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 kick off at 7:05PM 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 dropped below our season average as it took 249.5 FanDuel points to take down a tournament! Over the first 34 slates of the FanDuel MLB season, the average winning score to take down a GPP has been 253.6 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 34 slates of the FanDuel MLB season, the average winning score to take down a GPP has been 253.6 points.
Monday’s Picks and Pivots lineups were built around Luis Severino who we felt would be a strong tournament pivot off Clayton Kershaw and although we saw buzz building for Severino throughout the day I never would have expected to see the ownership I did once rosters locked. Severino was over 30% owned in GPP’s while Clayton Kershaw sat at closer to 20%. I never would have imagined Severino would be the chalk option over someone like Kershaw and of course on that night, the Yankees right-hander was tatooed by the Blue Jays which left us and 30% of the field licking their wounds before the night even got started!
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
Chris Sale ($11,700) The clear top end option on today’s FanDuel MLB slate is Chris Sale as he takes on a Baltimore Orioles team in Fenway Park. Sale is the highest priced pitcher on the slate but even at this price he seems cheap relative to his performance so far this season as he is averaging 56 FanDuel points per game which is 10 points more than any other starter on this slate!
Sale comes into this game with an insane 37.4% K rate which is the tops in all of baseball and has double-digit strikeouts in four straight games! The Orioles rank second in baseball with a 26.2% K rate against left-handed pitching so this is setting up for a another potentially dominant strikeout outing for the Red Sox ace!
What I love about slates like this is that we have multiple aces on the hill with Jon Lester, Corey Kluber, Justin Verlander and even James Paxton so the ownership should be largely spread out which is perfect for those of us who want as much Sale as possible!
I have no issue paying up at SP on this slate either as there do not appear to be any “must have” hitting spots we need to save salary to pay up for. Sale offers not only the safest floor but also the highest ceiling and with many being burned by last night’s Ace Clayton Kershaw, it may reduce the ownership tonight on a guy like Sale.
FanDuel MLB – Top Hitting Stacks
Texas Rangers versus RHP Mike Fiers: The Rangers bats do not have a run total that jumps off the page today but I love the match-up with Astros RHP Mike Fiers who has been absolutely brutal so far this season.
Fiers has three straight starters where he has surrendered multiple home runs (7 HR’s in last 3 starts) and is giving up a near 40% hard contact rate to right-handed hitters. Fiers has always been a guy in his career that has given up more hard contact and more home runs to right-handed bats which may make this a sneaky GPP target for those not aware of his reverse splits.
Carlos Gomez ($3,600), Delino DeShields ($2,700) and Mike Napoli ($2,700) are all priced very fairly on this slate and can be built into a stack with Rougned Odor ($3,300). I love the price points for the Rangers bats tonight as they fit in perfectly if you are looking to roster a guy like Sale and with warm temperatures and the wind blowing out, if the roof stays open we could see the ball fly out tonight!
Mets LHB versus R.A. Dickey: The Mets offense continues to chug along even as they battle through a variety of injuries and we have seen early in the season that the new Atlanta stadium is favorable for left-handed hitters.
The Mets bats are all priced very fairly on this slate and they can be used as a full on stack or a mini-stack depending on the rest of your roster build. Asdrubal Cabrera ($2,900) has hit Dickey well in his career going 6 for 21 with 1 home run and can be paired with Jose Reyes ($2,800) who has very quietly produced six straight double-digit FanDuel point performances!
Billy Hamilton versus Tyler Glasnow: Yes Hamilton is not a stack but he is my top one-off play on this slate as he will take on a pitcher who has struggled to hold runners on this season (6 steals allowed already) and Hamilton already swiped two bags against him the first time these two teams met earlier this year!
FanDuel MLB – Top GPP Lineup and Slate Overview:
P: Chris Sale ($11,700)
More from FanSided
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- NY Mets should disband franchise if nightmare Justin Verlander report becomes reality
C: Derek Norris ($2,100) or other punt catcher
1B: Mike Napoli ($2,700)
2B: Rougned Odor ($3,300)
3B: Jose Reyes ($2,800)
SS: Asdrubal Cabrera ($2,900)
OF: Delino Deshields Jr. ($2,700)
OF: Carlos Gomez ($3,600)
OF: Billy Hamilton ($3,200)
Slate Overview: Looking over this slate I think paying up at starting pitcher is the ideal roster build and if you are going to do so then I see no reason to avoid the strikeout upside of Chris Sale against the Orioles. Hitting is a bit trickier on this slate as outside of Texas you may be better off with some mini-stacks as opposed to full on four-man hitting stacks tonight!
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!