FanDuel MLB: Picks and Pivots for August 7 (Early)

Jul 22, 2016; Bronx, NY, USA; San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Madison Bumgarner (40) pitches during the sixth inning of an inter-league baseball game against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports /

FanDuel MLB: Picks and Pivots for August 7 (Early)

Welcome to the Sunday 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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Sunday’s action is split into two slates you can attack, with the main slate starting at 1:05PM EST and includes 9 games while the late slate starts at 4:05PM EST and includes 6 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	$ 8,636	25%	75%	$ 3,296	7.30
5 Day	252.1	$ 8,700	25%	75%	$ 3,288	7.20
Prev Day	234.1	$ 9,000	26%	74%	$ 3,250	6.69

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 Sunday's Main Slate?

Jul 27, 2016; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Gerrit Cole (45) celebrates with catcher Francisco Cervelli (29) after pitching a complete game against the Seattle Mariners in an inter-league game at PNC Park. The Pirates won 10-1. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports /

Let’s start the main slate analysis with a deeper look at Madison Bumgarner who continues to be priced over $11k and frankly, I am struggling to understand why. Over the last month, Bumgarner is averaging a very pedestrian 35 points per game and has only exceeded 50 points once in the last 10 starts. With a price point this high, getting only 35-40 points is simply overpaying and with a tough match-up against the Nationals on Sunday, I will gladly let other overpay for his services.

Gerrit Cole ($9,500) at home versus Cincinnati: In his last 3 starts, Cole is showing his elite from since his earlier DL stint and I expect this is one of the last times we will be able to target him for under $10k on FanDuel.

Cole in his last 3 starts is averaging 42 points per game, and has struck out 17 batters while only walking 3!

Cole comes into this game as a heavy favorite (-185) and faces a Reds team now without Jay Bruce that strikes out at 21.6% clip, second most of any team on the early slate.

Yu Darvish ($9,600) at Houston: At only $100 more than Cole, Darvish makes for an intriguing tournament pivot as Darvish’s 34.6% K rate is the highest of any pitcher on the slate and he faces an Astros team that strikes out 24.2% of the time, also highest on the slate.

The strikeout upside in this game is immense and due to the Astros lineup’s ability to put up crooked numbers I expect many will shy away from Darvish which further enhances his tournament appeal.

My approach on the early slate is to play multiple lineups, splitting between Cole and Darvish as the price points allow you to keep virtually the same exact roster construction while getting exposure to two of the top pitchers.

Next: Top Early Hitting Options

Apr 13, 2016; Boston, MA, USA; Baltimore Orioles third baseman Manny Machado (13) and first baseman Chris Davis (19) celebrate Davis /

On the main slate we only have a handful of offenses projected to score over 4.5 runs, but there are some exploitable spots without heavy price tags we can target while still spending up for Cole/Darvish as our SP.

Orioles against James Shields: The Orioles are the top projected scoring team on the main slate and with James Shields on the hill, employing a stack of the Orioles power bats could lead to a big pay-day in tournaments.

Chris Davis ($3,600) has been mired in an offensive slump but this could be the match-up where he gets right and I expect his recent struggles to suppress his ownership and I am happy to take the multi-homerun upside on a player that FantasyPros projects will be the top scoring 1B on the day!

Manny Machado ($3,900) may also be overlooked but keep in mind that Shields has exhibited reverse splits this season putting a Machado/Davis mini-stack squarely in play.

Blue Jays against RHP Yordano Ventura: The Toronto bats have been a DFS tease all season and many owners(myself included) routinely are burned by them but there are a few spots today I want to target.

Devon Travis ($3,000) has been on absolute fire the last 3 games and has been a keystone of my profitable DFS entries over the weekend so I plan on going back to the well. Travis has put up 27 points per game over the last 3 games, batting out of the lead-off spot and even with his price hitting $3k continues to be one of the best value plays on the board!

Next: Top Main Slate FanDuel Lineup

Aug 2, 2016; Baltimore, MD, USA; Texas Rangers starting pitcher Yu Darvish (11) stands on the mound during the second inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports /

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

Pitcher:

More from FanSided

Catcher: Buster Posey ($2,900) I get the match up with Tanner Roark is not the most appealing but you are getting the best catcher in baseball for under $3k

First Base: Chris Davis ($3,600)

Second Base: Devon Travis ($3,000)

Third Base: Manny Machado ($3,900)

Shortstop: Brandon Crawford ($2,900)

Outfield: Brandon Moss ($3,400) The Cardinals are the second highest projected scoring team on the main slate and with Matt Carpenter again nursing injury, Moss makes for my top play on the Cards

Outfield: Michael Conforto ($2,200) This is a pure gut play. I watch every at bat for the Mets and I continue to see Conforto squaring the ball up like he did earlier in the year when he was priced over $4k. The breakout game is coming and I want in!

Outfield: Michael Saunders ($3,500) Yordano Ventura has struggled to limit home runs against LHB this year and I like the idea of a mini-stack with Saunders/Travis at the top of the Toronto lineup

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!