Daily Fantasy MLB Pitchers and Stacks for FanDuel and DraftKings – 4/16/18
Daily Fantasy MLB Pitchers and Stacks for FanDuel and DraftKings - 4/16/18 We already highlighted Jacob deGrom, Aaron Nola, and Jaime Garcia in our Monday picks article. We also highlighted the Bluejays, and Rockies as popular game stacks at their respective team price points. Here we will look at some other (possible GPP) considerations. Now’s your chance to get DFSR PRO, which will give you access to our MLB optimizer and our new player lab! Get started for free by clicking the button below. START YOUR FREE TRIAL NOW! First time with MLB? Be sure to read our free MLB Ebooks on building lineups, general strategy and more. We've got you completely covered. Pitchers Hyun-Jin Ryu FD 7200 DK 9700 Opponent - SD (Luis Perdomo) Park - SD FD - 27.51 DK - 14.36 The Dodgers open up a three-game set with the Padres in San Diego following a tough week at home. One of the bright spots of the homestand was Hyun-Jin Ryu throwing six one-hit innings while picking up eight strikeouts in a shutout of the Athletics. It was an excellent turnaround from the debut Ryu had on April second in Arizona. Ryu isn't a dominant arm by any stretch, he's sporting a 3.53 xFIP with 7.85 K/9 for his career but the matchup today plays heavily in his favor, and the price is most certainly right in this case. PetCo is one of the top pitchers' parks in the majors, and the Padres are striking out 25.1% of the time dating back to the start of last season while their .298 team wOBA is the second lowest in that time. San Diego fields a righty-heavy lineup and Ryu has limited right-handed hitters to a .294 wOBA while fanning 21.9% of batters. If you're looking to pay up at the dish, Ryu will allow you to do so while coming with plenty of upside potential. James Paxton FD 8500 DK 8000 Opponent - HOU (Dallas Keuchel) Park - SEA FD - 30.24 DK - 15.85 James Paxton will cost you a bit more on FanDuel, but he is a cheaper option making a strong SP2 play on DraftKings. He is certainly a strong tournament play everywhere going up against the Astros. Paxton got lit up by the Indians in his first start of the season but has settled in since then. He's allowed two earned runs in each of his next two starts while striking out 17. While his 12.06 K/9 may not be sustainable over the course of the season, it isn't far off from the 10.32 he possessed at the end of 2017. Targeting the Astros can always be risky. They posted the second-best team...
Daily Fantasy MLB Picks for FanDuel and DraftKings – 4/10/18
Daily Fantasy MLB Picks for FanDuel and DraftKings - 4/10/18 Welcome friends to big league Tuesday. We've got 12 games on the main slate and that's where we'll focus our energy. There are some fantastic pitching options to consider, some value bats, and a game in Coors Field. Where to spend? Join me as we go position by position to narrow down the picks. Now’s your chance to get DFSR PRO, which will give you access to our MLB optimizer and our new player lab! Get started for free by clicking the button below. START YOUR FREE TRIAL NOW! First time with MLB? Be sure to read our free MLB Ebooks on building lineups, general strategy and more. We've got you completely covered. Pitcher Stephen Strasburg FD 9800 DK 10800 Opponent - ATL (Mike Foltynewicz) Park - WSHFD - 40.71 DK - 22.2 I'm going to open up this piece the same way Austyn did yesterday, with the starting pitcher for the Washington Nationals. When you've got a one-two punch in your rotation like Scherzer and Strasburg, that's going to happen from time to time. Last night it was Mad Max, so tonight, I'll talk about Stras. Stephen Strasburg finished last season with the eighth best xFIP (3.27) among qualified pitchers. While Scherzer may have the slightest bit of edge in K upside, it's still a strong factor in Strasburg's game as well. With a career 10.43 K/9, he's already whiffing 9.49 through his first two starts of the year. Stras got into a bit of trouble with the long ball against the Mets in his last game, which may scare some folks off. The opening line has the Nationals as -220 favorites, which is the highest money line of the day, so Vegas is pretty bullish here. Stras is hands down the safest option going tonight. Aaron Nola FD 8500 DK 8200 Opponent - CIN (Homer Bailey) Park - PHIFD - 37.94 DK - 20.22 If you're one of those folks that are worried about Strasburg, or you just want to go a little cheaper on the hill to pay up for some big bats, then we should take a look at Aaron Nola. Nola hasn't gotten the season off to the start I was hoping he would, but he's still showing plenty of great promise. He allowed just one run on opening day in Atlanta, and a two-run bomb of the bat of Yoenis Cespedes was his only slip up in game two against the Mets. Control issues have bothered him early, as he's walking 4.35 batters per 9 to open the season, which is nearly double his career totals. He'll see his best match-up of the...
