leon) Park - CHCFD - 40.94 DK - 22.49 Darvish has been fantastic to start the season, following up on his excellent second half in 2019. This season he’s striking batters out at a 10.13 per nine rate which is down some for his career. But where he’s really winning is limiting the walks. For his career, he’s walked more than three batters per nine. This season, through the first four starts, that number is down to 1.50. It’s helped him to a 1.88 ERA which is lower than the 3.10 xFIP, but both are fantastic. He’s a -180 home favorite against the Cardinals and we are just waiting on the wind direction in Wrigley on Tuesday. Carlos Carrasco FD - P 9800 DK - SP 9900 Opponent - PIT (JT Brubaker) Park - PITFD - 36.42 DK - 19.7 Carrasco reeled off four straight six inning games to start the season but ran into some control issues against the Cubs in his last start, walking five. Overall, he’s been very good striking out more than 12 batters per nine though the walk rate definitely looks weird because of the last start. On Tuesday he enters as a -190 favorite over the Pirates who’ve struggled to start the season and have very little firepower in the lineup. I prefer Darvish, but Carrasco makes a case to go double expensive on DraftKings. Trevor Bauer (FD $12000 DK $10800) has been amazing this season for sure. He almost certainly won’t keep up this K rate, but he’s also putting it all together this year and is completely elite. He’s expensive and I think the two guys above are better values, but it’s hard to argue with the results. Dylan Bundy FD - DK - SP 9100 Opponent - SF (Trevor Cahill) Park - LAAFD - 0 DK - 18.66 I know he’s Early-Only but I just wanted to make note of Bundy here. Bundy’s been the surprise arm to start 2020, near the top of starting pitcher WAR thanks to just dominating on the mound. He’s averaging more than seven innings per start, striking out close to 11 batters per nine, walking fewer than one per nine and...

DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Sunday 8/16/20 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! Sundays are always one of the toughest days to navigate because we have games spread all throughout the day. What makes it even tougher is the fact that we have many teams playing back-to-backs on Saturday. That could cause chaos in terms of who will play and it means that you guys need to check lineups before hitting the submit button for DFS! Pitchers Max Scherzer FD 11100 DK 10800 Opponent - BAL (John Means) Park - BALFD - 40.87 DK - 23.32 The obvious play of the day. Scherzer is by far the best pitcher on the slate in a perfectly fine match-up against the Orioles. With 37 FanDuel points in each of his starts (and double digit strikeouts in two of those) he's in the same Cy Young level form that we're used to, and as a -184 favorite there's no need to belabor the issue: he's the play of the day. Lance McCullers Jr. FD - P 8800 DK - SP 8700 Opponent - SEA (Justus Sheffield) Park - HOU FD - 33.84 DK - 17.95 While McCullers doesn't necessarily pop up highly in our projections, this is a great spot for him to succeed. We'll go ahead and start by talking about that matchup, facing a Seattle team who sits 22nd in runs scored and 26th in OPS. It's simply one of the worst lineups in baseball and it has the Astros entering this matchup as a -240 favorite. The talented righty is coming off his best start of the year too, allowing just one hit across seven scoreless innings earlier in the week. McCullers actually faced the Mariners once this season too, providing 40 FanDuel points in yet another gem. Adam Plutko FD - P 6500 DK - SP 6400 Opponent - DET (Michael Fulmer) Park - DET FD - 24.95 DK - 13.09 Using pitchers against Detroit is always a profitable endeavor. This is a team that ranked 29th or 30th in runs scored, OBP, OPS and K rate last season, currently sitting 27th in K rate and 23rd in OBP this season. That is really no surprise when you consider where the Motor City Kitties play, owning one of the most spacious ballparks in baseball. That big park is better for a guy like Plutko, who's only weakness is his swing-and-miss stuff. That low K rate doesn't really matter when you consider his 0.90 ERA and 0.90...