MLB Picks and Pivots – FanDuel Baseball Picks May 17

MLB Picks and Pivots – FanDuel Baseball Picks May 17

Welcome to the Tuesday 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 Fantasy CPR 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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Tuesday’s slate kicks off at 6:10PM EST with the Reds and Indians giving us an “early” only slate in addition to the rest of the night’s 14 games which kick off at 7:05PM EST.

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:

Now on to the picks…For more DFS Strategy insights, check out my latest article to help take your game to the next level! 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.

Next: Top Starting Pitchers

Starting Pitchers – 

Clayton Kershaw ($13,000) versus Angels – Tuesday night is loaded with aces, and we all know how good Mr. Kershaw is, but his statistics over his last few starts have been other-worldly. Over the last 15 days (3 starts), Kershaw is averaging 72 points per game which even at his elevated price point is still good for 5.5x value which is the second best value over that time period of any starting pitcher on Tuesday’s slate. Think about that for a second, Kershaw at $13,000 is still returning VALUE. Kershaw has hit double digit strikeouts in all of his last 5 games, and at this point, I cannot recommend fading him under any circumstance. The one benefit of Tuesday’s slate is that we have multiple aces on the hill so we can hope gamers drops down to save some money and let us take the ownership of the best pitcher on the planet.

Kyle Hendricks ($8,700) versus Brewers – I wrote up Rick Porcello ($8,500) in yesterday’s article so I won’t revisit that commentary however I still believe he makes for a solid play against the Royals. At a similar price point, Kyle Hendricks makes for an interesting pivot as he is one of the largest favorites on the board for Tuesday night. Over his last two starts, Hendricks is averaging 40 points per start which returns a solid 4.7x value at this price point. The Brewers are ranked 28th out of 30 teams with over 9 strikeouts per game, and over the last 3 games lead all of baseball with 12 strikeouts per game. Against RHP, the Brewers strikeout over 26% of the time giving a heavily favored Hendricks an additional matchup boost and making him a solid cash game play on this slate.

Next: Top Hitters/Stacks

Top Hitters/Stacks –

Minnesota Twins versus Mike Pelfrey – Well Hello Big Pelf. One of my favorite pitchers to stack against goes up against the Twins on Tuesday night and not surprisingly, the Twins have one of the highest projected run totals on the board. Additionally, going after a Twins stack at their budget friendly price points, allow us to fit in Clayton Kershaw on Tuesday. Pelfrey is giving up a .397 average to opposing left handed hitters but has given up 3 HR’s to hitters on both sides of the plate so the entire lineup is in play. Miguel Sano ($3,300) and Brian Dozier ($3,000) make for great tournament plays and if Juan Centeno ($2,400) is in the lineup then lock him in as a budget option as he is averaging over 24 points per game in his last two.

Chicago Cubs versus Chase Anderson – The Cubs have the highest projected team total on the board and facing a pitcher who has given up 9 home runs in 35 innings this year, it is no wonder why. Anderson has actually had reverse splits this year giving up a .367 average to right handed hitters and surrendering 6 home runs over 20 innings. Jorge Soler ($2,100) and Javier Baez ($2,200) are intriguing punt plays in this matchup even with their struggles and allow you to get some flexibility in your budget if you choose to spend up at pitcher.

Miguel Cabrera ($4,000) – From a BvP perspective, Miggy against Phil Hughes frankly seems unfair. In his career, Miggy is 18 for 41 (.439 average), with 11 extra base hits and 6 home runs making him the top individual player on this slate in my mind and worth paying up for.

Next: DFS Strategy - Take Your Game to the Next Level

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