FanDuel MLB: Picks and Pivots for August 5
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.
Follow us on Twitter @FantasyCPR and on Facebook!
Friday’s action kicks off at 7:05PM EST with 15 games to choose our lineups from on the main FanDuel MLB slate!
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 | $ 8,631 | 25% | 75% | $ 3,296 | 7.31 |
| 5 Day | 254.1 | $ 8,850 | 25% | 75% | $ 3,269 | 7.26 |
| Prev Day | 296.9 | $ 6,000 | 17% | 83% | $ 3,625 | 8.48 |
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 is the top pitching option on Friday's Slate?
After looking over the main slate in its entirety, there were a few things I took away that would drive my roster decisions. My two top priced pitching options, Noah Syndergaard & Justin Verlander were facing each other in essentially a Vegas “Pick-Em” which puts the win at risk for both pitchers. We have a game in Coors Field with both teams projected to score over 5.5 runs, and are the only two teams with run projections over 5 runs (meaning we want exposure here).
Blake Snell ($7,900) at home versus Minnesota: With the top pitching options not seemingly worth paying up for and the determination I want exposure to Coors Field, dropping down at SP will be my preferred route and Snell grades out as my top choice on the slate.
Snell has flashed his massive potential already this season, with two 9 strikeout performances in his last 4 games, coming against the Yankees and Rockies. Snell has averaged 41.25 points over his last four starts, with performances of 49 and 57 FanDuel points against the aforementioned Yankees & Rockies.
Snell has 29 strikeouts over his last 23 innings, carries a 22.8% K rate and faces a Twins team that strikes out at a 23% clip (6th most of any team on the slate).
Snell is a fantastic tournament play as he has flashed the upside already to put up a 50 point outing and could easily end the night as the top scoring pitcher with this match up.
Next: Coors Field Must Plays
Coors Field: As I stated in the opening, we have a game in Coors Field so we need to start any and all hitting analysis here and understand where and how to attack our hitting choices here.
LHP Jorge de la Rosa takes the mound for the Rockies, and with an ERA over 5.50 this season, I immediately intended to target the Marlins power bats including Giancarlo Stanton ($4,800). Stanton has enjoyed his time in Coors Field, hitting 8 home runs in 17 career games and with although he may be popular, I am hoping gamers avoid the high price but I do not intend to fade this in tournament play.
Marcell Ozuna ($3,700) is entirely too cheap and frankly I was shocked his price was under $4k and am happy to lock him into my lineups in all formats.
J.T. Realmuto ($3,700) is in a similar scenario to Ozuna and makes for the top catching play of the day. One player to keep an eye on if he is in the lineup is Chris Johnson ($2,200) who typically starts at 1B against LHP and would make a tremendous punt play in the environment.
From the Rockies perspective, if Carlos Gonzalez ($4,400) is in the lineup after his ankle injury than he makes for a top OF play however the Rockies may opt to hold him out which would put David Dahl ($4,000) back in the cleanup spot and considering he has averaged 2 more points per game than teammate Charlie Blackmon ($4,200) over the last 2 weeks, I am happy to take the marginal savings and drop down to Dahl as my top Rockies bat!
Hitting Summary: My recommendation is to start every lineup today by first building your OF around this game in Coors Field and simply working backwards from there. One of the best ways to play around with combinations for the rest of your IF is to utilize a Lineup Optimizer tool like FantasyPros offers as you will be able to quickly unlock a variety of combination to supplement your core plays.
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
- 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
- Cowboys give a masterclass in defense construction with Trevon Diggs extension
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!