Daily Fantasy MLB Picks for FanDuel and DraftKings – 4/7/18
Daily Fantasy MLB Picks for FanDuel and DraftKings - 4/7/18 We're now just over a full week into the season. Thanks to off days, and some weather postponements, we've really shuffled the pitching rotations, so it's not all aces or all scrubs. We've got a nice healthy mix of dominant arms to lock in and weak arms to target against. Our MLB lineup optimizer has been hard at work crunching all the numbers. With a majority of the games happening this afternoon, we'll focus most of our attention on the early games while giving you some plays to consider on the evening set of five games. So let's check out the top picks at each position. Now’s your chance to get DFSR PRO, which will give you access to our MLB optimizer and our new player lab! Get started for free by clicking the button below. START YOUR FREE TRIAL NOW! First time with MLB? Be sure to read our free MLB Ebooks on building lineups, general strategy and more. We've got you completely covered. Pitcher Trevor Bauer FD 8600 DK 9400 Opponent - KC (Ian Kennedy) Park - CLE FD - 37.77 DK - 19.55 We'll open things up today with Trevor Bauer leading the Indians against the Royals in his home park. Progressive Field is an average hitters park, leaning slightly in favor of the pitcher and Bauer was quite comfortable pitching there last season, as he held an xFIP over one point lower in home games versus on the road. Bauer was strong through five innings to open the season up in Seattle last weekend, surrendering two earned runs on five hits while fanning seven. The Royals were a bottom ten offense against RHP last season and didn't strike out a ton either, a trend that continues this season as they've struck out only 9.5% of the time against righties to open up the campaign. This coupled with Bauer's tendency to get into trouble early severely limit the upside, but with the tribe coming in as -205 favorites. Bauer should present more than enough safety on a modest price tag to get us where we need to be in cash games. Sonny Gray FD 8200 DK 9000 Opponent - BAL (Chris Tillman) Park - NYY FD - 35.1 DK - 17.89 The Yankees continue their weekend series with the Orioles in the Bronx today and will turn the ball over to Sonny Gray. Like Bauer, Gray got into trouble early on in his first game of the 2018 campaign, scattering ten baserunners over 4 innings, but managed to limit the damage to only one earned run. The early exit resulted in a no-decision but Gray did...
