FanDuel MLB: Picks and Pivots for July 8
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 slate kicks off at 7:05PM EST with 15 games of MLB action to choose from when building your FanDuel MLB rosters!
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 | 256.2 | $ 8,632 | 25% | 75% | $ 3,296 | 7.32 |
| 5 Day | 260.5 | $ 8,455 | 24% | 76% | $ 3,318 | 7.44 |
| Prev Day | 280.7 | $ 10,800 | 31% | 69% | $ 3,025 | 8.02 |
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 Friday slate which is absolutely loaded with top end starting pitching as Jose Fernandez, Jake Arrieta, Chris Sale, Corey Kluber, Noah Syndergaard, Stephen Strasburg AND Chris Archer are all on the hill.
Michael Wacha ($7,500) at Milwaukee: With so many top end pitchers to pay up for, I can certainly understand opting for the safety of the aces, but when looking to build a tournament roster, Wacha jumps out as a great mid level option that is set up to drive significant value and let us pay up for our hitters.
Over the last 30 days, Wacha has averaged 36.8 points per game which is a higher per game average than some of the elite starters such as Jake Arrieta, Chris Archer and Jose Fernandez.
Wacha gets a match up with the Brewers who at 26%, strikeout more against right-handed pitching than an other team in baseball. Wacha faced this same Brewer team in his last start, going 5 innings for the win while striking out 6 and racking up 39 points. At this price point, that would still exceed 5x value and makes for a relatively safe floor with upside over 40 points!
Chris Sale ($11,000) at home versus Atlanta: If you are paying up at pitcher, Chris Sale is my clear top choice as he gets a home start against an Atlanta Braves offense that DFS enthusiasts love to attack!
Over the last month, Sale has averaged the most points per game of any starters on the hill Friday night, putting up 48 points per game. Sale is also a massive favorite (-290) and goes up against one of the worst offenses in baseball which makes him an easy cash game play.
Sale has at least 7 strikeouts in each of his last 5 starts and with two 50+ point starts in his last three games, the upside is there again Friday night for a huge game.
Pitching Summary: It is going to be difficult to get cute tonight and try to “fade the top pitchers” as with so many of them on the mound, fading entirely or picking the wrong one will put you squarely out of the money. Sale to me is the safest option of all the aces and has the upside to match any other hurler on the night so he becomes my clear top option. If you are fading, I love Wacha’s price point as he could easily put up 40+ points while allowing you to build a high upside lineup.
Next: Top Stacks on Friday night
With so many top end pitchers on the slate, paying up at starting pitcher and still being able to afford the game in Coors Field will be a challenge for gamers as they build their FanDuel MLB rosters but there is solid value to be found that allows you to capture similar upside.
Rockies LHB versus RHP Vincent Velasquez: Let’s start here – if you can afford to pay up for Charlie Blackmon ($4,500) & Carlos Gonzalez ($4,600) they make for one of the best mini stacks you can slot in with a game in Coors Field.
The recent game logs for both players are underwhelming as they finished a road trip, but just look back to their last home stand in Coors and you will see 20-30 points games were the norm for both hitters! Locking them in may actually be contrarian as paying up at SP will make it difficult to stack both of these hitters.
Cubs against LHP Francisco Liriano: One team that may be overlooked on Friday but provides a variety of high upside value options are the Cubs as they head to Pittsburgh.
Willson Contreras ($2,700) and Javier Baez ($2,500) both get the platoon advantage over Liriano and Kris Bryant ($3,600) is 4 for 9 with a home run against Liriano and sits at a price point that is easy to fit in even if you choose to pay up at SP.
Miguel Cabrera ($3,300) at Toronto and LHP James Happ: Another night with Miggy at this price point and with a game in Toronto against lefty, it makes for an almost must play on Friday. I expected extremely high ownership on Thursday but only saw Miggy at roughly 25-30% owned in tournaments on a short slate so we may continue to be able to target Miggy at less than “chalk.”
Hitting Summary: Tonight seems simple in the sense that you will either pay up for a SP and target the non Coors bats or pay up for the Coors lefties and drop down to someone like Wacha. With a game in Toronto, we have the ability to get similar offensive upside and the Cubs lineup is as dangerous as any which allows us similar upside if we choose to pay up at SP.
Next: Top FanDuel MLB Lineup
Below you will find my initial lineup for Friday’s Main FanDuel MLB slate including notes/comments on my roster construction.
Pitcher:More from FanSided
- MLB Rumors: Cardinals budging on Arenado, Orioles-Ohtani package, Yankees backup plan
- Patriots backup plan for DeAndre Hopkins is a shot in the dark
- Raiders: Saquon Barkley’s new contract may have screwed over Josh Jacobs
- Clark Hunt throws cold water on potential Chiefs throwbacks
- Packers: 3 free agency mistakes Brian Gutekunst should already regret
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!
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