Welcome to the Monday 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 7:07PM 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!
Sunday’s winning GPP scores were right at our season average as it took 256.6 FanDuel points to take down a tournament! Over the first 47 slates of the FanDuel MLB season, the average winning score to take down a GPP has been 257.1 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 47 slates of the FanDuel MLB season, the average winning score to take down a GPP has been 257.1 points.
Well Sunday’s Picks and Pivots slate was certainly interesting as I am not sure I have ever built line-ups that cashed across the board (170.7 FD points) when my Starting Pitcher was only able to get me 4 FanDuel points (thanks Kevin Gausman)! Our stacks of Baltimore and both New York teams was more than enough to carry us into the green and I loved seeing the screenshots from people on Twitter who took home a little extra dough on Mother’s Day!
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
Luis Perdomo ($6,600): If you like good starting pitching options, well move along, this slate is not for you! Brandon McCarthy is our top priced starting pitcher on the slate which tells you all you need to know but frankly I love these kinds of slates where the opportunity cost at Starting Pitcher is so low that you can take chances and let your offense carry you!
Of all the arms on the slate the one that stands out the most to me is Luis Perdomo who toes the rubber at home in Petco Park against the Milwaukee Brewers. Perdomo comes into this game with three straight quality starts racking up 34 FanDuel points in each outing including a seven strikeout performance in his last contest at Texas.
The Brewers are a team that I rarely want to pick on and as a Mets fan I just watched them bludgeon the New York pitching staff this weekend. However, Petco Park is a FAR cry from Miller Park and the Brewers do strike out the third most of any team in baseball against right-handed pitching and they have the lowest run total of any team on the Main Slate!
Looking over this slate I am happy to drop down in salary so I can spend up on some high upside bats and as I mentioned, there is very little opportunity cost at SP so even if Perdomo (or someone like him) buts up an average outing, there is no pitcher on this slate that I believe is going to run away from the pack.
And for those Picks and Pivots readers – just remember, we cashed on Sunday with Kevin Gausman only getting us four points!
FanDuel MLB – Top Hitting Stacks
New York Mets versus RHP Zack Godley: After a series in Miller Park, the Mets will move from one hitter’s ballpark to another as they head to Chase Field to take on Zack Godley and the Diamondbacks.
Godley is a pitcher who in a small sample size has a near 6 ERA while pitching at home, a mid-teens K rate and a double-digit walk rate against left-handed bats which could spell a long afternoon for the lefty heavy Mets lineup.
The Mets have the third highest team total on this slate but and although the prices are high, we have more than enough salary saved at pitcher to make a stack here work. Jay Bruce ($4,000) should return to the lineup after a day off Sunday and Neil Walker ($3,500) has continued his red-hot hitting as he is averaging 21.5 FanDuel points over his last six games.
Michael Conforto ($4,200) is the most expensive member of this left-handed stack but after a 53.3 FanDuel point outing on Sunday, we all got a reminder of the upside he possesses, and in Chase Field I will be all in!
Arizona Diamondbacks against Zack Wheeler: The other side of this contest, Arizona has the highest team total on the slate but some late Sunday in-game injuries make identifying the must plays a but more difficult.
A.J. Pollock and David Peralta both left Sunday’s games with what is initially believed to be multi-day injuries which will throw the top of the Arizona line-up into a bit of chaos. I would expect Gregor Blanco ($2,200) to lead-off for the Diamondbacks and he makes for an elite punt play in the OF. With Chris Ianetta on the D.L. – we have our pick of punt catcher from this game as we can use either Chris Herrmann ($2,000) or Jeff Mathis ($2,200).
The two mainstays here that will be core plays for me tonight are Jake Lamb ($3,500) and Paul Goldschmidt ($4,400) who is coming off a two home run outing on Sunday. Keep an eye on the lineup here tonight before locking in your DFS rosters!
FanDuel MLB: Top GPP line-up and Slate Overview:
P: Luis Perdomo ($6,600)
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C: Chris Herrmann ($2,200) or Jeff Mathis ($2,000)
1B: Paul Goldschmidt ($4,400)
2B: Neil Walker ($3,700)
3B: Jake Lamb ($3,500)
SS: Carlos Correa ($4,200) Shortstop is a position I think we need to pay up for tonight and Correa comes into this game with double-digit fantasy points in six straight against a reverse splits pitcher in Dan Strailey.
OF: Gregor Blanco ($2,200)
OF: Jay Bruce ($4,000)
OF: Michael Conforto ($4,200)
Slate Overview: On this slate my recommendation is to load up on Chase Field bats as the highest projected scoring game on a night where offense is going to be what takes you across the cash line! As I stated with pitching, we have very little opportunity cost so feel free to take risks – Luis Perdomo is my favorite play on the slate but I will also keep an eye out on ownership as there is not a single pitcher on this slate worth “being the chalk.”
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!