Daily Fantasy MLB Picks for FanDuel and DraftKings – 4/2/18
Daily Fantasy MLB Picks for FanDuel and DraftKings - 4/2/18 Now’s your chance to get DFSR PRO, which will give you access to our MLB optimizer and our new player lab! Get started for free by clicking the button below. START YOUR FREE TRIAL NOW! First time with MLB? Be sure to read our free MLB Ebooks on building lineups, general strategy and more. We've got you completely covered. Pitcher Early Jameson Taillon FD 8200 DK 8800 Opponent - MIN (Lance Lynn) Park - PIT FD - 30.09 DK - 15.55 Welcome to Monday baseball! With this being the 5th day of MLB season, we are working with some very bad pitchers. When Charlie Morton and Jameson Taillon are the two most expensive, you know things are going to get rough. We’ll kick things off on the early slate with Jameson Taillon. The up and coming ace posted a 3.67 xFIP in 2017 and followed it up with some strong peripherals and batted ball rates. Tonight, he sees a Twins lineup that’s pretty polarizing. With plenty of power in these bats, they strikeout their fair share. Taillon will likely be on a pitch count around 100 max, so there is always a limited ceiling early in the year. These Twins can obviously put numbers on the board, but Taillon is clearly the best pitcher to choose from and fits the match-up pretty nicely. With just four other games on this slate, Taillon should end up 30-40% owned in the morning. Main Charlie Morton FD 8500 DK 11100 Opponent - BAL (Chris Tillman) Park - HOU FD - 33.87 DK - 17.92 While we have a lot more games on this main slate, the pitching doesn't get any better. At all. Charlie Morton is the most expensive option on the board and while he's a great pitcher, it's tough when he's your best option. We will look at him, though, as he's in a pretty solid spot against a K-friendly Orioles. While it's been just a few days, they already hold a 28% strikeout rate It can't be a surprise with guys like Chris Davis leading off and Pedro Alvarez and Colby Rasmus in the backend. The middle of the order hitters like Schoop, Mancini, and Jones all strikeout a lot as well. Morton, a righty, was a reverse splits pitcher in 2017. He obliterated lefties to the tune of a .249 wOBA and 32.8% K rate. Against righties, a very different story with a .345 wOBA and 20% K rate. He spent his offseason working on it, but so does everyone else. It's still up in the air whether or not we will see change, but even if we...
Daily Fantasy MLB Picks for FanDuel and DraftKings – 4/1/18
Daily Fantasy MLB Picks for FanDuel and DraftKings - 4/1/18 Now’s your chance to get DFSR PRO, which will give you access to our MLB optimizer and our new player lab! Get started for free by clicking the button below. START YOUR FREE TRIAL NOW! First time with MLB? Be sure to read our free MLB Ebooks on building lineups, general strategy and more. We've got you completely covered. Pitcher Jose Quintana FD 8800 DK 11700 Opponent - MIA (Dillon Peters) Park - MIA FD - 37.94 DK - 20.38 Welcome to Sunday Baseball! This is day four of the MLB season and we're running short at pitcher. We fortunately have some decent options, but it's certainly the worst day so far. We'll kick it off in Miami, who will host Jose Quintana and the Cubs. Quintana dominated in two different cities in 2017 and was quietly one of the better pitchers in the league. He posted a 3.73 xFIP with an elite 9.23 K/9. He's been effective against both sides of the plate, but is definitely better against lefties. He faces off against a Marlins team that is absolutely one of the worst lineups in the league. We won't be looking at any team stats after just three games, but you should know what's going on when Starlin Castro and Justin Bour are in the three and four hole. This game is also in Marlins Park, which is one of the friendlier ballparks in the league for pitchers. Quintana is extremely safe in all formats and the top pitcher on this slate. Luke Weaver FD 7800 DK 8000 Opponent - NYM (Steven Matz) Park - NYM FD - 33.3 DK - 17.59 Luke Weaver had an incredible 2017 season and put himself in the mix as another star Cardinals pitcher. He posted a ridiculous 2.93 xFIP and 10.04 K/9. He's only 24 years old and going to get better as the years go by. Tonight, he faces off with the Mets. They hold the 3rd lowest implied team total on the slate and it's no surprise. They have some solid hitters and have a lot of power, but they strike out a ton and hit lefties a lot better. Citi Field is friendly to pitchers and ranked 20th in 2017 for righty power. The only problem I can find here is the match-up with Matz and the win uncertainty. Where the win matters on FanDuel, I like Quintana and Hill more. With that being said, I think Weaver has a huge ceiling and could strikeout 10 without issue. On a day with a bunch of so-so pitchers in average match-ups, Weaver is fine in all formats. Rich Hill...