Daily Fantasy MLB Baseball Picks for FanDuel, DraftKings, Victiv, and Yahoo 8/17/15 Happy Monday, y'all! If you're new to this column, I'm going to give you a few plays at each position that you can consider in your daily fantasy baseball contests. Even though it's a short slate, I still won't be able to hit every acceptable play for the day. 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, Victiv, and Yahoo.   Pitchers Gerrit Cole - FD 10200 DK 11200 Victiv Opponent- Ari (Hellickson) R Park- @Pit Alright, on a short slate, you're going to need to try and find some safety at the pitcher position in your double-ups and 50/50s. On Monday, that's going to mean grabbing the Pirates' ace at home against the Diamondbacks. Cole's a strike-out per inning guy with the 13th best xFIP in the major leagues, and he should have a good match-up with the perennially below league average Jeremy Hellickson. Today he'll be facing the Arizona Diamondbacks, who are one of those blessing/curse teams. The D-Backs have struck out at the 9th highest rate against opposing righties this season, but they've also put together the 10th highest wOBA. Worth noting, however, is that they'll be away from their friendly home hitter's environment and in the less friendly PNC Park. I'll take my chances with Cole on a day really lacking a pristine ace match-up. Andrew Heaney - FD 7100 DK 8600 Victiv Opponent- CWS (Rodon) L Park- @ana Alright, this one clearly lands strictly in big tournament punt territory, but if you want a cheap guy who could flash some upside, I'd take a look at Heaney. Heaney himself isn't a whole lot to look at. His sub 7 K/9 doesn't scream "high upside" or anything, so I'll need to explain a bit. When we're thinking about upside at the pitcher spot in daily fantasy baseball, we're thinking strictly in terms of points per dollar. If Heaney were to go 7 innings of shut out ball with 4 Ks and get a W, he'd score 15 points. This would be a great result on a $7,100 FanDuel salary. Not only is he cheap, he's also facing a team that really can't hit. The White Sox are dead last in the majors in wOBA against left handed pitching (an awful .276), and have struck out at the 11th highest rate. Like I said, a guy who gives up this much contact can't be said to be safe, but for big tourneys? Worth a shot....

Daily Fantasy MLB Baseball Picks for FanDuel, DraftKings, Victiv, and Yahoo 8/16/15 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, Victiv, and Yahoo.   Pitchers A quick note before we begin: I'm just going to give you one guy in a few different price tiers. So while I like guys like Matt Harvey against Pittsburgh, I like the listed guy (Sale) a bit more. Cool? Let's do this. Chris Sale - FD 11200 DK 11600 Victiv Yahoo Opponent- Chc (Haren) R Park- @Cws Well, my friends, it honestly doesn't get any safer when it comes to a 50/50 or double-up play. Famous last words, obviously, but there really isn't much not to like here. Chris Sale is the owner of the majors' second highest xFIP, Dan Haren is the owner of the majors' 7th worst. The Cubs have struck out a remarkable 23.3% of the time against left handed pitching this season, which is just 1% below the league leading Padres. The fly in the ointment, if you want to call it that, is that the Cubs have been about league average against left handed pitching in terms of wOBA. But let's not be overly picky here. I won't consider playing anyone else in formats where I need to finish in the top half to score, and you can make an argument for playing him in big tournaments too honestly. Carlos Martinez - FD 9900 DK 9100 Victiv Yahoo Opponent- Mia (Phelps) R Park- @Stl Looking down the ladder a bit price-wise, my eyes come to a rest on young Carlos Martinez. While he's not a pitcher of the same caliber of the elite arms going today, the price savings are actually pretty significant, and he has arguably as much upside. His 3.33 xFIP is still a top 20 number in the majors, and he's been a strike-out per inning guy with 20 FanDuel points upside. He's also got some stinkers on his resume as well. Still, if you're looking for a high upside play that many will ignore, he's worth a look. The Marlins are dead last in the league in wOBA against right handed pitching this season, and David Phelps and his 4.34 xFIP have been a fair mess this season. Yup, I'm pretty into this one. Shelby Miller - FD 8100...

Daily Fantasy MLB Baseball Picks for FanDuel, DraftKings and Victiv 8/15/15 There are two early games on the schedule for Saturday. These picks are going to focus on the evening slate. 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, Victiv and Yahoo. Pitchers Patrick Corbin - FD 6700 DK 7300 Victiv Yahoo Opponent- Atl (Foltynewicz) r Park- @Atl Didn't think you'd see his name up this high did you? I know there are some major arms going on this evening slate, but consider, for a moment, the savings and upside you might get from a guy like Corbin. He's priced in the basement of pitchers which allows for massive flexibility. I'm not usually inclined to recommend these pitcher punts for cash games because paying up for arms almost always makes sense. There's an exception for Corbin though. His peripherals have been outstanding this season, striking out a batter an inning and walking about two per nine. He has a 3.26 xFIP and faces a Braves team ranked near the basement against lefty arms. They strike out 21% of the time and have a .281 team wOBA. They stink. Corbin is priced like a punt, but has mid to upper tier value going. He also opens the door to stacking some of the bigger offenses. And even considering the price, I don't see him as that risky. The upper tier of pitching looks very dice roll-ish for me today. There are quality arms going for sure, but their prospects aren't striking me as super safe. If I was to choose any of the upper tier guys it would probably be: Jake Arrieta - FD 10500 DK 11600 Victiv Yahoo Opponent- CWS (Quintana) L Park- @cws And even he doesn't strike me as any kind of lock. Dude's put up solid numbers for sure, with a 9.15 K/9 rate and lower BB/9 helping him to a sub 3 xFIP. The White Sox are a middling team against righties and strike out about 21% of the time. The ballpark here does Arrieta no favors as U.S. Cellular is one of the best hitter's parks in all of baseball. I just think he's a little pricey for his ultimate upside, though I do think that paying for pitching is almost always the way to go. That's why this slate feels so weird going in. Consider Johnny Cueto because the Angels seem like an offensive dumpster fire of late, though his tag is through the roof too. I would also strongly consider Justin Verlander in...

