Daily Fantasy MLB Baseball Picks for FanDuel and DraftKings - 5/17/17 Now’s your chance to get DFSR PRO, which will give you access to our MLB optimizer, our NBA 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 and NBA Ebooks on building lineups, general strategy and more. We've got you completely covered.   Pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. To put it simply, this is a bad pitchers slate. We don't have many good options and the options we do have come with plenty of risk. First, we'll take a look at Lance McCullers. He's at home in Minute Maid Park, facing the Seattle Mariners. The Mariners are a pretty average offense and are heavily dependent on 2 or 3 bats for production. He has started against these guys twice this season, going for a total of 11 innings, 15 strikeouts, and 2 earned runs. He's done pretty well against them and if he can reach his typical 7-8 innings, the upside is tremendous. McCullers has turned a huge corner in 2017, jolting himself into the elite top 10 in baseball. He's striking out 10.5 batters per 9, walking just 2.5, and maintaining a sub 3.00 xFIP. He's also holding righties to a .294 wOBA and lefties to a .250. He's elite, at home, and facing an average offense. On a slate without much safety, he comes in as the top option in both cash games and tournaments. McCullers is only 23 and the risk will always be there, but it's not like you have a safe pivot to turn to. Jon Lester FD 9500 DK 9800 Opponent - ATL (Teheran) Park - @ATL FD - 32.63 DK - 21.59 Jon Lester is always a tricky pitcher to target. We all know he's super talented and has the ability to pitch a CGSO every time he takes the mound. He also seems inherently more risky than other aces, due to his inability to slow down the running game. While he has shown strides in throwing to 1st, teams have still been able to run with ease. However, it's tough to run when you can't get to 1st. The Braves only real running threat, Ender Inciarte, hits from the left side. Lester has always dominated lefties and this year has been no different, posting a .218 wOBA and striking out over 11 per 9. The Braves will be forced to throw at least 3-4 lefties in the order, who will only slow things down. The righties do have potential to do damage and SunTrust Park has played towards the...

Daily Fantasy MLB Baseball Picks for FanDuel and DraftKings - 7/16/17 Now’s your chance to get DFSR PRO, which will give you access to our MLB optimizer, our NBA 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 and NBA Ebooks on building lineups, general strategy and more. We've got you completely covered. Pitcher Jeff Samardzija FD 9200 DK 9500 Opponent - SD (Cahill) Park - @SDFD - 38.91 DK - 25.68 We've got it a little easier today in the starting pitcher pool after last night's Ace's galore. There's only one pitcher over 10K on FanDuel, and four on DraftKings, but our top point per dollar play across the board comes in just under on both sites. Jeff Samardzija has run into some bad luck this season, as evidenced by his four wins and 4.58 ERA. Upon closer inspection however, we see the seventh lowest xFIP in the majors at 3.09 and a top 15 ranked 26.2 K%. Add in to the mix a San Diego offense that has been just dreadful this season, striking out 26.1% of the time and sporting a .298 team wOBA. The only thing really playing against the Shark here is the fact that the Giants are a mere -116 favorite, but the K upside more than makes up the difference, and if he does get the W, it could just prove to be icing on the GPP cake, though I'll run Shark in both cash and tournaments. Yu Darvish FD 9900 DK 11300 Opponent - KC (Kennedy) Park - @KCFD - 36.84 DK - 24.38 If you don't feel comfortable swimming with the Shark, then maybe give a look to Yu Darvish. you're going to have to spend up a little more on him, particularly on DraftKings where I question if it's even worth it, though I can see the case on FanDuel. Darvish is right on par with Samardzija in strikeout percentage trailing him with 25.9%, and has a slightly higher 3.92 xFIP. The Rangers are a -.124 favorite, so not much better there either and there really isn't much upside to speak of as the Royals strike out only 20.4% of the time. If you have salary left over after loading your bats and want to move up to Yu in cash on FanDuel, I'm all for it, in tournaments and on DK though, I just can't justify it. Rick Porcello FD 8100 DK 7400 Opponent - NYY (Mitchell) Park - @BOSFD - 30.69 DK - 20.25 Oof. This is awkward. Earlier this week in our midseason busts...

Daily Fantasy MLB Hitter Stacks for FanDuel and DraftKings - 7/15/17 Here's where you can find some recommendations for GPP stacks to target for FanDuel and DraftKings. Find our main set of cash game picks here. Now’s your chance to get DFSR PRO, which will give you access to our MLB optimizer, our NBA 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 and NBA Ebooks on building lineups, general strategy and more. We've got you completely covered.   Houston Astros We do have a bunch of intriguing offenses to choose from, so I don't want to say any of these teams are musts. However, there is a very good shot of these Astros doing damage. They face off with Ervin Santana, at home in the hitter-friendly Minute Maid Park. Ervin Santana was having a good season, but we all knew it was going to crash soon. The Astros hold the slate highest implied team total of 5.39 and are big favorites in Vegas. Santana gave up a .393 wOBA in June, where his regression finally caught up with him. He also holds a 4.79 xFIP and strikes out just 6.8 batters per 9 innings, which are both very underwhelming numbers. He also still holds a .217 BABIP, so more regression is still coming. The Astros are extremely lethal and I see no way they don't do some damage here. Altuve and Correa are the 2 obvious options and I wouldn't make a stack without either of them. You then get into guys like George Springer and Josh Reddick, who are very elite options, but not musts. Gattis, McCann, Beltran, and Bregman are another 4 great hitters who simply don't make the cut in a 4-man stack. However, in tournaments, you can really go anywhere. Main Stack - Jose Altuve, Carlos Correa, George Springer, Josh Reddick Sneaky Stack - Jose Altuve, Carlos Correa, Brian McCann, Carlos Beltran Chicago Cubs It looks like the Cubs are starting to get things rolling. They put up 9 runs last night and made some moves over the break. When the Cubs do start putting things together, watch out. There will be a stretch where they put up at least 5 or 6 runs on a nightly basis and they aren't priced like it at all. At least not yet. They'll be facing off with Wade Miley tonight, who is one of the easier guys in the league to figure out. While he's not the worst pitcher, you know exactly what to expect. Miley is trash against righties and very good against...

