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 7:05PM 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 were well above our season average as it took 301.9 FanDuel points to take down a tournament! Over the first 62 slates of the FanDuel MLB season, the average winning score to take down a GPP has been 259.8 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 62 slates of the FanDuel MLB season, the average winning score to take down a GPP has been 259.8 points.
Monday’s winning GPP line-up on the Main Slate was essentially – how many Toronto Bats did you have? The Blue Jays went OFF for 17 runs against the Reds and combined with 18 total runs in Tampa/Texas, it was offense that ruled the day for the winning tournament line-ups on Memorial 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:
Tyler Anderson ($7,000): Wait, are you really starting out your column today recommending a pitcher in Coors Field? Why yes, reader…yes, I am.
On a night with Chris Sale, Robbie Ray, Justin Verlander and Luis Severino it seems crazy on a full slate to go with a pitcher in Coors but as a Tyler Anderson believer, I want to you to follow me here!
Over the last four games, Anderson has pitched in Coors Field twice and once in Philadelphia/Cincinnati each so the recent impressive performances have all been in elite hitting parks. Over those four games, Anderson has put up 43 or more FanDuel points in three of those games while racking up 33 K’s in 24.2 IP.
Today Anderson will face off against a Mariners team that is dead last in team ISO with an incredibly awful .079 (considering they have Nelson Cruz to inflate that) and the second lowest team wOBA in all of baseball when facing a LHP.
At home this season, Anderson has a 27% K rate while limiting opposing batters to a 21% hard contact rate really as a result of his massive ground ball rate. Over his last four games, Anderson has been masterful at inducing ground balls with GB rates of 59%, 71% and 75% over three of those starts.
Obviously Vegas does not agree with this assessment as the Mariners have the second highest team total on the board and this is nothing more than a large field GPP play but I am going to have exposure here as the underlying metrics point to a pitcher who should dominate this match-up.
Think of it this way – we have a team that is perhaps the worst in all of baseball against LHP going against a SP who has 43+ FD points in three of his last four games with over 8K’s per game AND the pitcher is only $7k. If this game was in Seattle, Anderson would be the chalk mid-range play of the day so really – how afraid of Coors Field are you?
FanDuel MLB – Top Hitting Stacks:
Rockies versus LHP Ariel Miranda: Normally Picks and Pivots is full on Fade Coors but with our choice at SP tonight being rather contrarian, I have no issue building around a Rockies line-up that has the highest projected total of the day!
The Rockies face off with Ariel Miranda, a pitcher who has given up 2 HR/9 this season with a 52% fly ball rate to RHB this season which could spell big time trouble in Coors Field. All of the right-handed bats are in play with Nolan Arenado ($4,400) as the premier play but do not overlook the reasonably priced Ian Desmond($3,700) or Trevor Story ($3,500) in this spot as part of a three-man stack!
Nationals LHB versus Jeff Samardzija: Although the ballpark in SF is not ideal to target hitters, I will be looking at the left-handed bats for the Nationals in this spot against the Shark who has given up 2 HR/9 this season to LHB with a 33% hard contact rate. At home the mark is not that much better as he actually gives up a higher 37% hard contact rate with 1.64 HR/9.
Daniel Murphy ($3,400) is my top 2B play who has a history of success against Samardzija going 7 for 15 with a home run against him. At this point you have all seen the video of Bryce Harper ($4,400) throwing fisticuffs and we can be assured a suspension is coming but if by some chance that decision is not out OR is appealed prior to tonight’s game, I am going to have 100% exposure to crazy angry revenge Harper!
Brewers against RHP Tyler Pill: Milwaukee will play the second game of their series in Citi Field tonight and will face a recent call-up, RHP Tyler Pill. Pill is a journeyman minor leaguer with a 12% K rate in the minors who tops out in the low 90’s so this is not a dynamic arm that we should fear.
Domingo Santana ($3,500) is red-hot at the plate with home runs in back to back games and can be easily paired with Eric Thames ($3,100) as part of a mini-stack. Thames has cooled off considerably since his crazy start and is hitless in his last five games but this is the kind of high upside power bat that we can target for low ownership that could win someone a GPP!
On the other side of this match-up, I have no issue rolling back a left-handed Mets stack against Zach Davies who has given up 1.91 HR/9 and 33% hard contact to left-handers on the season. Michael Conforto ($4,100) and Jay Bruce ($4,100) are the elite plays here but you can also use the mid-tier options like Neil Walker ($3,300) and Lucas Duda ($3,000).
FanDuel MLB – Sample GPP Line-up and Slate Overview:
P: Tyler Anderson ($7,000)
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C: $2k Punt Option
1B: Eric Thames ($3,100)
2B: Daniel Murphy ($3,400)
3B: Nolan Arenado ($4,400)
SS: Trevor Story ($3,500)
OF: Ian Desmond ($3,700)
OF: Domingo Santana ($3,500)
OF: Bryce Harper ($4,400)
Slate Overview: On a loaded Tuesday slate with so many aces on the hill, most will have to decide whether to pay up at SP or save for bats. I have no issue with any of the high-priced arms on this slate but I love the GPP appeal of Tyler Anderson in this spot and will utilize the cost savings to essentially pick and choose whichever power bats I want!
Next: MLB Top DFS Point Per Dollar Plays
Best of luck in your FanDuel MLB contests and stay tuned to Fantasy CPR on Twitter for the latest roster updates and lineup news!