MLB Picks and Pivots – FanDuel Picks April 24

MLB Picks and Pivots – FanDuel Picks April 24

Welcome to the Sunday 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!

FanSided and FantasyCPR have you covered – For additional FanDuel MLB analysis, take a look at my fellow staff writer Matt Rogers FanDuel Economics column or Mike Marteny who provides Draft Kings MLB Picks analysis giving you the most in depth DFS coverage for tonight’s baseball slate.

We get a typical Sunday kicking off at 1:05PM EST with an “all day” slate concluding with the Sunday night game of Boston and Houston.

I will continue to track winning GPP lineups and compare trends over 5 day periods to help us understand what it takes to remain profitable. I HIGHLY recommend each of you do this each morning to look back on the previous night and understand how the winning lineups are constructed in the games you participate in.

The view below tracks GPP entries over various time periods, breaking out key metrics to understand the trends and compositions of GPP winning rosters:

Friday was another high scoring night consistent with Thursday, materially outperforming the 5 day and season long trends. The winning rosters had two mid-priced veterans with Justin Verlander and Gio Gonzalez as their winning pitchers but Aaron Nola, my top pick from Friday, came through with 51 points(good for 7x value) and was found on many entries that cashed out. Going into Friday, the top arms all seemed to be overpriced based off their matchup and the results proved that dropping down to mid-tier arms was the most profitable strategy.

I highly recommend gamers track their game performance across the various types of games they play – GPP’s, Cash, Multipliers etc – as this simple exercise will help teach you more about profitable roster construction that any article you can find.

Now on to the picks…

Next: Top Starting Pitchers

Pitchers

Jerad Eickhoff ($7,300) – The Phillies continue to rebuild with a bevy of impressive young arms and Eickhoff continues to be a great value for DFS players in the early going of the season. To this point in the season, Eickhoff has returned 5.98x value, averaging 40 points per game. Eickhoff has struck out 9 batters in his last two games and he gets to face the Brewers on Sunday who have struck out 28% of the time against opposing right handers. At this price point, Eickhoff has the ability to provide GPP winning value and I plan on targeting him heavily in GPP action.

Drew Smyly ($8,700) – If you want to pay up a bit more at SP, I recommend Smyly who is having a breakout year in the early part of the season. After a difficult opening start against Toronto, Smyly has rebounded and put up 52.5 points per game over his last two games which is good for 6x value at this current price. What has been most impressive is that Smyly has struck out 11 batter in each of his last two games which provides us the ability to capture a massive FanDuel performance. The Yankees have struck out over 24% of the time against LHP this season and continue to struggle to generate offense. With a lefty heavy lineup, this could be a great spot for Smyly to continue his excellent early season run.

Next: Top Hitting/Stack Options

Hitters/Stacks

Red Sox/Astros Sunday Night Stack – Everyday I start my article off by looking at the previous day’s results and understanding the short and long term trends. One valuable piece of information I have gained in doing this is identifying a unique trend on the Sunday “All-Day Slates.”

The Sunday night game hitters are typically wildly under owned as gamers tend to opt for the “safety” of the early game confirmed lineups leaving us the ability to attack the last game of the day at reduced ownership percentages.

For example, last week, I used a Dodgers stack across multiple GPP lineups and in every case, I did not roster a Dodgers hitter who was more than 5% owned. This is the exact type of differentiation that can lead to a big time pay day.

The Red Sox will send hard throwing lefty Henry Owens to the mound which puts Carlos Correa($4,100) squarely on my radar. Tyler White($2,900) on the season is 4 for 11 with 2 home runs against LHP and makes for a great cost effective 1B option. Evan Gattis($2,300) assuming he is in the lineup mashes LHP and at a reduced print point at catcher allows us a very cost effective stacking option even when using Correa.

The Astros will be throwing right hander Scott Feldman and the Sox have feasted against RHP this season to the tune of a .288 average with 12 home runs. David Ortiz($3,800) and Mookie Betts($4,800) each have 3 home runs and Dustin Pedroia($3,200) and Hanley Ramirez($2,900) are both batting over .300 against righties to start the season in a reverse platoon situation.

Both these clubs make for typical great GPP stack and the fact they play into the late Sunday game narrative make them my top two targets for large field tournaments on Sunday.

Best of luck tonight gamers! Make sure to review the lineups as they are announced before locking in your lineups!