Daily Fantasy MLB Baseball Picks for FanDuel and DraftKings 6/30/15 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, DraftKings and Draftster.   Pitchers Chris Sale - FD 11300 DK 12800 On a day where 30 men are taking the mound for their respective teams, Chris Sale stands head and shoulders above all of them in terms of raw point projection in our projection system. This should come as no surprise - Sale's 12.19 K/9 leads the majors, and he's maintained a walk rate below 2 per 9 innings. Now, Lance Lynn is no slouch for the Cardinals, but the Cards futility against left handed pitching more than makes up for it. They've struck out an absurd 24% of the time against left handed pitching this season, and that number includes a representative sample of the league's lefties. It doesn't account for them facing a God incarnate. I suspect Sale will blow through this lineup each time through and leave the game with a high double digit point total. Cole Hamels - FD 9800 DK 10300 We received some ridicule early in the season for sticking with Hamels when his ERA wasn't matching his peripherals, but at the end of June, all is well in the world of Cole Hamels owners. The 31 year old's 3.28 xFIP is below his elite career 3.37 number, and nothing seems out of line at all. His 9.60 K/9 is his best since his rookie season nearly a decade ago, and he's actually been a little unlucky with this HR/FB rate. While Taylor Jungmann has been decent this season, the guys trying to score runs for him very much aren't. The Brew Crew has the league's 3rd worst wOBA against left handed pitching this season, and Hamels should be able to have his way here. Ian Kennedy - FD 7400 DK 8100 Before you send any mean tweets, I know that Ian Kennedy sucked the last time he faced the Mariners, and yes, I recall that we picked him then as well. But! From where I'm sitting, the case for playing Kennedy against the Ms remains convincing. The Mariners have the 3rd lowest wOBA against right handed pitching in the majors, and pair that with the league's 4th highest K rate. Kennedy's also been wildly unlucky in terms of his...

Daily Fantasy MLB Baseball Picks for FanDuel and DraftKings 6/29/15 Interested in getting access to the specific projections that inform our daily picks? Sign up now and get a free 3 day trial to our lineup construction tool for FanDuel, DraftKings and Draftster.   Pitchers It is a TERRIBLE day to pick a starting pitcher. There's effectively no safe option today. Spreading out a bunch of decent upside guys might be your best cash game bet. You've been warned. Nathan Karns - FD 6600 DK 7100 No one is going to mistake Nathan Karns for Pedro Martinez, but the newly turned 27 year old has a career xFIP below 4 and a K/9 over 8. He also has some admitted control issues. And! The Indians aren't an especially great match-up. They're about league average against right handed pitching. So why bother with Karns today? Well, as noted, it's a hell of a day to pick a starting pitcher. And this also should be a decent day to go win-hunting with Karns. He'll face Cody Anderson, who FanGraphs ranked as the 13th best prospect in the Indians system before the season began. In other words, he's a fringe dude who is probably a few years from being a useful major league starter. All in all, it's a decent spot to take a shot on Karns. Clay Buchholz - FD 8600 DK 8000 The highest priced pitcher on FanDuel today, Buchholz is the only pitcher going with anything even resembling #1 stuff. And he's no true #1. Still, his 3.16 xFIP is excellent, and he's some bad BABIP luck from having a near 3 ERA this season. The thing holding this ranking down is the pesky Blue Jays. They're one of the very best hitting teams in the league, and this isn't going to be an easy park to pitch in. The upside for Buchholz here comes from the Blue Jays' reasonably high K rate (hovering near 20%) and the opposing pitcher - RA Dickey. Dickey's 4.80 xFIP is his worst since becoming a full time starter, and Buchholz should have a higher than usual chance to get a W. Joe Blanton - FD 5500 DK 4800 Lol? For real, Joe Blanton. Our projection system kinda hates him, and for good reason - the big man hasn't been a relevant big leaguer in ages. Still, 24 Ks against 3 BBs in 26 IP (including 2 excellent starts), and a start against the Astros, who have an historically high K rate against right handed pitching this season (26%!)? I dunno - I could be crazy, but you could probably get every single good hitter and start Blanton as well. Just a thought!...

