FanDuel MLB: Picks and Pivots for July 1

Welcome to the Friday 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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Friday’s games start at 1:07PM EST with 1 games in the afternoon and another at 6:05PM EST and another 13 which start 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	255.9	$ 8,620	25%	75%	$ 3,298	7.31
5 Day	257.0	$ 8,192	23%	77%	$ 3,351	7.34
Prev Day	265.3	$ 9,350	27%	73%	$ 3,206	7.58

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 Friday's Slate?

Welcome to the first day of July gamers! We have an interesting pitching slate on Friday as not a single pitcher on the hill has averaged over 40 points per start over the last month which makes finding the best point per dollar value our ideal strategy.

Michael Fulmer ($8,400) at Tampa Bay: No pitcher over the last month has scored more points per start than the Tigers rookie, putting up 38.2 points per game or 4.5x value at his mid level price point.

Fulmer also gets a match up against Tampa Bay and their 24.8% K rate which is the highest opponent K rate of any team in action on Friday which gives Fulmer tremendous strikeout upside.

Fulmer has struggled a bit in his last two starts, leaving his last start with dehydration, but with 8 days of rest, we can expect Fulmer to bounce back against the Rays on Friday night.

Julio Teheran ($8,900) at home versus Miami: Over the last two weeks, Teheran has put up 52.5 points per start in back to back dominant outing against the Mets.

Teheran has pitched 17 consecutive scoreless innings and has struck out at least batters in each of his last 5 starts.

Teheran makes for a great tournament play has his has put up at least 44 points in 5 of his last 8 starts but keep in mind that his worst start over the last month came against the same Marlins team he faces again at home on Friday. In that start Teheran only put up 16 FanDuel points giving up 3 ER in 5 IP while only striking out 3.

The Marlins only strike out at an 18.9% clip, so although Teheran has been rolling, temper your expectations a bit in this match up.

Pitching Summary: With no sure-fire “must play” pitchers, this is going to be a multi entry kind of night and with my favorite starters at similar price points, it makes it easy to adjust my roster construction.

Fulmer is my top option as his performance over the last month and the K rate of the Rays makes him my top play. As a Met fan, I watched Teheran’s last two masterful starts and do not want to fade a pitcher on this kind of roll so will look to pivot to him for only a few hundred more in multi entry games.

Next: Top Offenses to target on Friday

Boston Red Sox at home versus RHP Chacin: The Red Sox have the highest projected run total on the day with a total of 5.69 runs which is almost a full run higher than any other team on the slate.

RHP Jhoulys Chacin has struggled to contain LHB throughout his career and the Red Sox in Fenway presents a juicy match up for offensive fireworks.

David Ortiz ($4,300) is the top play in this game and with the savings we get at SP, it is easy to afford Big Papi has a one off play or as part of a Boston stack.

Xander Bogaerts ($3,300) and Mookie Betts ($3,900) have seen their prices drop as they have scuffled a bit over the last 2 weeks, but in this match up, it presents a prime spot for a bounce back game and an easy stack with Big Papi.

Houston Astros at home versus RHP Miguel Gonzalez: The second highest scoring projected team on the slate gets a match up at home against a pitcher who has given up a .330 average to hitters from both sides of the plate.

LHB in particular have hit .352 against Gonzalez this year and make for a great cost-effective stack to pair with the Red Sox today.

Colby Rasmus ($3,400), Luis Valbuena ($3,100) and Jason Castro ($2,900) all have home run upside and the platoon advantage in this game and make for an ideal dual stack with Boston due to their mid level price points.

Hitting Summary: The Red Sox are a must expsoure in my view today with by far the highest run total and without any clear cut top pitching, nailing down the best offense will be the key to winning today in DFS. Combining with an Astros stack and one off other plays, will be the best path to taking down a tournament/league on Friday night.

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

Pitcher: MIchael Fulmer ($8,400)

More from FanSided

Catcher: Jason Castro ($2,900) Castro has double-digit scoring games in 3 of his last 4

First Base: David Ortiz ($4,300)

Second Base: Brian Dozier ($3,100) Take a look at Dozier’s recent game log and the fact he gets a LHP and then gladly lock in the $3,100 at 2B

Third Base: Luis Valbuena ($3,100)

Shortstop: Xander Bogaerts ($3,300)

Outfield: Mookie Betts ($3,900)

Outfield: Colby Rasmus ($3,400)

Outfield: Travis Jankowski ($2,600)

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!