DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Wednesday 8/21/19 There are a bunch of aces going on Wednesday, some confined to the early slate. We'll take a look at a couple of expensive guys, a popular stack and a bunch of cheap dudes. 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 Walker Buehler FD - P 11000 DK - SP 11400 Opponent - TOR (Jacob Waguespack) Park - LADFD - 48.14 DK - 27.32 Walker Buehler was touted as a top prospect in all of baseball and his first two seasons have lived up to the hype. This year he’s striking out more than 10.5 batters per nine with a phenomenal 6.4:1 K:BB rate. Those peripherals are about as good as you’ll see. He’s a crazy -305 home favorite against the free-swinging Toronto Blue Jays who are playing a lot of young guys in the lineup these days. Buehler is really expensive, no doubt about it. But he has all of the cash game factors lineup up in his favor on Wednesday. Make some concessions with bats and slot him into your lineups. Justin Verlander FD - P 12200 DK - SP 12000 Opponent - DET (Daniel Norris) Park - HOUFD - 54.17 DK - 31.22 Speaking of outrageous home favorites, Verlander opens Wednesday as a -415 favorite at home against the Tigers. Verlander was in a similar spot last week when he was a -455 favorite against the Orioles and promptly lost the game. Now I know it isn’t rocket science to recommend the two highest salary pitchers on a slate, especially on DraftKings where that approach is cost prohibitive. But these guys are so far ahead of the field on Wednesday that I do think it’s going to make sense taking some lumps on cheaper bats. The Tigers are likely going to end the season as the worst team in the league against righties and Verlander has big K upside. Adrian Houser FD - P 6900 DK - SP 5200 Opponent - STL (Adam Wainwright) Park - STLFD - 27.82 DK - 14.41 If you want to go a lot cheaper then Houser is probably your guy. It’s not a great matchup against the Cardinals. But he’s coming so cheap on DraftKings and isn't priced back like a starter. The Brewers have taken him deeper into games in the short term and he does have solid strikeout potential, K-ing more than a batter an inning. Catcher/First Base Sam Travis FD - 1B 3000 DK - 1B/OF 4100 Opponent...

DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Monday 8/19/19 We are in the middle of August and some of teams have basically already punched their tickets to the playoffs. Then there are others who should probably be relegated somehow. But DFS marches on and he was the Astros coming in as huge favorites and some interesting cheaper arms to go with them. Now’s your chance to get DFSR PRO, which will give you access to our MLB and NFL optimizers and our new player lab! Get started for free by clicking the button below. START YOUR FREE TRIAL NOW! Pitchers Brendan McKay FD - P 7500 DK - SP 7500 Opponent - SEA (Marco Gonzales) Park - TBFD - 35.27 DK - 18.91 McKay’s first three starts in the majors were a swimming success and he looked every bit the prospect that was promised. The last four? Not so much. But there really isn’t any cause for concern. Sure, he’s allowed 10 earned runs in his last 14 innings, but there’s plenty of BABIP bad luck in there as well. The six walks last game are a bit of a head scratcher, but this is still a young arm we’re talking about. He enters Monday as a -185 home favorite against the Seattle Mariners who strike out 26% of the time on the season against righties. McKay’s coming at a discount because of the short term performance and we can get him at a steal in this spot. His price will help fit some higher-priced bats along the way and I suspect he’s something like the chalk among those who don’t concern themselves with short term results. Wade Miley FD - P 9000 DK - SP 11200 Opponent - DET (Edwin Jackson) Park - HOUFD - 40.21 DK - 21.35 There’s probably a FanDuel case for Miley at $9,000 thanks to the exorbitant -400 win odds he’s entering Monday with against the lowly Tigers. Detroit ranks 25th in wOBA against lefties this season with a 25.5% strikeout rate and traded away their best hitter at the deadline. This is a dead team walking. Miley’s numbers aren’t overly impressive and he struggled last game though some of that was thanks to the lack of defense behind him. In his previous four games he’d struck out 22 batters in 25 innings while allowing only five earned runs in that stretch. He’s not a world-beater, but then expectation, opponent and ability to go more than 5.5 innings per start this season do have him in major consideration. I think the $11,200 DraftKings price is a bridge too far though. On DraftKings, I think Zac Gallen (FD $8000 DK $9300) is moderately interesting against...

DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Sunday 8/18/19 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! These next few weeks are monstrous for season-long fantasy owners and it's time to make a move in your leagues. While this is a DFS-centric article, these pieces can help any fantasy owner who needs advice. It just so happens that these articles help me to set my lineup every week and it truly helps breakdown how players are valued in the industry. With that in mind, let's get into this Sunday slate. Pitchers Jack Flaherty FD - P 10700 DK - SP 9700 Opponent - CIN (Alex Wood) Park - CIN FD - 31.75 DK - 17.18 This dude is quietly one of the hottest pitchers in the league right now and it's amazing that he remains low five-figures on both sites. Over his last seven starts, Flaherty is pitching to a 0.79 ERA and 0.73 WHIP while striking out 56 batters across 45.1 innings of action. Those are straight stupid numbers and it definitely puts him in play against an offense who just traded Scooter Gennett and Yasiel Puig. They weren't that good even with those two, ranking 28th in xwOBA this season. That's why the Cardinals enter this matchup as a -170 favorite. Zack Wheeler FD - P 11000 DK - SP 10700 Opponent - KC (Glenn Sparkman) Park - KC FD - 35.35 DK - 19.08 Wheeler's consistency can drive fantasy owners mad but there's simply too much potential in a matchup like this. This is a guy who's scored at least 34 FanDuel points in 13 of his last 21 starts and that shows the sort of ceiling this dude has. A 3.54 FIP and 25 percent K rate further shows just how good Wheeler can be and we expect to see that pitcher in such a premium match-up. Wheeler faces a Royals team who ranks 27th in runs scored, 24th in OBP and 26th in OPS. That's why Kansas City is only projected for four runs with New York entering this game as a -180 favorite. Matthew Boyd has some of the best strikeout stuff in the Majors and faces a Rays team who ranks 25th in K rate. Catcher/First Base Daniel Murphy FD - 1B 3300 DK - 1B 4000 Opponent - MIA (Jordan Yamamoto) Park - COL FD - 16.84 DK - 12.93 These prices are truly shocking. It's not every day that you see a great hitter like this in Coors Field priced so cheaply....

DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Saturday 8/17/19 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! Pitchers Jacob deGrom FD - P 11500 DK - SP 11600 Opponent - KC (Jake Junis) Park - KC FD - 39.96 DK - 22.68 It was pretty close between deGrom and Ryu for me today, but I'm giving deGrom the edge for a couple of reasons. For real life purposes, the tale of the tape between deGrom and Ryu is pretty close. They are separated by .01 in xFIP. Ryu has the best ERA among qualified starters, deGrom is ranked 5th. deGrom has pitched six more innings this season, but he also has two more starts. They're both ace's aces, and you'd be thrilled to have either on your favorite team. For fantasy purposes, deGrom's skillset and match-up just have to get the nod here. He's striking out almost four more batters per nine innings this season, and that's just downright hard to ignore in DFS. He's also got by far the better match-up, with the Royals landing as the fifth worst team against RHP this season (and the Braves being 8th best against LHP, by comparison). deGrom is also the bigger moneyline favorite at -190. I love Ryu, but deGrom has to be the best ace for your cash games today. Eduardo Rodriguez FD - P 8400 DK - SP 9000 Opponent - BAL (Asher Wojciechowski) Park - BOS FD - 35.5 DK - 18.88 After Ryu and deGrom things start to get bleak pretty quickly, with games in Arlington, Coors, and Arizona, and then a host of simply awful pitchers. And E-Rod! He's the clear pitcher two option against the orioles, to me. Not only are the O's a bottom 5 team in terms of wOBA against lefties this year, they also lead the entire Major Leagues with a 26.3% K rate against them. As for Rodriguez, he hasn't been the breakout star many people assumed he'd be after topping 10 K/9 last year, but he's still striking out a batter per inning with a respectable walk-rate. Throw that profile against the best match-up for left handed pitchers andit's tough to ask for a whole lot more in the pitcher two slot. Also considered: Zach Eflin in his return from the bullpen - he's very cheap on both sites. Catcher/First Base Yasmani Grandal FD - C 3300 DK - C 3700 Opponent - WSH (Anibal Sanchez) Park - WSH FD - 10.33 DK - 7.71 You know the routine by now....

DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Friday 8/16/19 Friday's MLB action features an ace on the mound but also two expensive teams with crazy-high implied run totals. It will be tough to fit all into lineups together. Now’s your chance to get DFSR PRO, which will give you access to our MLB and NFL optimizers and our new player lab! Get started for free by clicking the button below. START YOUR FREE TRIAL NOW! While we do have rain forecasted in plenty of cities for this Friday slate, there's only one game we need to worry about. That happens to be the Royals-Mets matchup, with some heavy rain in the forecast. The other cities/teams that have light showers projected are New York, Colorado, Philadelphia and Washington. While none of those are expected to be serious, it's imperative to check before submitting lineups. Pitchers Charlie Morton FD 11300 DK 11600 Opponent - DET (Daniel Norris) Park - DETFD - 43.95 DK - 24.5 Morton is easily the best pitching option on the board. We're talking about a guy with a 2.90 ERA and 1.09 WHIP this season while generating a 30 percent K rate dating back to last year. Those absurd numbers are backed up by an xFIP barely cracking 3.00 and it's truly scary just how good of a matchup he gets here. Morton gets to face this terrible Tigers lineup, with the Motor City Kitties currently ranked bottom-two in runs scored, OBP, OPS, K rate and xwOBA. That's why Morton and the Rays enter this matchup as a -310 favorite. Rick Porcello FD 6700 DK 7000 Opponent - BAL (Aaron Brooks) Park - BALFD - 26.54 DK - 13.73 This might make us certifiably insane to recommend a guy like Porcello but the likelihood at a win is impossible to overlook. The simple fact is, this dude has 145 wins dating back to 2009, which is simply one of the best marks in baseball. That can be attributed to his ability to go deep into games, with Porcello pitching at least 4,2 innings in 20 of his last 22 starts, despite posting a nightmarish ERA and WHIP. He should be able to limit the damage against an offense like this, with Baltimore ranked 21st in K rate, 24th in runs scored, 26th in OBP, 25th in OPS and 27th in both wOBA and xwOBA. That's why Porcello enters this matchup as a -270 favorite with this potent lineup backing him up. Catcher/First Base Daniel Murphy FD 3000 DK 4100 Opponent - MIA (Sandy Alcantara) Park - MIAFD - 15.04 DK - 11.55 These prices are truly shocking. How often do you see a Rockies player who bats in...