Daily Fantasy MLB Baseball Picks for FanDuel and DraftKings 6/16/15 So, it's a big two slate day, 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 with an emphasis on the late slate that more people are likely to play. 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 Scott Kazmir - FD 9000 DK 9400 Kazmir has been pretty lucky this year. His ERA is about a run better than his xFIP, his BABIP is down, and his K rate is up. But here's a little window into our projection system - it's taking Kazmir's pre-season projections as or more seriously than it has his YTD performance. The truth is, Kazmir is still a strike out per inning guy, and he's got upside for miles against the Padres tonight. The Dads have struck out at the 5th highest clip in the majors against left handed pitching this season, and Petco is an historically great place to depress scoring. Andrew Cashner might not seem like the greatest opponent, but he's been bad for a couple of starts in a row, and I think Kaz is more likely than usual to snag a win here. Also considered: Michael Wacha. Late Slate Trevor Bauer - FD 8400 DK 7100 Since the Cubs/Indians game got rained out yesterday, Bauer's writeup still stands. Here you go! In Bauer you're taking a serious step back in terms of safety, but you're also saving $1,200 worth of salary to apply to a stronger set of hitters to work with. Bauer showed his inherent risk in his last start, getting chased only and leaving fantasy owners hanging. But in the 5 starts before that? He was elite. He averaged 15 fantasy points per start, touching double digit strike outs in 2 of those games. On Monday, he'll have his highest upside matchup of the season - the Chicago Cubs. The Cubs taking a solid shot at going wire to wire with the league's worst K rate of the millenium against right handed pitching (a staggering 25.4%). They're in the bottom half of the league in wOBA as well. The fly in Bauer's ointment is Jake Arrieta - he's been elite in his own right this season, and a win might be tricky. But you're grabbing Bauer primarily for upside, here, so I say shoot for the moon. Jose Quintana - FD 7700 DK...

Daily Fantasy MLB Baseball Picks for FanDuel and DraftKings 6/15/15 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 Masahiro Tanaka - FD 9600 DK 10600 Welp, Tanaka seems no worse for the wear after going down for a while there. He's averaged 17.5 fantasy points on FanDuel in his last two starts, and he's just cutting down batters while flashing his trademark terrific control. And boy, there's a lot to like about grabbing him against the Marlins today. They have the third lowest wOBA against right handed pitching this year, along with the 11th highest strike out rate. Miami is a fantastic place to pitch. He'll be opposed by the league average (at best) Tom Koehler. From top to bottom, Tanaka seems like both the safest play and the play with the highest upside. Trevor Bauer - FD 8400 DK 7800 In Bauer you're taking a serious step back in terms of safety, but you're also saving $1,200 worth of salary to apply to a stronger set of hitters to work with. Bauer showed his inherent risk in his last start, getting chased only and leaving fantasy owners hanging. But in the 5 starts before that? He was elite. He averaged 15 fantasy points per start, touching double digit strike outs in 2 of those games. On Monday, he'll have his highest upside matchup of the season - the Chicago Cubs. The Cubs taking a solid shot at going wire to wire with the league's worst K rate of the millenium against right handed pitching (a staggering 25.4%). They're in the bottom half of the league in wOBA as well. The fly in Bauer's ointment is Jake Arrieta - he's been elite in his own right this season, and a win might be tricky. But you're grabbing Bauer primarily for upside, here, so I say shoot for the moon. Carlos Rodon - FD 7200 DK 6500 If you want to go way off board in a big tournament, Rodon is intriguing. The young lefty has nearly a strikeout per inning this season, and while he's been pretty wild, we're trying to take a shot at greatness here. The Pirates have allowed greatness to no shortage of lefties this season - managing just the 3rd worst wOBA while putting together the...

Daily Fantasy MLB Baseball Picks for FanDuel and DraftKings 6/14/15 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 Max Scherzer - FD 11400 DK 11700 It's a fine day to pay up for some pitching, as is often the case on slates this size. In Scherzer you can get a guy with cream of the crop peripherals (10.35 K/9 and 1.35 BB/9) with a phenomenal match-up. It really doesn't get a whole heck of a lot better than that. Against right handed pitching, the Brewers have struck out with the 6th highest frequency of any team in the majors while compiling the 8th worst wOBA. They also happen to be starting the erratic Taylor Jungmann, who has a FIP north of 4 in AAA over the course of the last two years. This is a mismatch like you read about, and as odd as it is to say about a guy this expensive, I can see playing Scherzer in all formats. Cole Hamels - FD 9700 DK 10800 Hamels is an interesting guy today for much the same reasons that Scherzer is. He's not as good as Mad Max, but his 3:1 K:BB ratio and strikeout-per-inning stuff are plenty elite. He also has arguably an even better match-up. Against left handed pitching, the Pirates have the 4th highest K% and the 5th worst wOBA in the major leagues. He gets dinged a little bit because Burnett can still deal a little bit, but Hamels has arguably as much upside as Scherzer at a slightly discounted price. I can see playing him in all formats as well, though taking Scherzer in 50/50s will be awfully tempting. Jon Lester - FD 9000 DK 8600 Lester has taken a little step back from a peripheral standpoint this season, but it really is the littlest of steps. His 3.20 xFIP (compared to last season's 3.10) is still elite, and his lousy luck has been the major cause of his deflated ERA. His .344 BABIP allowed is .041 points higher than his career levels, and he's stranding 2.5% fewer runners as well. Taken as a whole, this kinda luck will eat your ERA up in a hurry. In this game Lester will square off against the Cincinnati Reds, who are quite frankly not the best...