MLB Picks and Pivots – FanDuel Picks April 14

Mar 13, 2016; Melbourne, FL, USA; Washington Nationals right fielder Bryce Harper (34) and Washington Nationals second baseman Daniel Murphy (20) celebrate after scoring a run in the first inning against the St. Louis Cardinals at Space Coast Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Logan Bowles-USA TODAY Sports /

MLB Picks and Pivots – FanDuel Picks April 14

Welcome to the Thursday edition of Picks & Pivots, a daily fantasy column focused on providing analysis for the upcoming MLB FanDuel slate. The purpose of this column is to first identify key building blocks that can be used for any roster construction and then identify pivot points to help differentiate your lineup in hopes of a big pay day!

Follow me on Twitter @2lockSports and feel free to pose questions each day as you work to construct your DFS roster on FanDuel!

Games kick off at 12:35PM EST with 7 games on the early slate with another “main” slate at 7:07PM EST with another 5 games. Days with multiple slates are some of the most fun on FanDuel but keep in mind, the more slates we can find with a material amount of games, the harder it is to saturate ownership and differentiate our plays in larger field tournaments. Now on to the picks…

Next: Top Pitching Options

Apr 9, 2016; New York City, NY, USA; Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Vince Velasquez (28) throws the ball during the first inning against the New York Mets at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports /

Starting Pitcher

Vincent Velasquez ($7,400) – EARLY – When looking at this slate – fellow FanSided and Fanduel writer @MattyMcMatt17 immediately jumped all over Velasquez as one of our top picks. The young Phillies right hander was absolutely filthy in his opening start against the Mets on April 9 putting up 57 FanDuel points. Velasquez put up 6 innings, 9 strikeouts and registered a win in a dominating outing but what makes him a top play for me on Thursday is his opponent, the San Diego Padres. The Padres outside of a short burst in Coors have been the perfect offense to target and just look at what other Phillies starters have done in this series – Charlie Morton put up 53 points in a Tuesday win and as I type this article, Jared Eickhoff is putting up a 50 spot against the same team. I am firing up Velasquez, whom the Phillies got in the Ken Giles deal, in all GPP formats on Thursday based on his matchup. With multiple high end studs pitching in the early slate, finding salary relief and getting exposure to the Rockies is a strategy that I imagine will be highly profitable.
Ross Stripling ($7,600) – LATE – With only 5 games in the late slate, it will be harder to differentiate your lineup but my hope is that casual gamers will be off Stripling who pitched a no hitter through 7 1/3 innings in his first career start but was not able to finish the game. Stripling put up 31 points in this game without registering the key 12 point win, so is a mid-40 point game his ceiling? At this price point it makes sense to roll the dice in hopes that other gamers did not notice his initial start or are willing to fade it. The Dodgers are solid favorites to win this game against Arizona and if you can grab a win at this bargain price, it will allow for some high upside hitting options.

Next: Top Hitters

October 9, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers second baseman Howie Kendrick (47) crosses home plate to score off of an RBI single by first baseman Adrian Gonzalez (23) in the eighth inning against the New York Mets in game one of the NLDS at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports /

Hitters

Bryce Harper ($5,500)/Daniel Murphy ($3,600)/Nationals Stack – EARLY – The early game gives us another opportunity to stack the Rockies in Coors but do not sleep on the Nationals going up against Julio Teheran. The BvP stats for Harper and Murphy are off the charts good:
- Harper: 11 for 25 with 7 extra base hits and 4 home runs (.440 avg)
- Murphy: 7 for 17 with 4 extra base hits and 1 home run

The Nationals give us the ability to build a contrarian stack and I love adding Michael Taylor ($2,400) who continues to lead off for the Nationals and is way too underpriced for his role in this potent offense.

Howie Kendrick – $2,600/Yasiel Puig ($3,700) – LATE – The late slate has a ton of favorable hitting matchups so mixing and matching these late game matchups is a great strategy. One player I love in the late slate is the Dodger 2B who is back off the DL and the Dodgers righty bats get to face off with LHP Robbie Ray who is very hittable. The Dodgers right handed bats make for an interesting and contrarian stack and if you include Justin Turner ($2,900) can build a very cost effective stack in the late games in a game with one of the highest game totals.

Next: FanDuel Economics For April 14

Make sure to review the lineups as they are announced before locking in your lineups! Have a great day gamers!