FanDuel MLB: Picks and Pivots for August 6
Welcome to the Saturday 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 action kicks off at 1:05PM EST with 2 additional “afternoon” games and one game at 6:10PM EST before turning over to the main slate at 7:05PM EST with 11 games to choose from on the 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 | 255.5 | $ 8,634 | 25% | 75% | $ 3,296 | 7.30 |
| 5 Day | 261.9 | $ 8,700 | 25% | 75% | $ 3,288 | 7.48 |
| Prev Day | 195.9 | $ 9,100 | 26% | 74% | $ 3,238 | 5.60 |
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 Saturday's Slate?
Looking over the Main slate on Saturday, we have an interesting decision to make as we build our rosters as we can choose to build around a stud starting pitcher in Stephen Strasburg or load up on the high upside Coors Field bats.
Stephen Strasburg ($11,600) at home against San Francisco: Let’s start with the clear-cut top ace on the slate as the Cy Young favorite, Stephen Strasburg, takes on the Giants in D.C. Strasburg has been unbelievable over the last month, averaging 47 points per game and dominating hitters with a 30.7% K rate which is top 5 in baseball.
Strasburg comes into this game as a massive favorite (-240) and is the obvious choice in any cash game lineup. Strasburg is the top projected point scorer on FantasyPros and should be an easy choice in cash games as his consistent production will be impossible to fade in those formats.
Tyler Skaggs ($6,500) at Seattle: From a tournament perspective if you are looking to fade Strasburg and build around Coors Field than Skaggs is my top value arm on the night.
Skaggs has been phenomenal since returning to the majors after a long hiatus due to injury, putting up 44 points per game over his first two starts.
Skaggs has a 13:3 K:BB ration over his first 12 innings pitched and with a K rate of 28.3% (albeit in a small sample size), Skaggs has the ability to crush his price point while giving us the ability to pay up for the big time bats.
Next: Top Hitting Options
With a game in Coors Field, we have two clear offenses we can target as the Marlins and Rockies are both projected to score over 5.5 runs in this game. If you are rostering Tyler Skaggs, building around this game is easy to do while targeting the top hitters in this game but if you want to pay up for Strasburg you may have to look elsewhere.
Tigers/Mets: Outside of Coors Field, the Mets and Tigers have the highest projected combined score and make for great targets with Logan Verrett and Matt Boyd on the mound.
Miguel Cabrera ($3,900) has been on fire over the last week, averaged 22 points per game and getting multiple hits in 4 of his last 5 games. With a game in Coors Field, Miggy may be overlooked and the Tigers offense is projected to score the 3rd most points on the slate, with over 5 runs.
J.D. Martinez ($3,700) makes for a great addition to a mini-stack as he has put up double-digit points in all 3 games since he returned from the DL, going 5 for 9 with 2 doubles and a home run.
Keep an eye on the Mets lineup as well as value bats such as Travis d’Arnaud ($2,400) & Matt Reynolds ($2,300) will allow you some roster flexibility in any format.
Arizona versus Milwaukee: The Diamondbacks are projected to score 4.9 runs in this game, the 4th highest on the slate and the price points are very reasonable.
Jake Lamb ($3,100) continues to be under-priced and with a match up against Matt Garza is an easy plug and play at 3B with his spot in the middle of the order.
Yasmany Tomas ($3,100) is coming off a monster Friday night with 2 home runs and has now homered in 3 straight games.
Hitting Summary: Coors Field will be the chalk place for offense, but the Tigers/Mets and Diamondbacks make for great pivots with similar upside and I would recommend looking to those teams and building around Strasburg!
Next: Top FanDuel Lineups
Below you will find my initial lineup for Saturday’s Main FanDuel MLB slate including notes/comments on my roster construction.
Pitcher: Stephen Strasburg ($11,600)
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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!