FanDuel MLB Picks: Picks and Pivots for May 28 (Early)
Welcome to the Saturday edition of Picks & Pivots, a daily fantasy baseball column focused on providing analysis and insights into the top FanDuel MLB Picks . 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 payday!
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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Saturday gives us a very unique “3-Slate” shot on FanDuel with games broken out in 3 main categories on this Memorial Day Weekend:
- 1:07PM EST Early Slate – 3 Games
- 4:05PM EST Afternoon Slate – 6 Games
- 7:15PM EST Main Slate – 6 Games
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:
| Time Period | Score | Pitcher Salary | Pitcher % | Hitter % | Hitter $/Player | Value |
| Season | 250.6 | $ 8,637 | 25% | 75% | $ 3,295 | 7.16 |
| 5 Day | 242.2 | $ 9,938 | 28% | 72% | $ 3,133 | 6.92 |
| Prev Day | 269.8 | $ 7,300 | 21% | 79% | $ 3,463 | 7.71 |
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: Who are the top early game hurlers?
The early slate today gives us some interesting FanDuel MLB Picks options including Madison Bumgarner at Coors Field and Danny Salazar at home versus Baltimore which Mike Marteny has outlined here.
Kyle Hendricks ($8,000) at home versus Philadelphia (Early Only) – If you are playing the early only slate, targeting the Cubs right hander may be your best cash game play. Hendricks is the largest favorite of any starting pitcher on Saturday’s slate (-260) and he faces a team with one of the lowest wOBA’s on the slate.
Are you new to using wOBA? Our newest writer, Allan Morancie has a great piece on how to use wOBA to your advantage here.
Hendricks has not exceeded 22 points in the last two weeks which may lead gamers to shy away from him, but at home Hendricks is a completely different pitcher. In 4 starts, Hendricks is averaging 32 points per start at Wrigley, and put up 38 and 42 points in his last two home starts. Hendricks makes for a safe cash game target on the early slate at a very reasonable price point.
Danny Salazar ($9,500) at home versus Baltimore (Afternoon Only) – The top tournament option for me on Saturday’s afternoon is the Indians right hander versus Baltimore. Over the last month, Salazar has averaged over 43 points and put up 4.6x value during that time frame which is behind only Noah Syndergaard and Madison Bumgarner and you can get him for a lower price.
Salazar has an elite K rate of 30.3% this season and gets a matchup against Baltimore who strikes out at a 23% clip which gives Salazar elite strikeout upside.
I would prefer to limit my exposure to Salazar in tournaments due to the Orioles ability to pounce at any moment, but at this price point Salazar has the ability to return exceptional value.
Early Pitching Summary – Madison Bumgarner may be the top priced option, but with an ERA over 4 at Coors Field, I will look to drop down to Hendricks in cash games and Salazar in tournaments if playing in these early contests.
Next: Where is the offense Saturday Afternoon?
If you are looking for offense, the early games are the place to start if you are playing an all-day slate as the top 4 projected scoring teams can be found in the early and afternoon slates so keep this in mind when constructing your FanDuel MLB Picks.
Chicago Cubs versus RHP Jerad Eickhoff (Early) – The Cubs are the highest projected scoring team and face a pitcher who has given up a .298 average to left handed batters in only 21 IP so far this season 4 home runs and 15 ER!
Anthony Rizzo ($3,700) and Jason Heyward ($3,400) sit at fantastic price points and make for an absolute easy fit into any and all formats on Saturday afternoon in a favorable match-up.
Kris Bryant ($4,500) has been on absolute fire over the last two weeks, averaging 15.4 points per game and makes for a great contrarian pivot as most gamers will focus solely on the left handed bats of the Cubs.
Milwaukee Brewers versus Alfredo Simon (Afternoon) – The chalk stack of the day will likely be the Brewers against perpetual whipping boy Alfredo Simon, however with a game in Coors we may see reduced ownership here even though the Brewers are projected to score the third most runs today.
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Simon has given up 9 home runs and 41 ER in 36 Innings Pitched so far this year. Seriously, read that again. 41 ER in 36 innings? This is the best place to stack and I hope gamers are sucked into Coors Field and leave this game under-owned for the rest of us to profit!
Jonathan Villar ($3,800) is my top play in this stack as he has averaged over 15 points per game the last two weeks which is good for 4x value and has the ability to rack up points in multiple ways.
A stack with Jonathan Lucroy ($3,000), Chris Carter ($3,200) and Ryan Braun ($4,100) even when using Danny Salazar at SP still allows you $2,850 per bat which is more than enough to round out your lineup.
Hitting Summary: The most interesting slate from a hitting perspective on Saturday is the afternoon only slate as you can gain exposure to the game in Coors Field while targeting the aforementioned Brewers stack. My recommendation is to max out the Brewers Stack, lock in Carlos Gonzalez who is still woefully under priced at $3,500 and build from there.
Next: DFS Strategy - Take Your Game to the Next Level
Best of luck tonight gamer’s! Make sure to review the lineups as they are announced before locking in your lineups!