Daily Fantasy MLB Baseball Picks for FanDuel, DraftKings, Yahoo and Victiv 8/14/15 This is a massive slate with a ton of rough pitching, a Padres' trip to Coors and a million things in between. I'll highlight some of the better values, but it's nearly impossible to set all of the plays straight with these parameters. That being said, you know this is always a good place to start. 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, Victiv and Yahoo. Pitchers Max Scherzer - FD 11400 DK 14600 Victiv Yahoo Opponent- SF (Cain) R Park- @SF There are two stud pitchers going on this massive slate and the way they are priced offers some nice natural hedging. To start, on FanDuel I'll take Scherzer who comes in just a hair below Kluber. Scherzer's an ace's ace and has put together a season worthy of his huge contract. He's striking out close to eleven batters per nine and walking less than two. The 2.87 xFIP is of course elite and he's in contention just about every time he touches the mound. The problem with Scherzer today is the matchup with the Giants isn't necessarily ideal. They rank among the best teams in the league against righty pitching and don't strike out a lot. I'm avoiding Scherzer on DraftKings where I think the price is too cost prohibitive. But on FanDuel I will play him and save just a few dollars over Kluber (who I'll have over there as well too). Corey Kluber - FD 12000 DK 10600 Victiv Yahoo Opponent- Min (May) R Park- @Min He hasn't been the most consistent pitcher in baseball, but he's been one of the best nevertheless. He, Scherzer and Kershaw are one, two, three in terms of WAR this year. Kluber's just gotten there a little more haphazardly. Some of the stinkers have been what's kept the price in check and he's a must start for me on DraftKings today. That he's the fourth highest pitcher on the board seems nuts (though I know there are other good arms going). Kluber faces a Twins team ranked in the bottom third of the league against righties and are striking out close to 21% of the time in that split. Kluber's a favorite for the win and is able to work in a nice pitcher's park that depresses power to lefties especially. Like I said, it's close for me between Kluber and Scherzer on FanDuel, but Kluber is a lock at that price on DK. Robbie Ray -...

Daily Fantasy MLB Baseball Picks for FanDuel, DraftKings, Yahoo and Victiv 8/13/15 Two mini slate for your Thursday enjoyment. Love these small slates as I think the mistakes cascade for the uninformed. Let's get into it. 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, Victiv and Yahoo. Pitchers Early Slate Noah Syndergaard - FD 11000 DK 11100 Victiv Yahoo Opponent- Col (Butler) R Park- @Nym If there's one thing the Rockies have shown lately, it's that they stink. They've been manhandled of late by opposing pitchers and could be in for more of the same in this game. Last night deGrom put on a clinic against Colorado and I like Syndergaard going against them today. They are a weaker unit that really drops off a cliff after about the fourth batter, and really before that they're no great shakes. Thor's striking out close to 10 batters per nine and has limited the walks in his rookie season. He's a big favorite to win today against Eddie Butler and the strike out numbers could come fast and furious. He's expensive on FanDuel but he appears by far the safest bet considering park and opponent. Consider Jon Lester in tournaments   Late Slate There are three interesting options on this slate, all coming moderately priced. I can come up with positives and negatives for each of them. But if I have to pick a lane, I'll go with: Francisco Liriano - FD 9700 DK 11000 Victiv Yahoo Opponent- Stl (Lynn) R Park- @StL He's coming at a nice discount on FanDuel and I'll take him at his price point on the other sites as well. Liriano's been a borderline stud this season but after a few subpar outings (against two above average teams against lefties) Liriano has seen a price drop. It's time to buy. The Cardinals are one of the worst teams in the league against lefty pitching this season. They're striking out more than 24% of the time in this split and a majority of their quality bats (Carpenter, Wong, Heyward) are significantly worse against lefty pitching. Liriano's striking out more than ten batters per nine this season with a sub three xFIP. With the three big pitchers at the same price point, I'm taking Liriano. Consider Stephen Strasburg as an upside tournament play By the way - we were reached out to by a new site that deals with all things betting. They have a good take on daily fantasy sports rules, if you're new to the whole thing.  ...