DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Thursday, 5/20/21 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! This might end up being the smallest slate I write about all season. We have a four-game day slate and a four-game night ledger on this traveling Thursday card, and we're going to focus on the night slate beginning at 7ET. That means we have only eight teams in action and one of the smallest player pools you'll see. That's on full display when you see the lackluster pitching options, but that also means there are some fun bats to stack as well. With that in mind, let's kick things off with Vince Velasquez. Pitchers Vince Velasquez FD - P 7900 DK - SP 7500 Opponent - MIA (Sandy Alcantara) Park - PHI FD - 32.89 DK - 17.59 The fact that Velasquez is our top pitcher says a lot about this slate, but I've always been partial to this guy. He had that one 16-K game against the Padres a few years back, and I've been going back to the well ever since. It hasn't always worked, but it has lately. VV has a 2.84 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, and 9.9 K/9 rate over his last five starts. He's done that despite a few tough matchups, and this is certainly far from one of those. The Marlins currently rank 27th in K rate and dead-last in xwOBA. That's no surprise when you see that they're missing Starling Marte, making Velasquez one of the best plays on the board. Drew Smyly FD - P 7300 DK - SP 8400 Opponent - PIT (Wil Crowe) Park - ATL FD - 38.07 DK - 20.57 Smyly has been giving me frowns for a while now, but this dude has shown some serious potential in the past and at times this season. In his first four seasons, Smyly pitched to a 3.24 ERA and 1.17 WHIP, which is right on par with what he did in the shortened season last year. A couple of injury-riddled years killed his career numbers, and inconsistencies are the only thing holding him back this year. He's actually got at least 37 FanDuel points in three of his six starts which is an absurd number from a guy this cheap. The best part of this play is the matchup, though, with Pittsburgh ranked 24th in OBP, 29th in wOBA, and dead-last in wOBACON. Catcher/First Base Freddie Freeman FD - 1B 4100 DK - 1B 5200 Opponent - PIT (Wil Crowe) Park - ATL...

DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Wednesday 5/19/21 Now’s your chance to get DFSR PRO, which will give you access to our MLB, NBA, PGA, NHL, and NFL optimizers and our new player lab! Get started for free by clicking the button below. START YOUR FREE TRIAL NOW! Pitchers Corbin Burnes FD - P 10500 DK - 10300 Opponent - KC (Brad Keller) Park - KC FD - 40.82 DK - 18.6 We are blessed with some big-name pitching again tonight but there are two that stand out and it starts with Corbin Burnes. While the record has not been in his favor, it is almost completely on the lack of offense as Burnes has been one of the best pitchers in baseball with an elite 1.57 ERA and he backs that up with an even better xFIP(1.25). Then there is the upside as he enters the 58 strikeouts(45.3% K rate) and just that one walk. He also gets a plus matchup vs. a Royals team that ranks outside the Top 20 in wOBA(.301) ad wRC+(91) on the season and outside the Top 25 in those categories over the last two weeks. All things considered, Burnes is my top pitcher in all formats. Jack Flaherty FD - P 10800 DK - 9700 Opponent - PIT (Trevor Cahill) Park - STL FD - 41.73 DK - 19.2 As of writing this, the system has Flaherty slightly ahead of Burnes in terms of projection and it has to do with a combination of the Cardinals sitting as a bigger favorite(-201) in a game with a lower total(7.0). Flaherty has also been terrific lately holding opponents to one or fewer earned runs in five of his last seven starts and since that opening day blunder, he has tallied an elite 1.47 ERA. Like Burnes, Flaherty and the Cards also get a plus matchup vs. the Pirates who ranked 28th in wOBA(.290) and wRC+(83) on the season and produce runs 15% below league average vs. righties. On FanDuel, I can't ignore the $300 discount with Burnes but on DraftKings, Flaherty is easily a top PTS.$ play on this slate. Catcher/First Base Max Muncy FD - 1B 3800 DK - 5300 Opponent - ARI (Merrill Kelly) Park - LAD FD - 12.18 DK - 9.6 Here is what I wrote about Muncy yesterday before Kelly was pushed back: After somewhat of a slump, the Dodgers offense looks to be heating back up as they are averaging over 5.5 runs per game over the last 10 days.  Muncy has been a big part of that as he has hits in eight of those 10 games with five multi-hit efforts, five home runs, and 12 RBI....

FanDuel NBA Picks and DraftKings NBA Picks Western Conference Play-In Games, Wednesday, 5/19/21 Head on over for your chance to get DFSR PRO, which will give you access to our NBA FanDuel and DraftKings optimizer and our NHL Optimizer. Plus our new player lab! Get started for free by clicking the button below. START YOUR FREE TRIAL NOW! First time with NBA or NFL? Be sure to read our free NBA and NFL Ebooks on building lineups, general strategy and more. We've got you completely covered. Point Guard Stephen Curry FD - $10400 DK - $10100Opponent - LALProj Pts FD - 57.94 DK - 61.73 Man oh man, did Stephen Curry ever have a season here. It was really something, carrying the Warriors throughout and putting them on his back for the entirety. He and Lebron have been on a collision course over the last couple of weeks of the season and now they are here with a chance to lock up the 7th seed in just one game. If there was a game for Curry to run low-40s minutes, this is the one. He dropped 46 points in a must-win over the Grizzlies on Sunday and just casually led the league in scoring shooting 42% from three on a ridiculous 12.7 attempts per game. The Lakers matchup isn’t a good one, but this is Steph we are talking about. Dejounte Murray FD - $7700 DK - $6300Opponent - MEMProj Pts FD - 40.37 DK - 40.48 Murray should be good for minutes in the upper-30s in this game giving him a very high floor considering how he scores his fantasy points. He struggled in the final game of the year against the Suns, but on the season he was good for 16 points, seven rebounds, 5.4 assists and 1.5 steals in 32 minutes per game. That should increase here and because he’s not scoring dependent the risk is a little lower at this price point. If there was a Grizzlies player who was going to play 40+ minutes, it would be Ja Morant (FD $7500 DK $8300) Shooting Guard DeMar DeRozan FD - $7500 DK - $7000Opponent - MEMProj Pts FD - 42.86 DK - 43.35 Like Murray, we could see DeRozan play minutes in the high-30s in this game. His pricing in the middle tier makes him an attractive play on this shorter slate. DDR didn’t shoot as much this season, taking only 15 shots per game, but was still efficient from the field at 50%. His scoring ability should be on display in this game and he’s facing a Memphis team that played the 8th-fastest pace in the league this season. Dillon Brooks FD - $6800...

