FanDuel MLB: Picks and Pivots for June 29 (Early)

Jul 1, 2015; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson (20) and designated Edwin Encarnacion (10) celebrate after a three-run home run by Encarnacion against the Boston Red Sox in the first inning at Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports /

FanDuel MLB: Picks and Pivots for June 29 (Early)

Welcome to the Wednesday 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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Wednesday’s Early slate starts at 12:10PM EST and includes 7 games 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	255.4	$ 8,676	25%	75%	$ 3,290	7.30
5 Day	242.9	$ 9,071	26%	74%	$ 3,241	6.94
Prev Day	312.0	$ 8,150	23%	77%	$ 3,356	8.91

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 Wednesday's Early Slate

Jun 14, 2016; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Archie Bradley gainst the Los Angeles Dodgers at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports /

Wednesday afternoon gives gamers an abbreviated slate and only one pitcher, David Price, will cost over $10k to roster which will lead to some intriguing roster combinations with a game in Coors Field.

Archie Bradley ($6,700) at home versus Philadelphia: Bradley is the clear top tournament play for me on Wednesday afternoon, as no pitcher on the Wednesday slate has been a better point per dollar play over the last month than the Arizona hurler.

Bradley has put up 36.3 points per start which is good for 5.4x value and faces a Phillies team he beat two games ago while putting up 45 FanDuel points.

The price point on Bradley is perfect when trying to fit in the high-priced Blue Jays bats and just for comparison sake, realize that Bradley only costs $1,100 more than Edwin Encarnacion.

Considering that Bradley is a solid home favorite (-167) and sits at a price point that allows for exposure to Toronto and Colorado, he is my top point per dollar option for tournaments on Wednesday.

Next: Top Stacks on Wednesday Afternoon

Jun 19, 2016; Miami, FL, USA; Miami Marlins right fielder Giancarlo Stanton (L), left fielder Christian Yelich (C), and center fielder Marcell Ozuna (R) celebrate after defeating the Colorado Rockies 3-0 at Marlins Park. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports /

First off, with a small slate and a game in Coors that has a 12 run over/under, we can expect all roster decisions to be based off the rosters in Colorado. As the clear top scoring game on the slate, having exposure here will be critical but there are other places to target to help differentiate yourself.

Marlins RHB versus LHP Daniel Norris: If you haven’t noticed lately, FanDuel seems to be more aggressively pricing up hitters based not only off their recent performance but even more so off the match-up for that day, leading to more and more elite hitters being priced over $4k.

Two hitters sitting below that price point in a favorable match-up are Giancarlo Stanton ($3,700) & Marcell Ozuna ($3,700) who have as much upside as nearly any hitter in the afternoon slate.

Both hitters have remained hot over the last two weeks, averaging over 12 points per game and with a LHP on the mound who has given up 2 HR in only 4 IP this season, we could see the Marlins sluggers jump all over Norris early.

Blue Jays versus LHP Tyler Anderson: A left-handed pitcher versus the Blue Jays is always a crowd pleaser, now add in the Coors venue and this becomes a fantasy delight. The only issue is that FanDuel’s pricing algorithm is out to ruin our fun, and has priced the Toronto hitters up to astronomical levels.

Edwin Encarnacion ($5,600) & Josh Donaldson ($5,500) both sit at prices that will require 30-35 points to pay off, but with a left-hander in Coors, it is absolutely not a crazy ask of these two sluggers.

What I love about these price points, is I would expect gamers to opt for one or the other when building their rosters so building a mini-stack around these two players may be a sneaky differentiation play on the slate and has massive tournament winning upside.

Next: Top FanDuel MLB Lineup

Mar 4, 2015; Scottsdale, AZ, USA; A beer vendor looks on during the game between the San Francisco Giants and the Oakland Athletics during a spring training baseball game at Scottsdale Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports /

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

Pitcher:

More from FanSided

Catcher: Jarrod Saltalamacchia ($2,100)

First Base: Edwin Encarnacion ($5,700)

Second Base: Mike Aviles ($2,300)

Third Base: Josh Donaldson ($5,500)

Shortstop: Troy Tulowitzki ($3,400) Tulo is one of the few reasonably priced Blue Jay bats and as a result will likely be high owned, but makes for an easy play at this price point

Outfield: Giancarlo Stanton ($3,700)

Outfield: Marcell Ozuna ($3,700)

Outfield: Matt Szczur ($2,000)

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!