DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Thursday 5/23/19 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 Stephen Strasburg FD - P 11000 DK - SP 11100 Opponent - NYM (Steven Matz) Park - NYM FD - 39.81 DK - 21.93 We have another wacky Thursday of baseball action with a six-game slate starting at 12:10 ET. Despite the smaller slate, pitching is not that bad and it starts with Strasburg who has been close to dominant since his rocky start to the season where he allowed 4+ earned runs in three of his first four starts. In six starts since then, he has held opponents to two or fewer earned runs in five starts(2.13 ERA) while striking out 59(34.2%) and walking just nine(5.7%). Today, he gets a matchup vs. a Mets team that does sit mid-pack in many offensive categories but have been worse against righties(.308 wOBA, 97 wRC+, .152 ISO, 24% K rate) and have struck out as a team 26% of the time over the last week. All things considered, Stras is my top pitcher in all formats. Masahiro Tanaka FD - P 9800 DK - SP 9300 Opponent - BAL (Dylan Bundy) Park - BAL FD - 36.47 DK - 19.88 If you are looking for an upgrade on your bats in cash games, Tanaka makes a ton of sense today as well. He is sub $10K on both sites and while he has given up five earned runs twice, he has been very consistent giving up just 10 combined in his other eight starts for a 3.09 ERA/3.79 xFIP. He doesn't have the same upside as Strasburg striking out just 22.7% of batters but gets the better matchup against an Orioles team sits with a .308 wOBA, 84 wRC+, and .164 ISO against right-handed pitching. There is a strong chance I run both Stras and Tanaka on DraftKings as there should be enough value with six games and on FanDuel, he is in play in all formats if you want to upgrade your bats. Catcher/First Base Josh Bell FD - 1B 4400 DK - 1B 5800 Opponent - COL (Antonio Senzatela) Park - PIT FD - 10.53 DK - 7.99 Bell is easily one of the top pay up options tonight at any position. He is on an absolute torrid pace and has at least thrown his name into the conversation for NL MVP. He went into Wednesday night hitting .325 with an elite .396 on-base percentage with 14 doubles, 14 home runs, and a...

DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Thursday 5/16/19 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 Early Chris Bassitt FD - P 10000 DK - SP 8600 Opponent - DET (Spencer Turnbull) Park - DET FD - 32.84 DK - 17.1 Pitching is a bit ugly on the early slate today but one name that stands out is Chris Bassitt of the Athletics. He is getting a shot every fifth day as a starter and making the most of it posting a 2.55 ERA/3.15 xFIP through four starts. He has had issues with home runs but appears to be running a bit unlucky considering his low 85 mph average exit velocity and 34% hard contact rate. More good news as he also has flashed a ton of upside with a 32% K rate with three pitches(Fastball, Curveball, Slider) in which he is generating a 13%+ swinging strike rate with. He now gets a plus matchup against a Tigers team that has really struggled against righties with a .283 wOBA, 75 wRC+, and 26% K rate. Fire up Bassitt in all formats. Also Consider: Zack Wheeler(NYM) @ WAS Main Luis Castillo FD - P 10300 DK - SP 10600 Opponent - CHC (Jose Quintana) Park - CIN FD - 37.54 DK - 20.72 The good news tonight is that the sites included this 6:40 pm ET game on the main slate that is lacking pitching but the bad news is the matchup for Luis Castillo. The Cubs sit as a Top 10 offense this season but Castillo has pushed himself near that elite territory where we can downgrade the impact of matchup a little bit. He has taken a huge step in his third season in the bigs and while he is still having some issues with walks(10.9%) he has reached a new level of upside with a 31.8% K rate and 15.7% swinging strike rate which has been impacted most by his changeup that he throws 32% of the time and is generating a 31% swinging strike rate(31%!!!). Considering the other options, I fully expect Castillo to be chalky but is easily the best option in all formats. Also Consider: Marcus Stroman(TOR) @ CWS Catcher/First Base Early Matt Olson FD - 1B 3000 DK - 1B 3800 Opponent - DET (Spencer Turnbull) Park - DET FD - 10.43 DK - 7.79 Olson is off to a slow start in 2019 thanks to an injury in game two of the season where he broke a hamate bone. He has hits...

DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Wednesday 5/15/19 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! Wednesday is a bit of a mess with three-game, early slate and eight-game main slate with a very early LAA @ MIN matchup that can be played on the all-day slate. I didn't want to get into a position by position breakdown of a three-game slate so here are my quick thoughts. At pitcher, I side with Zack Greinke who has been brilliant since that nightmare Opening Day start posting a 2.19 ERA, 2.99 xFIP with 52 strikeouts(27.3%) and just six walks(3%). He now faces a Pirates team that has been better against righties but still ranks bottom 5 in the league in almost all offensive categories. If this spot worries you, Happ vs. Baltimore is also in play but be sure to check the weather. For bats, I will be looking to target the Yankees against David Hess, the Blue Jays vs. Derek Holland and the Giants vs. Edwin Jackson who will start a game on a record 14th team in his career which is not fantasy relevant at all besides he has been good enough to stick around all these years but bad enough no one wanted him long term. Let's jump into the main slate picks. Pitchers Patrick Corbin FD - P 9400 DK - SP 10000 Opponent - NYM (Wilmer Font) Park - WSH FD - 37.41 DK - 20.34 We have two excellent options at the top tonight but from a PTS/$ perspective, I am leaning Corbin. He has been impressive in his first season with the Nats posting a 3.20 ERA/3.85 xFIP with a 28% K rate which is in line with his breakout 2018 with the D-Backs. He and the Nats open as -165 home favorites against the division-rival Mets who may be slightly better against lefties when looking at wOBA(.335) and wRC+(115) but strike out just over 28% of the time in the split adding to Corbin's upside. All things considered, I think it's a lot closer on DraftKings but on FanDuel with his $2,100 discount, I am definitely locking Corbin and running lineups with the optimizer tonight. Justin Verlander FD - P 12000 DK - SP 11000 Opponent - DET (Undecided) Park - DET FD - 37.51 DK - 21.15 Justin Verlander is the piece that makes it close on DraftKings as he is just $1,000 more than Corbin and is the better pitcher(talent-wise) with a longer track record. While he has allowed four earned...

DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Sunday 5/12/19Now’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 thing I love about Sundays is the fact that all of the games are played within a three-hour span, except the night game. That makes it much easier to forecasts the weather and fortunately for us, there's really not much rain on today's slate. With that said, the cities we do need to keep an eye on are New York, Baltimore and Kansas City.PitchersNoah Syndergaard FD - P 10600 DK - SP 10400 Opponent - MIA (Caleb Smith) Park - NYMFD - 40.37 DK - 22It's strange to see a pitcher with a 5.14 ERA and 1.33 WHIP priced so highly but there's reason to believe that those numbers will shrink drastically after this game. What's really impressive about Thor are his stellar peripherals, with Syndergaard posting a 3.42 xFIP this season while owning a 27 percent K rate. That's the pitcher that we've become accustomed to and a complete game shutout with 10 Ks two starts ago shows the sort of potential he has. The matchup is the reason we really like him here though, facing a Marlins team who ranks dead-last in wOBA, xwOBA and runs scored. That's why Thor enters this matchup as a -190 favorite with a total of 6.5.Hyun-Jin Ryu FD - P 10300 DK - SP 10000 Opponent - WSH (Stephen Strasburg) Park - LADFD - 38.29 DK - 20.87Ryu has quietly been one of the best pitchers in the league this season and it's really not indicative in this price tag. In seven starts this season, Ryu has posted a 2.03 ERA and 0.81 WHIP while posting an absurd 45:2 K:BB rate in 44.1 innings. That's simply ludicrous control and it shows just how dominant the lefty has been. Facing Washington at home can be beneficial too, with the Nations posting the second-worst K rate in the majors. Vegas appears to love Ryu too, as he enters this matchup as a -170 favorite, with Washington projected for only three runs.Blake Snell pops up highly in our projections, as he's one of the best strikeout pitchers in the majors facing a diminished Yankees lineup. Catcher/First BasePaul Goldschmidt FD - 1B 4100 DK - 1B 4300 Opponent - PIT (Steven Brault) Park - STLFD - 14.28 DK - 10.76The slugging first baseman has gotten off to a bit of a slow start but collecting three hits in back-to-back games coming into this fixture is an extremely encouraging sign. He also has two...

DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Saturday 5/11/19 Welcome to a big day of Saturday baseball! We've got slates throughout the day, but for the purposes of this article we're just going to focus on the main slate. As always, you can access all of our projections for a free trial by clicking the button below.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 11300 DK - SP 11000 Opponent - MIA (Sandy Alcantara) Park - NYMFD - 46.79 DK - 26.21We've got dueling aces on the main slate tonight, but early returns have our system favoring the one from New York. Don't let the less than amazing ERA fool you - deGrom is up to his old ones again this season, whiffing batters at an astounding 12.6 K/9 while maintaining a walk rate under 3/9. He's essentially had 2 bad starts and 4 utterly dominant ones, and the bad ones just look like a case of variance to me. Tonight he'll draw the Marlins and by far the best money line on the night. The Marlins solidly hold the crown as the best match-up for right handed pitching this season, with the lowest wOBA against righties and the third highest K rate. It's going to be awfully tough to get away from deGrom in cash games for me. Max Scherzer FD - P 10800 DK - SP 10400 Opponent - LAD (Walker Buehler) Park - LADFD - 40.2 DK - 22.77It's pretty crazy to think of Scherzer as an "off beat big tournament play," but given the fact that the Nats are underdogs in this one that's probably where we're landing. As we've said many times, we don't really worry about the moneyline for big tournament plays since a player the caliber of Scherzer is obviously capable of securing a win in any match-up. His peripherals are actually better than even deGrom's this season, with a similar K rate and a minuscule sub 2 BB/9. He's had simply awful BABIP luck this year, allowing a .377 figure that's more than .100 points higher than the levels he's established recently. Let's be clear for a second: the Dodgers are a flat out bad match-up, with a bottom 5 K rate and a top 5 wOBA against righties. All the more reason people will be off him. I love Scherzer as a way to go against the grain tonight. Kevin Gausman FD - P 7300 DK - SP 7800 Opponent - ARI (Merrill Kelly) Park -...