Late MLB Picks and Pivots – FanDuel Picks April 30

Apr 15, 2016; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates pinch hitter Matt Joyce (L) is greeted at home plate by shortstop Jordy Mercer (LC) and second baseman Josh Harrison (RC) and first baseman John Jaso (R) after Joyce hit a three run pinch hit home run against the Milwaukee Brewers during the seventh inning at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports /

Late MLB Picks and Pivots – FanDuel Picks April 30

Welcome to the Saturday 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 slat

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:

Time Period	Score	Pitcher Salary	Pitcher Percentage	Hitter Percentage	Hitter $/Player	Value
Season	242.4	$ 8,025	23%	77%	$ 3,372	6.93
5 Day	267.9	$ 7,878	23%	77%	$ 3,390	7.65
Previous Day	248.8	$ 6,400	18%	82%	$ 3,575	7.11

The Previous Day column reflects the Thursday evening slate only as the early day slate results were materially lower and skewed by the postponement if the Rockies game at Coors so I have excluded that from our tracking as that score is a clear outlier. The Thursday night slate winning pitcher was Rubby De La Rosa who put up a dominant 63 points at only $6,400 for almost 10x value. De La Rosa was under 5% owned and racked up 30 points alone from his 10 strikeout performance.

The trends continue to reflect that the “20/80” rule in salary cap management has been the most profitable strategy for GPP’s.

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 than you can imagine.

Now on to the picks…

Next: Top Starting Pitchers

Apr 25, 2016; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; Baltimore Orioles starting pitcher Kevin Gausman (39) throws a pitch during the first inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports /

Top Starting Pitchers – Late Slate

Kevin Gausman ($6,500) – Gausman made his season debut last game out, pitching 5 innings and putting up 7 strikeouts for a total of 33 points. At this price points that would exceed 5x value, and I believe the healthier Gausman gets the more upside we have to chase here. Gausman has the ability to rack up strikeouts and if he is able to nail down the all-important win as the favored home starter, he can easily reach 6-7x value.

Jerad Eickhoff ($7,100) – Eickhoff has been one of my favorite GPP plays this season as we have seen him hit for 42 and 60 points in 2 of his 4 starts, flashing the kind of “boom or bust” upside we are looking for in large field tournaments. The other aspect that stands out here is the strikeout ability as Eickhoff has put up 7,9 and 9 K’s in his last 3 starts. The start against the Indians is neutral when it comes to strikeouts but at this price point, the Phillies right hander has the ability and track record based off season long trends to be a GPP winning SP choice.

Next: Top Hitters/Stacks

Apr 28, 2016; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks catcher Chris Herrmann (10) slaps hands with Arizona Diamondbacks left fielder Brandon Drury (27) after hitting a two-run home run during the second inning against the St. Louis Cardinals at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports /

Hitters/Stacks –

Pirates against Alredo Simon – “Big Pasta” is always a fantastic GPP target as he proved last time out when he gave up 8 ER in 2.2 innings against the Cubs. The Pirates get the chance to take their cuts against a pitcher who has given up 5+ runs in 2 of his 3 starts which makes for a fantastic stacking option on the night slate. Simon has given up a 5.00 ERA to opposing left handers so I love John Jaso ($3,100) & Gregory Polanco ($3,600) and if you chose to go with a cheaper SP, you can easily complete this stack with Andrew McCutchen ($4,300) and Starling Marte ($4,200).

Keep an eye on the starting lineups as if Matt Joyce ($2,800) makes his way into the heart of the order like he has against RHP, he makes for one of the best bargain plays on the board.

Arizona D-Backs against LHP Chris Rusin – This one is simple, Paul Goldschmidt ($4,500) against a sub par lefty – yes please and thank you. The best value pick in this matchup thought may be 3B Brandon Drury ($2,700) who has been hitting at the top of the D-Backs order and has out up 22 and 27 points in his last two games while homering in both.

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