FanDuel MLB Picks: Picks and Pivots for May 31

May 30, 2016; New York City, NY, USA; A member of the U.S. Navy parachute team /

FanDuel MLB Picks: Picks and Pivots for May 31

Welcome to the Tuesday 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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Tuesday’s games start off at 3:40PM EST and FanDuel offers a early slate which covers the 3 afternoon games however the main slate starts 7:05PM EST and includes a full 12 game MLB slate.

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	249.8	$ 8,605	25%	75%	$ 3,299	7.14
5 Day	242.7	$ 8,475	24%	76%	$ 3,316	6.93
Prev Day	225.8	$ 8,700	25%	75%	$ 3,288	6.45

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 pitching options on Tuesday?

May 25, 2016; Washington, DC, USA; New York Mets starting pitcher Steven Matz (32) pitches against the Washington Nationals in the eighth inning at Nationals Park. The Mets won 2-0. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports /

Tuesday’s MLB schedule is loaded with top end hurlers with Jose Fernandez, Jake Arrieta, Steven Matz and Gerrit Cole on the mound gives us a plethora of options when putting together our FanDuel MLB Picks.

Steven Matz ($10,300) at home versus White Sox – After looking through the slate and trying to decide which top end option I was willing to pay up for, I kept coming back to Matz for a variety of reasons.

First, Fernandez and Cole are facing off against each other in a game that is essentially a “Pick-Em” and with the win being so critical in FanDuel, I am not willing to pay the premium for these pitchers with those valuable points in question.

Comparing Matz and Arrieta over the last month, Matz has been the far superior fantasy option and being priced $1,700 cheaper allows you to save roughly 5% of your budget for additional bats. Over the last month, Matz has averaged 51.5 points per start versus 44.4 points for Arrieta and over the last 2 weeks that gap has grown wider as Matz has averaged 54 and Arrieta only 40.5.

Matz is a solid home favorite and goes up against a very beatable pitcher in Mat Latos and a White Sox team that loses the DH in the National League. Matz may not get the accolades of top end pitchers across the league as he even struggles to get them on the loaded Mets staff, but make no mistake that Matz is one of the best pitchers in baseball and still exceeding 5x value at his highest price of the season.

CC Sabathia ($7,000) at Toronto – A left handed starter in Toronto against a lineup that mashes lefties…maybe you skipped ahead to the hitters section you say? Let’s be clear, this is a tournament play, as I expect the days of targeting Sabathia are long gone for most of you but one cannot simply ignore the Yankees pitcher’s performance over his last two starts.

In his last two starts, Sabathia has averaged 46.5 points per start, good for 6.6x value, which is the highest value per dollar of any starting pitcher going on Tuesday. Sabathia has pitched 13 innings over those two starts, striking out 15 batters and only walking two! Keep in mind that the last start was against this very same Toronto team where CC put up 42 points in a no decision.

Pitching Summary: From a cash game perspective, Matz is my top play on the day and with so many aces on the mound I can even make the argument that Matz is a great tournament play as his ownership may be diluted as others flock to Arrieta, Fernandez or Cole. If you are playing multiple lineups, rolling Sabathia out will be highly contrarian and he sits at a price point that will easily allow you exposure to the game in Coors Field.

Next: Where should I look for offense?

May 19, 2016; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Matt Carpenter (13) hits a two run double off of Colorado Rockies starting pitcher Jon Gray (not pictured) during the fourth inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports /

The game in Coors Field not surprisingly has the highest over/under of any game on the slate with a whopping 11.5 runs expected to score so getting exposure here in all formats is recommended. Keep in mind however that early weather reports show thunderstorms throughout the game with the probability of rain at 60-70% so keep an eye on the weather forecast.

Seattle Mariners against James Shields: If you are playing the early or all-day slate, the Mariners get a great home match up against James Shields. Looking through the BvP stats, two hitters jump out with tremendous career stats against Shields we will want exposure to:

Robinson Cano ($4,300) 37 for 90 (.411 average) with 5 home runs and 16 RBI’s
Adam Lind ($2,600) 15 for 54 with 5 home runs and 8 RBI’s

St. Louis against Wily Peralta: Peralta is one of my favorite pitchers to pick on in DFS as he has given up 38 ER in 51 Innings and has surrendered 9 home runs this season.

Matt Carpenter ($3,500) returned from the paternity leave list over the weekend and responded with 27.6 points on Sunday. Carpenter has great career numbers against Peralta going 16 for 35 with 3 home runs and sits at a very reasonable price point making him an ideal play in all formats Tuesday either as a stand alone or part of a Cardinals stack.

Hitting Summary: My goal will be to pair as many Reds/Rockies hitters into my lineup while including Cardinals bats against Wily Peralta. Many of the Coors bats sit at very reasonable price points as you will see in the next slide and make for easy fits into any roster construction.

Next: Top FanDuel MLB Lineup

May 28, 2016; Denver, CO, USA; Colorado Rockies right fielder Carlos Gonzalez (5) rounds the bases after hitting a two run home run in the seventh inning against the San Francisco Giants at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports /

Below you will find my initial lineup for Tuesday’s MLB FanDuel slate including notes/comments on my roster construction.

Pitcher: Steven Matz ($10,300)

More from FanSided

Catcher: Tucker Barnhart ($2,700) Barnhart gives you cheap exposure to the game in Coors Field and put up 12.2 points on Sunday at Colorado.

First Base: Joey Votto ($3,800) Votto’s price decreased $200 from Sunday after he put up 31.7 points in Colorado. Lock this play in.

Second Base: Devon Travis ($2,200) Travis is one of my favorite punt plays as he is playing everyday for Toronto and has the ability to rack up points in multiple ways.

Third Base: Matt Carpenter ($3,500) BvP monster versus Wily Peralta

Shortstop: Wilmer Flores ($2,200) Flores is going to play everyday with David Wright and Lucas Duda banged up and Mat Latos is a very hittable pitcher.

Outfield: Carlos Gonzalez ($3,900)

Outfield: Gerardo Parra ($3,300)

Outfield: Billy Hamilton ($3,100)

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!