DraftKings and FanDuel MLB Picks for Tuesday 5/18/21 Now’s your chance to get DFSR PRO, which will give you access to our MLB, NBA, PGA, NHL, and NFL optimizers and our new player lab! Get started for free by clicking the button below. START YOUR FREE TRIAL NOW! Pitchers Brandon Woodruff FD - P 11000 DK - SP 10200 Opponent - KC (Kris Bubic) Park - KC FD - 32.81 DK - 17.74 I don't think you can go wrong with either top pitcher tonight but I would be doing Woodruff an injustice not mentioning him here as he has been incredible to start the 2021 season. he has held opponents to two or fewer earned runs in seven straight straights going at least six innings in all of them while averaging 27.4 DK/46.36 FD points per game. That is just pure dominance on the back of a 33% K rate and 14% swinging-strike rate. The Royals are a league-average offense but what stands out to me here is that they rank outside the TOp 20 as a team against fastballs and Woodruff has the 2nd best one in the game, at the moment, and throws it 66% of the time. All things considered, Woodruff is my top pitcher in all formats. Andrew Heaney FD - P 7600 DK - SP 7800 Opponent - CLE (Zach Plesac) Park - LAA FD - 36.33 DK - 19.35 If not paying up for both pitchers on DraftKings tonight there are some interesting options. I think the chalk SP2 falls with Snell who appears to be massively underpriced but for cash games, I just can't trust that 1.54 WHIP. This has me taking the savings with Andrew Heaney who is back under $8K after putting up a dud in two of his last three starts. The good news here is that he faces an Indians team that has an ugly 82 wRC+ on the season and even worse 76 wRC+ vs. left-handed pitching. At these prices Heaney is my favorite PTS/$ value play tonight. Also Consider: Zack Wheeler(PHI) as another top pay-up option. He has been consistent all season and has held opponents to two or fewer earned runs in four of his last five starts and walked just two batters over his last three starts.  Catcher/First Base Max Muncy FD - 1B 3700 DK - 1B 5500 Opponent - ARI (Merrill Kelly) Park - LAD FD - 12.18 DK - 8.97 After somewhat of a slump, the Dodgers offense looks to be heating back up as they are averaging over 5.5 runs per game over the last 10 days.  Muncy has been a big part of that as he has hits...

FanDuel NBA Picks and DraftKings NBA Picks - Eastern Conference Play-In Games Tuesday, 5/18/21 Head on over for your chance to get DFSR PRO, which will give you access to our NBA FanDuel and DraftKings optimizer and our NHL Optimizer. Plus our new player lab! Get started for free by clicking the button below. START YOUR FREE TRIAL NOW! First time with NBA or NFL? Be sure to read our free NBA and NFL Ebooks on building lineups, general strategy and more. We've got you completely covered. Point Guard Russell Westbrook FD - $13000 DK - $12400Opponent - BOSProj Pts FD - 59.05 DK - 62.9 It’s a shorter two-game play-in slate here and it’s going to be tough to fade Russell Westbrook even at these higher prices. He’s coming in at some of the biggest salary numbers you’ve seen, but it is completely warranted. He’s a near-lock to play 40+ minutes in this game and even with Bradley Beal back the last couple of games, he put up an average of 22 points, 14 assists, and 14 rebounds. The stat accumulation is nearly unmatched and it's lead to the crazy prices, but the floor is so damn high in this game. Kemba Walker FD - $8200 DK - $7300Opponent - WASProj Pts FD - 41.91 DK - 43.47 The bad news first: Kemba hasn’t played in more than a week, sitting out the last few games of the Celtics’ season. That does give me some pause around what his minute's floor looks like in this game. But before he went down the minute's leash was lifted and he played 35, 40, and 38 minutes in his final three games. He dropped more than 30 points in two of those games. Keep an ear out for whether the Celts have a minutes cap on him. And I’ll also say, I like this play a lot less if Jaylen Brown actually makes a return to the fold. Shooting Guard Marcus Smart FD - $5700 DK - $5800Opponent - WASProj Pts FD - 33.95 DK - 34.1 Like Kemba Walker, I’m a little concerned about the Celtics plan with Marcus Smart here. He also hasn’t played in a week, but it does look a lot like injury management and he’s not on the report leading into this game. That leads me to think he’s a full-go in this game. If that’s the case then he does represent one of the better ways to save in the middle tier which isn’t always that easy in these smaller playoff slates. And hopefully, the minutes are going to win out here. Terry Rozier FD - $7200 DK - $7700Opponent - INDProj Pts FD -...