FanDuel MLB Daily Picks and Pivots – April 25
Welcome to the Tuesday FanDuel MLB edition of Picks and Pivots, a fantasy baseball column focused on helping you find the best core lineup for today’s Main slate which kicks off at 7:05 PM EST!
For those of you finding us for the first time, the concept behind FanDuel MLB Picks and Pivots 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!
Monday’s winning GPP scores spiked above the season average as it took 252.4 FanDuel points to take down a tournament! Over the first 27 slates of the FanDuel MLB season, the average winning score to take down a GPP has been 244.7 points. Looking back at last season, the winning GPP lineup on average scored 255 FanDuel points with a typical roster build that allocated 25% of your salary cap to your SP and the remaining 75% to your hitters.
Over the first 27 slates of the FanDuel MLB season, the average winning score to take down a GPP has been 244.7 points.
Monday Night’s slate was one we knew would be highly variable due to the lack of elite pitching and ultimately our pick of Amir Garrett ended up being the exact pitcher to stack against as Eric Thames and the Brewers bats went off and carried any team that rostered them to a big time night. Zack Greinke was the top pitcher of the night as he struck out 11 hitters in 6 innings and put up 58 FanDuel points while being under 10% owned!
Each day we will break down our top Starting Pitcher and our top hitting stacks of the day while giving you our thoughts on roster build and lineup construction.
As always, we will look to update our picks and final lineup thought prior to lock on our twitter account @FantasyCPR so make sure to give us a follow for all the late breaking lineup news.
Without further ado, let’s get into today’s slate!
FanDuel MLB – Top Starting Pitcher Picks
To Kershaw or Not to Kershaw – that is the question. Any time we have Clayton Kershaw on the slate he is going to be the clear top option and with a match-up in San Francisco I see no reason not to expect another 50+ FanDuel point outing which is a mark he has made in three of his four starts (the 4th being in Coors) this season.
The question really is – do we want to pay $12,700 for him in tournaments with Coors Field, Chase Field and some other elite hitting spots tonight?
I think Kershaw will be the clear top raw points pitcher tonight and I would expect another 50-55 FD points so the question is – can I find a guy who can get me around 45 FD points so I stay in shouting distance of the Kershaw lineups but utilize my high upside bats to separate myself?
Michael Wacha ($7,700) is the one option that really jumps out at me as he gets a home match-up against a reeling and injury depleted Toronto Blue Jays team. The Blue Jays are a team we can pick on and we saw it last night with Jesse Chavez as he threw 6 innings, striking out 7 and racking up 46 FanDuel points.
That is exactly the kind of performance we are looking for tonight if we are fading a guy like Kershaw and Wacha comes into this contest with between 36-43 FD points in each of his 3 starts while striking out 17 batters over 18.2 innings.
Wacha is one of the largest home favorites on the board and with the salary savings we get with him we can essentially pick and choose whatever hitters we want tonight.
If you are looking for a GPP pivot, Wade Miley ($8,100) is a guy I have a ton of interest in against the Tampa Bay Rays. The Rays strike out at a 28.6% clip against left-handed pitching this season which is the second highest mark of any team in the majors.
Miley is coming off a masterful 11 strikeout performance against the Reds and has now struck out 24 batters over 19 innings to start the season. Miley is the second largest favorite on the board( behind Kershaw) and will be pitching in a damp cool Camden Yards with the wind blowing in so the environment is ideal for pitching.
Miley has two starts with 43 or more FD points this season so the upside is there and on this slate I am willing to roll the dice with him as we get a significant salary savings off Kershaw which allows us to build off high upside bats!
FanDuel MLB – Top Hitting Stacks
Just as we have a decision to make around Clayton Kershaw we also have a game in Coors Field with an 11 projected run total so we have to decide whether we go after the big time Coors bats or not.
Similar to last night, I think we can easily fade the high-owned bats in Coors due to high upside hitting environments in other spots.
Milwaukee Brewers versus RHP Scott Feldman: The Brewers may simply be one of those teams we need to build one GPP stack every single night as their ability to score runs in bunches with the home run ball makes them the perfect DFS stack.
Tonight in a great hitter’s park in Milwaukee, the Brewers have a 4.62 projected run total which is the fourth highest on the slate and even after a big Monday Night, we may still see this team be under-owned as a result of people chasing Coors Field.
Eric Thames ($4,100) is simply a machine right now and although you would think he will be highly owned each night, with so many elite first baseman in DFS he tends to get over-looked as he was only 6% owned last night!
The Brewers stack can be built around Thames, Jonathan Villar ($3,100), Travis Shaw ($3,600) and Ryan Braun ($4,300) as Feldman gives up a higher HR% rate to left-handed bats but a higher hard contact rate to right-handed hitters – so we can stack both sides of the plate here.
Arizona Diamondbacks versus LHP Clayton Richard. Any time we can get a left-hander in Chase Field the DBacks are going to be one of my favorite stacks on the slate and with a run total of 5.04 they sit just a half a run behind the Coors Field teams in action.
Richard has given up 4 home runs and 1.9 HR/9 to right-handed bats this season and with the Arizona line-up being right-handed heavy this is an ideal spot for a stack.
A.J. Pollock ($3,900), Yasmany Tomas ($3,200) and Chris Owings ($2,800) make for an elite top of the order stack and Paul Goldschmidt ($4,500) is a perfect pivot at 1B off Thames if you want to build a more Arizona centered stack!
FanDuel MLB – Top GPP Lineup and Slate Overview:
P: Michael Wacha ($7,700) or Wade Miley ($8,100)
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C: Punt Play of the Day once lineups come out
1B: Eric Thames ($4,100) or Paul Goldschmidt ($4,500)
2B: Jonathan Villar ($3,100)
3B: Travis Shaw ($3,600)
SS: Chris Owings ($2,800)
OF: A.J. Pollock ($3,900)
OF: Yasmany Tomas ($3,200)
OF: Ryan Braun ($4,300) Braun is a GTD so keep an eye on his status – you can easily pivot down at OF if you need if you want to pay up a but for Goldy/Miley.
Slate Overview: This is going to be a good one. With Kershaw on the hill and a game in Coors, the ownership across the slate is going to be fascinating to see once rosters lock. We could realistically see a guy like Kershaw be super chalky with so many weather issues in other games or if everyone is paying for bats we could see him be a perfect GPP low owned play!
Best of luck in your FanDuel MLB contests and stay tuned to Fantasy CPR on Twitter for all the late breaking lineup news and roster updates!