MLB Picks and Pivots – FanDuel Baseball Picks May 13

MLB Picks and Pivots – FanDuel Baseball Picks May 13

Welcome to the Friday 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 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.

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Friday’s games start off with an afternoon affair in Wrigley between the Pirates and Cubs for those of you playing the all day slate. The main slate kicks off at 7:05PM EST with 14 a loaded 14 game slate with plenty of great options for us to build our FanDuel lineups with!

I will continue to track winning Tournament 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:

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

Starting Pitchers

Chris Tillman ($7,900) Home Versus Detroit Tigers – Over the last 2 weeks, no starter on tonight’s slate has put up more fantasy points per start than the Orioles right hander. Tillman has averaged 53 points per game over his last 3 starts which represents 6.7x value at a price point that still appears undervalued. Tillman has averaged 8.3 strikeouts/game over that same span and gets a Tigers lineup that strikes out at a 25.4% clip against RHP. So far this season, Tillman has put up spectacular numbers against opposing right handed batters, limiting them to a .180 average with a 27.5% K rate and only surrendering 1 home run over 38 innings. I expect many owners to shy away from Tillman due to the perceived difficult matchup but I want as many shares of Tillman as I can get at this price point and with this demonstrated elite upside.

Steven Wright ($8,800) Home Versus Houston Astros – What in the name of Tim Wakefield is going on here? Wright has been on absolute fire to start the season and has turned to a whole new level over his last 4 starts as he has averaged 47.75 points which would equate to 5.4x value at this price point. In 3 of his last 4 starts, Wright has put up 50 or more points and gets a matchup against a Houston team that is leading the league in strikeouts per game with just under 10/game. Wright has at least 6 strikeouts in all but one of his starts and we should expect that to be a likely floor with the free swinging Astros as his opponent.

Both recommended pitchers get matchups against difficult lineups that may drive ownership down, but the underlying statistics say these are matchups we can exploit. With both starters being home favorites and at very reasonable price points, they make for solid cash and tournament plays for Friday night’s slate.

Next: Top Hitters/Stacks

Hitters/Stacks

New York Mets in Coors Field versus RHP Jon Gray – I do not need to tell you to stack in Coors field and initially was not going to even write this up, but I was frankly shocked at the modest price increased the Mets left handed bats saw with a move to Colorado. Lucas Duda ($3,900), Neil Walker ($3,600), Michael Conforto ($4,000) & Curtis Granderson ($3,700) are all at very reasonable price points and can be easily fit in with the multiple mid-priced starting pitchers on the hill.

Bryce Harper ($4,300) versus Tom Koehler – A BvP special for good old Bruce Harper as he is 9 for 28 in his career against Koehler with 6 homeruns and 11 RBI’s. With a home run in 20% of his plate appearances, this is one BvP history I will not ignore and will look to get Harper into all my lineups on Friday night.

I recommend paying up for the top bats and utilizing the mid-tier starting pitchers in all formats, but in order to complete your lineup you will need to find some value so take a look at Matt Rogers FanDuel Economics column to identify key value picks for Friday night!

Next: FanDuel Second Base Progression

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