FanDuel MLB: Picks and Pivots for June 25 (Early)
FanDuel MLB: Picks and Pivots for June 25 (Early)
Welcome to the Saturday Early 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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Saturday’s MLB action is split evenly into two tidy FanDuel slates with 8 games kicking off in the afternoon slate at 1:05PM EST and an additional 8 games in the main slate 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:
| Time Period | Score | Pitcher Salary | Pitcher % | Hitter % | Hitter $/Player | Value |
| Season | 254.8 | $ 8,651 | 25% | 75% | $ 3,294 | 7.28 |
| 5 Day | 252.1 | $ 9,143 | 26% | 74% | $ 3,232 | 7.20 |
| Prev Day | 206.1 | $ 8,000 | 23% | 77% | $ 3,375 | 5.89 |
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 Saturday's Early Slate?
The early slate on FanDuel looks to be relatively straight forward as we have no pitching options over $10k and a game in Coors Field which will mean most gamers will be going bargain hunting with their starting pitcher on Saturday.
Michael Pineda ($7,900) at home versus Minnesota: The largest favorite on the early slate can be found in the Bronx as Pineda and the Yankees take on the Twins. Pineda has been relatively “consistent” with 5 of his last 6 starts falling between 34 and 39 FanDuel points which sets a nice floor as we look to stack high upside bats.
Pineda has as much strikeout upside as any hurler on Saturday, and has struck out at least 8 batters in 3 of his last 4 starts.
Ervin Santana ($6,000) at New York Yankees: In his three previous starts, Santana failed to top 15 FanDuel points so why on Earth would I recommend him on Saturday? Well, last start Santana put up 40 points over 7.1 IP while striking out 4 in a win against the same Yankee team he faces on Saturday.
The price point with Santana versus Pineda, allows for one additional Coors Field bat to enter your lineup and makes for a nice pivot off Pineda if entering multiple lineups.
Next: Top Hitting Stacks for Saturday Afternoon
There is a game in Coors Field with an over/under of 12 runs. On an 8 game slate, keep it simple and start here so you can get as much exposure as possible!
Colorado Rockies versus RHP Shelby Miller: Over the course of the season, Miller has struggled mightily against Left Handed hitters to the tune of a .315 batting average and 20 ER in 27 IP.
Charlie Blackmon ($4,400) is the top play for Colorado and if Carlos Gonzalez ($4,200) can return to the lineup Saturday after missing Friday with a wrist injury, they make for an ideal 1-2 punch in this game.
Trevor Story ($3,500) also sat out Friday night to get a day of rest, so should be back in on Saturday and sits at a very reasonable price point to get exposure to this game.
Arizona Diamondbacks RHB versus LHP Jorge De La Rosa: Another night where the right-handed Arizona bats get to face an incredibly hittable Rockies LHP.
I would expect on a short slate for this stack to be incredibly popular however I expected the same on Friday night and in the large field tournaments I entered players like Paul Goldschmidt ($4,900) and cleanup hitter Phil Gosselin ($2,900) were amazingly under 10% owned.
With only an 8 game slate, playing the fade here seems like a losing proposition as there is no other offense that has the projected upside of this game and I will do whatever it takes to get a full stack of Coors Field in all my entries.
Next: Top FanDuel MLB lineup
Below you will find my initial lineup for Saturday’s Early FanDuel MLB slate including notes/comments on my roster construction.
Pitcher:More from FanSided
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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!