Daily Fantasy MLB Baseball Picks for FanDuel and DraftKings - 7/15/17 Now’s your chance to get DFSR PRO, which will give you access to our MLB optimizer, our NBA 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 and NBA Ebooks on building lineups, general strategy and more. We've got you completely covered.   Pitcher Max Scherzer FD 12100 DK 12900 Opponent - CIN (Castillo) Park - @CIN FD - 16.12 DK - 10.51 While the teams returned to action yesterday giving us decent, but none too stellar starting pitching options, there are some decisions to be made today. We've got several potential Cy Young candidates on the mound beginning with the NL front runner, Max Scherzer. Mad Max begins his second half in Great American ballpark against the Reds, and while this might be a knock on most pitchers, for Scherzer it's just a minor blip on the radar. Scherzer has far too much going in his favor to let a small park deter us from locking him in. He's coming into the day with a 2.10 ERA, the lowest among all qualified pitchers, while also sporting a 0.78 WHIP and 35.5 K%. He's having no problem keeping the ball in the yard this season, his 0.91 HR/9 is among the top ten in baseball as is his 10.2 HR/FB%. The Reds for what it's worth strikeout only 20.8% of the time, which is just below average at this point in the season, but it's not every day they face an arm like Scherzer, capable of striking out 12.13 batters per nine. If you run multiple lineups and want to spread your starting pitching love around then have at it, that's what I'll probably do, but if you're only doing one lineup, you can't go wrong with Max. Corey Kluber FD 11400 DK 12200 Opponent - OAK (Blackburn) Park - @OAK FD - 42.55 DK - 28.1 Speaking of Cy Young candidates, if you were popping into DFSRland over the break you saw our staff picks for MVP, biggest bust, and Cy Young winner through the first half, and my top pitcher was the other CK. Corey Kluber has had an impressive start to the 2017 season, hindered only by some missed time back in May with a back issue. Here's a little snippet of my breakdown on Kluber from the Cy Young article. Kluber possesses the lowest xFIP among qualified starters at 2.65 and is right there with Sale and Scherzer trailing just behind them with a 33.5 K% and walking only 6.1% of the...

Daily Fantasy MLB Baseball Luckiest / Unluckiest Hitters & Pitchers - 7/12/17 Now’s your chance to get DFSR PRO, which will give you access to our MLB optimizer, our NBA 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 and NBA Ebooks on building lineups, general strategy and more. We've got you completely covered.   Lucky Aaron Judge HR - 30 wOBA- .466  BABIP - .425 HR/FB % - 41.2% There is absolutely no way to bash Aaron Judge for what he has done over the first half of the 2017 season. He has been the best player in the game and is hitting bullets in what seems like every single at-bat. While it's really fun and exhilarating to watch, it won't last. Unfortunately, Aaron Judge is worse than the likes of Ted Wiliams, Mickey Mantle, etc. He's not going to put up these gaudy numbers for too much longer.The first big caution flag is the BABIP. For a guy who isn't very fast, a .425 BABIP is out of the water. It will fall back down to around .310 by the time it's all said and done and his wOBA will follow. You also see a 41.2% HR/FB rate that is nearly comical. A guy like Stanton, or even Barry Bonds, will hold a 25% number in their best seasons. 41% is unheard of and while there's a chance Judge is just that dominant, I find it hard to believe. Now to be clear, I still think Judge is an extremely dominant OF'er and a guy who will be around a long time in the pinstripes. I just don't think he's anywhere near the player a guy like Trout, Kershaw, Goldschmidt, or even Bryce Harper is. Mark Reynolds HR - 19 wOBA - .390  BABIP - .364 HR/FB % - 26% We go from a younging to and oldie in Mark Reynolds. It's great to see Reynolds hit well in Coors Field, where we often use him for DFS. The problem is the guy is on the downswing of his career and has no business rejuvenating like he has. He's already hit 19 homers on the season and is on pace to have one of his best seasons ever. Unfortunately, math has something to say. Reynolds has posted a .364 BABIP and 26% HR/FB rate. While those numbers aren't nearly as crazy as Judge, a guy who can barely run should hold a BABIP around .290. The Rockies have relies on Reynolds a ton with Cargo struggling and we may see him take a load off in...