DraftKings MLB Picks and FanDuel MLB Picks for 4/3/19 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! Early slate Pitchers Corey Kluber FD 10200 DK 10900 Opponent - CHW (Carlos Rodon) Park - CLEFD - 41.78 DK - 22.9 So pitching on the early slate is actually pretty tough today. There are a lot of decent pitchers going, and the highest total on in the first 6 games today is a meager 8.5. That of course means that you have a lot of pretty solid pitchers going, so where should we ultimately land? Right now the stars seem to be well aligned with Mr. Kluber. Vegas likes Kluber as the most likely pitcher to get a win on the early slate, and thinks the White Sox will score the fewest runs of any team. While they've mixed up their lineup a bit this year, the White Sox also struck out at the very highest rate against right-handed pitching last year as well. While there is some concern that Kluber is slowly giving back his once elite K rate after dropping down to just over a strikeout per inning last year, that shouldn't matter much in such an elite match-up. Be prepared to see Kluber as cash game chalk, particularly on slates that only consider the 12:35 and 1pm games. Charlie Morton FD 8500 DK 9400 Opponent - COL (German Marquez) Park - COLFD - 37.43 DK - 20.24 German Marquez FD 9800 DK 9500 Opponent - TB (Charlie Morton) Park - TBFD - 36.33 DK - 19.35 Vegas sees this game as essentially a pick'em with a 7 combined total. That means we should see precious few runs given up by these two excellent pitchers. I'm highlighting both of them here because both are really pretty interesting big tournament plays on FanDuel and pitcher two options on DraftKings. Morton is one of the guys I'm most intrigued by this season. He just landed a two year, 30 million dollar contract with the Rays after two Cinderella story years in Houston. As we've seen recently, Houston seems to have the magic touch when it comes to reinventing previously plateaued pitchers. But can Morton keep it up in a new environment at age 35? His first start looked pretty good, and grabbing the Rockies on the road is usually a good thing. As for Marquez, his story is really the opposite. He pitches in one of the worst historical places to pitch ever, and still managed a 3.10 xFIP in his age...

DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks - Tuesday 4/2/19 MLB’s early season hasn’t left us short of stories. Christian Yelich can’t stop hitting home runs. The Yankees are already all injured. David Hess gets pulled 80 or so pitches into a no-hitter against the Blue Jays. It’s all happening in baseball. And Tuesday gives us a whole host of aces, some weaker arms and everything else in between. Let’s take a look at the cash game plays for FanDuel and DraftKings. 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 Blake Snell FD 10200 DK 9500 Opponent - COL (Kyle Freeland) Park - TBFD - 39.9 DK - 22.04 Snell had the unenviable task of opening his season against Justin Verlander on the opposite side as well as the Astros bats on offense. He struggled in six innings, allowing five earned runs and striking out only three. The matchup here against the Rockies is much more forgiving. While they have Arenado and Story in the middle of the lineup, getting them outside of Coors Field is a boost considering Tropicana is about as forgiving a park as there is in the majors. Snell is coming much cheaper than the other *aces* on Tuesday, and is coming off a season in which he struck out 11 batters per nine and finished with a 3.16 xFIP (that did trail the 1.89 ERA). I like buying the peripherals a bit cheaper than the other stud arms who are running into some tougher matchups themselves. He’s a full $2K cheaper than Scherzer and Verlander on DraftKings and more than $1K cheaper on FanDuel. Hyun-Jin Ryu FD 8700 DK 9300 Opponent - SF (Madison Bumgarner) Park - LADFD - 34.8 DK - 18.53 Rye was pulled after just 82 pitches on Opening Day, but dude was still dominant. He pitched six full innings and allowed only one earned run while striking out eight D-Backs. The Dodgers are going to handle their starters with kid gloves again this season, much like they did last year and we are going to have to account for that especially in terms of safety and upside. Luckily, some of that is built into Ryu’s price and considering his peripherals and matchup he’s coming rather cheap on both sites. The Giants are a total and complete mess of a lineup, starting some has-beens and never-will-bes and down the order. Rye had a 6:1 K:BB ratio last season with a 3.11 xFIP. He’s a -174 home favorite on Tuesday and if you think...

DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Sunday 3/31/19 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! Main Pitchers J.A. Happ FD 9300 DK 10100 Opponent - BAL (Dylan Bundy) Park - NYYFD - 41.5 DK - 22.35 Happ is not going to be the same pitcher he was last year for very much longer. He has struggled mightily in spring training, but the Yankees are expecting him to turn it around in the regular season. Vegas agrees. It has a lot to do with Dylan Bundy, but the Yankees are -355 favorites, giving you as close as it gets to a guaranteed Happ victory. He struck out over 9 batters per 9 innings against both sides of the plate in 2018 and only struggled with right-handed power. This Orioles lineups is up there with the Marlins and Giants as the worst in baseball and we'll be taking advantage of them all season long. They don't have much of a power pop and strike out over 23% of the time as a group. Happ is cheaper than both Carrasco and Corbin and has a much higher floor than both. Patrick Corbin FD 9800 DK 10000 Opponent - NYM (Zack Wheeler) Park - WSHFD - 36.4 DK - 19.76 This Mets lineup is going to underwhelm all season long, and I think we'll end up targeting them against lefties. Michael Conforto and Robinson Cano are their two best bats and both are much worse against lefties. They'll instead rely on Pete Alonso and Wilson Ramos, who are more than volatile bats. Patrick Corbin is a legitimate superstar when healthy and is probably the best number three in baseball. He struck out 11 batters per 9 innings in '18, while holding an elite 2.61 xFIP. The bottom of this order is high-upside and low-risk, with strikeouts aplenty and homers barren. If Corbin is on his game, he will go six or seven innings and could reach double-digit strikeouts. Corbin is my favorite tournament pitcher on the slate. Jon Gray FD 7900 DK 9400 Opponent - MIA (Sandy Alcantara) Park - MIAFD - 36.01 DK - 19.08 Outside of a tough outing in his last game, Jon Gray had one of the best spring trainings in the league. With a 22:1 K:BB ratio, hes obviously hitting his spots and is fully healthy. He now gets to match-up against the worst lineup in baseball in Miami. And he's in Miami! Marlins Park is one of the best pitchers ballparks in baseball and the Marlins will have...

DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Sunday 3/30/19 Greetings, MLB fans! It's my first baseball article of the season, and it's not a moment too soon. I've been knee deep in prospect reports, spring training news, and of course the first few days of the season, and I couldn't be any more pumped to finally be able to write about it. It's unclear as to whether that enthusiasm will still be here in July, but hey, let's make some hay while the sun is shining! 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! Early Pitchers James Paxton FD 10400 DK 10800 Opponent - BAL (Nate Karns) Park - NYYFD - 40.77 DK - 22.4 On a small slate with a lot of big names, our system is calling out James Paxton in his first start in pinstripes. Paxton was an ace's ace last season, raising his already elite K/9 to 11.68 while shaving a little bit off his walk rate as well. I don't knwo that it's fair to project a similarly incredible season given that he'll be in the meat grinder that is the AL East (and Yankee Stadium), but I still think we can reasonably forecast him to be pretty awesome. Match-ups with the Orioles should help that. A team that was already dead last in the AL in terms of wOBA against left handed pitching lost their best rest right handed bat, and on a tiny slate they represent the best match-up on the slate. Paxton is also a cut above his peers here thanks to the truly absurd -340 money line, where the other big names are basically in pick'ems. Stephen Strasburg FD 9600 DK 10600 Opponent - NYM (Noah Syndergaard) Park - WSHFD - 37.61 DK - 20.27 Noah Syndergaard FD 10100 DK 10200 Opponent - WSH (Stephen Strasburg) Park - WSHFD - 33.02 DK - 17.68 The Mets and Nationals get back to work trading haymakers. After opening day's intense Scherzer-DeGrom match-up, we get treated to an encore of Syndergaard and Strasburg. Vegas sees Stras and the Nats getting their revenge after getting shut out on opening day, but man does this one rate to be close. So where do we land? Let's give you a tale of the tape. While Syndergaard and Strasburg are both ace level pitchers, there are some fundamental differences here. These two had nearly identical 3.28 and 3.29 xFIPs last year, but Strasburg struck out 1.76 more batters per 9 innings. That's naturally going to make him a bit...

DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks - Friday 3/29 Day one of baseball is in the books and there are only roughly eleventy-million days left. Friday gives us a smaller (relatively speaking) set of games with some really low run totals. That could make the cash game stacks interesting. But we are seeing some quality arms taking the mound for sure. Let’s break down some Friday baseball for FanDuel and DraftKings. 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! Gerrit Cole FD 11300 DK 11200 Opponent - TB (Charlie Morton) Park - TBFD - 41.98 DK - 23.34 If you were a reader of our picks last season, then you know we loved us some Gerrit Cole basically from the jump. While others may have thought the spike in K rate was a fluke, there was a definitive change in approach that seemed like could sustain the new peripherals. He ditched the sinker which had been his secondary offering with the Pirates and replaced it with a curveball and more sliders. It worked. Cole finished the season with a 12.4 K/9 rate and a career-best 3.04 xFIP. Now he’ll get to face the Rays in the best pitcher’s park in baseball as a -140 road favorite with a game over/under of 7. Justin Verlander gave up a leadoff home run to Austin Meadows on Thursday, but then settled down and dealt with a below average Rays’ team. Cole is granted the same matchup and should be one of the more popular plays on the slate. German Marquez FD 9800 DK 9200 Opponent - MIA (Jose Urena) Park - MIAFD - 36.48 DK - 19.52 Despite pitching about half of his games in Coors Field last season, Marquez enjoyed a breakout campaign in his second full year. He, kind of out of nowhere, became a legit strikeout guy and ended up at 10.6 K’s per nine. The 3.10 xFIP was better than the 3.77 ERA and the biggest change in his repertoire was reducing his fastball offering from 66% to 55% and using that difference to throw many more sliders. It worked. 2019 will be a test to see if the changes were sustainable and he gets a great chance to start the season off right against a garbage Marlins team in a great pitcher’s park. We could see him as the chalk play for the afternoon slate considering he’s coming priced well below some of the other aces despite having possible ace-like stuff. Joey Lucchesi FD 7600 DK 7900 Opponent -...