FanDuel MLB: Picks and Pivots for August 26

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!

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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Friday’s Main Slate kicks off at 7:05PM EST with 15 games to choose from when building your FanDuel 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	256.3	$ 8,627	25%	75%	$ 3,297	7.32
5 Day	256.9	$ 8,433	24%	76%	$ 3,321	7.34
Prev Day	245.4	$ 10,800	31%	69%	$ 3,025	7.01

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?

Friday night’s pitching options are incredibly deep and we have a handful of aces to choose from including Chris Sale, Felix Hernandez, Corey Kluber & Justin Verlander when building our FanDuel MLB rosters.

The issue with paying up for the high-end arms on Friday is that Sale and Felix face off against each other which is typically a DFS scenario to avoid, Kluber has a rough match up against the Rangers in Texas and Verlander has to face the Angels and their league low K rate.

David Phelps ($7,000) at home versus San Diego: With my intent to fade the top 4 arms, dropping down to the next tier(s), there is one arm that stands out as a terrific value with an even better match up.

David Phelps gets a home start against San Diego where he is a large favorite (-190) and faces a Padres team that has the 2nd highest K rate in baseball this year at 24.8%. Over the last 30 days, which coincides with the trades of Matt Kemp and Melvin Upton, the strikeout rate for the Padres has spiked to 26.1% which is tops in all of baseball and gives Phelps a fantastic spot to exploit here.

Phelps has turned in back to back elite outings, putting up 57 and 46 Fan Duel points in 2 straight victories while racking up 17 K’s in 11.1 IP.

Phelps price point is just too low for his recent run and more importantly the match up with San Diego. Locking in Phelps allows you to spend $3,500 per batter and that is exactly the approach I intend to take in all formats on Friday.

Next: Who are the Top Hitting Options?

Even without a game in Coors Field, we have three potential massive spots for offense on Friday with three teams projected to score more than five runs.

Toronto Blue Jays RHB versus LHP Patrick Dean: Oh baby! The Blue Jays at home against a bad LHP – full on stack time!

Dean has given up a .313 average, 19 ER and 7 HR in only 35 IP against right-handed batters this year. Dean has been able to induce a near 70% ground ball rate to southpaws but that number plummets to 38% against right-handers and the hard contact rate spikes to 39%. What this all adds up to is a lineup that will be putting the ball in the air often and with the dangerous RHB in Toronto’s offense this is about as must play as any spot Friday night.

Josh Donaldson ($4,200) is the premier play at 3B and a very dangerous fade and make sure you lock in Jose Bautista ($3,600) who returned from the DL on Thursday and was put back into the lead-off spot. Bautista seems under priced for this game, and we can easily fit in the affordable Jays middle infield of Troy Tulowitzki ($3,000) & Devon Travis ($3,500) as part of a full on Jays stack!

Arizona Diamondbacks versus LHP Brandon Finnegan: A Left-hander pitching in Arizona. Well that my friends means Paul Goldschmidt ($4,200) is an absolute must play at 1B. What is interesting is that Edwin Encarnacion ($4,300) being in a similar match up as not above may actually help mitigate some of the ownership here which makes this a great strategic play.

Goldy is the top Arizona hitter to target so stacking him with C- Welington Castillo ($3,200) gives you high upside exposure to this game and can be an easy pivot of the similar Jays C-1B stack of Encarnacion & Russell Martin ($3,200).

Next: Top FanDuel Lineup

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

Pitcher: David Phelps ($7,000)

More from FanSided

Catcher: Welington Castillo ($3,200)

First Base: Paul Goldschmidt ($4,200)

Second Base: Devon Travis ($3,500)

Third Base: Josh Donaldson ($4,200)

Shortstop: Troy Tulowitzki ($3,000)

Outfield: Bryce Harper ($3,900) The Nationals have the third highest team total on the board going up against a RHP Jeff Hoffman who has surrendered 6 ER in 4 IP this season

Outfield: Jose Bautista ($3,600)

Outfield: Carlos Gomez ($2,400) Gomez started his first game for Texas on Thursday and responded with a home run. Although the match up is tough against Kluber, there are not many more high upside talents than Gomez at this price point.

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!