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 were right at our season average as it took 259 FanDuel points to take down a tournament! Over the first 41 slates of the FanDuel MLB season, the average winning score to take down a GPP has been 258.4 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 41 slates of the FanDuel MLB season, the average winning score to take down a GPP has been 258.4
Monday’s Picks and Pivots line-up had mixed result which left us above the cash line in some contests and below in others. Our SP pick, Jacob deGrom racked up 11 strike-outs on his way to 46 FanDuel points however was only able to make it through 6 innings due to a high pitch count. The star of our hitting picks was Jed Lowrie who slugged two home runs and racked up 37.4 FD points as he was the late night hammer we needed to get over the cash line in a handful of GPP’s and multipliers.
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
Charlie Morton ($7,800): After two straight turns as the featured Picks and Pivots starting pitcher, we are going for three in a row with our man Charlie Morton!
Morton has been a DFS force in his last two starts, striking out 20 batters over 13 innings and averaging 50 FanDuel points per start in wins over Oakland and Texas. Tonight Morton takes on an Atlanta Braves team that has the third lowest projected run total and Morton is the largest favorite (-200) on this slate!
In his last two starts, Morton has been less than 10% owned in GPP play as gamers are slow to react to a very real break-out with the Astros right-hander. As we have mentioned here before, Morton is seeing his velocity tick up nearly 6-7 MPH over previous years and with it a top 20 K rate in all of baseball at 26.8%.
The fact that Morton is the 10th highest priced starting pitching option on this slate not only allows us to roster a relatively safe cash game play but Morton has shown the elite strike-out upside and impeccable control (no more than 2 walks per game) which allows him to pitch deep into games and rack up fantasy points.
On this slate Morton is a lock and load play for me in all formats as the salary savings we get allow us to load up on high-upside bats. It will be interesting to see if Morton remains in single digit ownership on this slate or if gamers will utilize him in order to get the salary to pay up for Coors Field bats.
If you are looking for pivot plays off Morton than check out Matt Rogers Daily Starting Pitcher Breakdown for an in-depth look at today’s FanDuel pitching options!
FanDuel MLB – Top Hitting Stacks
Houston Astros versus Bartolo Colon: Another night of Coors Field which will likely suck up the majority of the ownership and allow us to pivot to other high-end bats at a fraction of the ownership.
Tonight the Astros make for one of my favorite stacks as they have the highest projected run total of any team outside of Coors Field and will face off with Bartolo Colon in Houston. As a Mets fan, I love Big Sexy but as a DFS player I know this is a guy we can attack as he is giving up 40% hard contact, 1.4 HR/9 and only striking out 16% of hitters this season.
The pitch to contact approach in a ball park like Houston could spell trouble and a full on stack here is certainly in play. Jose Altuve ($3,900) and Carlos Correa ($3,700) are my favorite mini-stack as they allow you to fill your 2B/SS positions on FanDuel and you can easily build OF George Springer ($3,600) into a full on three-man stack.
Tigers and Diamondbacks: (Verlander versus Ray) – If this game was in Detroit we would likely be talking about the pitchers here as potential options but with this game being in Chase Field, I have a TON of interest for GPP’s tonight.
Any time we can get Chase Field on the slate as a pivot off Coors Field I am instantly intrigued and the fact that this game has a mediocre 8.5 run total will likely keep the masses away here but I am going to load up on a full game stack here tonight.
The Diamondbacks bats will face off with Justin Verlander, a fly ball pitcher who is giving up 35% hard contact this year with an 8.80 ERA over three road starts. Left-handed batters are the best targets here as they have a 1.21 HR/9 against Verlander which puts Jake Lamb ($3,700) and David Peralta ($3,000) in elite spots here.
On the other side of this game the Tigers will face off with Robbie Ray who although he has elite strikeout ability he is simply a gas can at home against right-handed batters. Last season Ray gave up 41% and 1.5 HR/9 to right-handed batters in Chase Field and this season has already surrendered 3 HR’s in 12 innings at home with a 50% hard contact rate!
Miguel Cabrera ($4,100) and Justin Upton ($3,400) are my top two options from the right side but do not overlook switch-hitting OF Andrew Romine who is batting lead-off with Ian Kinsler hurt and would make a great value play at only $2,600.
FanDuel MLB – Top FanDuel MLB GPP Lineup and Slate Overview:
P: Charlie Morton ($7,800)
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C: Tucker Barnhart ($2,000) or punt equivalent
1B: Miguel Cabrera ($4,100)
2B: Jose Altuve ($3,900)
3B: Jake Lamb ($3,700)
SS: Carlos Correa ($3,700)
OF: Justin Upton ($3,400)
OF: David Peralta ($3,000)
OF: Khris Davis ($3,400) Whenever I am looking for a one-off in GPP’s I want players with multi-homerun upside and although he let us down last night, I am going right back to Davis tonight against Alex Meyer.
Slate Overview: I would expect most of the ownership tonight to move to Coors Field as it typically does and I will continue to fade it. The fact that we have a game in Chase Field with two “name” pitchers and a middle of the road run total will likely leave this game completely ignored and I am happy to load up on a hitting environment every bit as good as Coors (with better weather tonight!).
Best of luck in your FanDuel MLB contests and stay tuned to Fantasy CPR for all the late breaking lineup news and roster updates!