FanDuel MLB: Picks and Pivots for June 21
Welcome to the Tuesday edition of Picks & Pivots, a daily fantasy baseball column focused on providing analysis and insights into the top FanDuel MLB lineups. 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 MLB schedule kicks off at 7:05PM EST with 15 games for a full night of FanDuel MLB action!
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 | 255.9 | $ 8,642 | 25% | 75% | $ 3,295 | 7.31 |
| 5 Day | 278.1 | $ 7,940 | 23% | 77% | $ 3,383 | 7.95 |
| Prev Day | 244.5 | $ 10,200 | 29% | 71% | $ 3,100 | 6.99 |
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?
Similar to the Monday night slate, Tuesday’s games are loaded with front end pitchers with Jose Fernandez, Noah Syndergaard, Johnny Cueto, Chris Sale and Justin Verlander to name on a few on the mound.
Jose Fernandez ($12,000) at home versus Atlanta: The single largest favored starter (-300) on Tuesday and the highest priced pitcher, Fernandez looks to return to his dominant form after being skipped the last time through the rotation.
Over the last month, no pitcher on the slate has come close to the performance of the Marlins star, as he has averaged 55 points per game which is 9 points higher than the next closest starter on the slate.
The fact that Fernandez gets to face one of the weakest offenses in baseball and has exceptional strikeout upside as proven by his double digit K’s in 4 of his last 7 starts, makes Fernandez the clear top dog on the night.
Ian Kennedy ($7,500) at New York Mets: With so many aces on the mound, trying to find an under the radar play in large field tournaments will be a challenge, but the Royals right-hander presents an interesting opportunity.
Kennedy will be wildly overlooked going up against Noah Syndergaard, so I would expect single digit ownership which is exactly what we are looking for to take down a tournament!
This pick is more about the match-up then it is about Kennedy as the Mets offense is an absolute mess right now and the Braves just finished a 3 game set where the starting pitchers averaged 41.7 points per start.
Pitching Summary: With so many aces on the mound, I see no reason to pivot away from the best pitcher in Fernandez as the cost savings to move to any of the other arms is not significant and no pitcher has a better match-up than Fernandez. Jose is a must play in cash games and he makes for a great play in tournaments as well as the other pitchers will dilute his ownership.
Next: Who are the top hitters?
Although many of the games on Tuesday night feature top end starting pitching, there are a few opportunities to load up on hitters and build some high upside stacks to pair with your FanDuel MLB ace!
Blue Jays at home versus LHP Patrick Corbin: It took a while, but the Blue Jays bats are back to mashing opposing pitchers and one of the DFS commandments is to stack the Jays against a LHP at home.
Edwin Encarnacion ($4,400) has been red hot over the last week averaging 22.4 points per game and his teammate Josh Donaldson ($4,500) has been equally “en fuego” putting up 24.5 points oer game.
Although this stack may seem like chalk, with the inflated price points I expect most gamers will either chose to pay up at pitcher or get exposure here so I will differentiate by looking to build a Blue Jays stack with Jose Fernandez and build in value bats around them.
Troy Tulowitzki ($3,000) is back off the DL and put up 31.4 points in Sunday in his second game back. Tulo makes for a great cost effective addition to a Blue Jays stack or can be used as a cheap way to get one-off exposure to this contest.
Hitting Summary: Stacking the Blue Jays is going to be the best tournament option, but I would also look towards the Texas Rangers left handed bats who get a matchup with the brutal Reds pitching staff and many of the LHB sit at price points around $3k which make them easy to fit in with Fernandez.
Next: Top FanDuel MLB Lineup
Below you will find my initial lineup for Tuesday Main FanDuel MLB slate including notes/comments on my roster construction.
Pitcher: Jose Fernandez ($12,000)
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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!