FanDuel MLB: Picks and Pivots for August 23

Welcome to the Tuesday 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!

First off – WELCOME BACK NY! NY is now back up and running in DFS and I welcome all New Yorkers back to FanDuel and DraftKings.

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Tuesday’s MLB schedule kicks off at 7:05PM EST with a full 15 game slate to choose from when building your FanDuel MLB lineups!

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	256.3	$ 8,612	25%	75%	$ 3,299	7.32
5 Day	293.5	$ 8,400	24%	76%	$ 3,325	8.39
Prev Day	217.6	$ 10,000	29%	71%	$ 3,125	6.22

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 Tuesday's Slate?

Looking over the Tuesday main slate, I honestly struggled to land on a pitching option I felt completely comfortable with. The top priced options of Madison Bumgarner and Jake Arrieta sitting at $11k seems entirely too pricey considering their recent performance. Over the last month, Arrieta is averaging a very pedestrian 33.2 points per game and Bumgarner a mediocre 27.9 points per game. I understand the pedigree both these pitchers have but if you took the names off the page would you really pay $11k for pitchers performing at this level.

There are a ton of high upside offenses I want to target on Tuesday and as such will look to pivot to a value arm when selecting my pitcher and I believe Astros rookie Joe Musgrove ($6,500) is the best point per dollar option on the slate.

I recommended Musgrove in his last start where he proceeded to get lit up for 8 runs and 11 hits (yes I was clearly wrong that night) but I believe there is merit to going back to the play. First off, recency bias is a very real thing in DFS and gamers will no doubt shy away from Musgrove after his performance against the Orioles giving us a low ownership.

Secondly, Musgrove was pitching exceptionally well in his previous 3 starts, averaging 40.3 points per game and racking up 7 strikeouts per game.

Musgrove has tremendous minor league numbers, putting up a 24% K rate and a minuscule 3% walk rate during his 10 starts at AAA this season which coincides with his minor league track record prior to hitting AAA.

Musgrove’s exceptional command and his plus strikeout arsenal get a solid match-up with a right-handed heavy Pirates lineup and I expect a big bounce back game from the rookie.

Next: Top Hitting Options

Blue Jays at home versus LHP Tyler Skaggs: I mentioned in the previous page how I was looking to target some of the high upside offenses on Tuesday and the Blue Jays jump to the top of my list facing a left-hander at home.

Skaggs has been rocked in his recent starts, giving up 15 ER in 13.2 IP over his last 3 starts with the majority of that damage coming from right-handed hitters.

The Blue Jays right-handed bats are always a dangerous stack at home and I will look to build Josh Donaldson ($4,200) & Edwin Encarnacion ($4,000) as cornerstone pieces into all my lineups.

An all out stack including Troy Tulowitzki ($3,200) is absolutely in play as his reasonable price point and recent performance (12.8 ppg over the last 2 weeks) make him a solid addition to any Blue Jays stack!

Yoenis Cespedes ($3,700) versus LHP Jamie Garcia: Yoenis is back from the DL and he may be in the midst of another late season heater where he routinely crushes balls out of the park. As a Mets fan, I am certainly hoping for this, but as a DFS fanatic I simply see a player who went 5 for 13 with 3 HR and 5 RBI in his first 3 games back and was crushing the ball with the authority we saw earlier in the season before his quad injury.

Cespedes is capable of carrying a major league team and fantasy owners on their backs by himself and I am banking on the hot hitting continuing on Tuesday in St. Louis.

Next: Top FanDuel MLB Lineup

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

Pitcher: Joe Musgrove ($6,500)

More from FanSided

Catcher: Travis d’Arnaud ($2,300)

First Base: Edwin Encarnacion ($4,000)

Second Base: Devon Travis ($3,300) Remember two weeks ago when everyone was all over Travis and then he fell off a bit and people moved on? He has 5 hits in his last 10 at bats and has put up 14 points per game in his last two. Get back on the train.

Third Base: Josh Donaldson ($4,200)

Shortstop: Troy Tulowitzki ($3,200)

Outfield: Yoenis Cespedes ($3,700)

Outfield: J.D. Martinez ($3,800) Martinez is 8 for 19 with 2 HR’s against Kyle Gibson

Outfield: Bryce Harper ($4,000) Bryce is averaging 20.4 points per game over the last 2 weeks

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!