FanDuel MLB Daily Picks and Pivots – Tuesday September 19
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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 DFS action!
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!
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Monday’s winning GPP scores were below our season average as it took 248 FanDuel points to take down a tournament! Over the first 162 slates of the FanDuel MLB season, the average winning score to take down a GPP has been 260.4 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 162 slates of the FanDuel MLB season, the average winning score to take down a GPP has been 260.4 points.
The Monday Main Slate was ugly but there were some guiding principles that I felt were important for GPP play – Fade Kershaw and stack the Dodgers right -handed bats. Well when Chris Taylor and Justin Turner opened the game with home runs and we saw a 30%+ Kershaw only rack up 24 FanDuel points, it essentially re-inforced our strategy. Unfortunately the arm(s) we chose to go with were not much better (ahem Doug Fister) and it was Dan Straily (42 FanDuel points) who racked up 8 K’s in 5 innings as the key arm to own on the night!
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 Pick:
Zack Godley ($9,600): At this point in the season, MLB DFS can be a slog and for some of the actual MLB players that are playing for nothing but pride, I am sure it can feel the same way. Ultimately on large slates like this when it comes to pitchers, I want to isolate arms that are on teams with something to play for and Godley taking on the Padres fits that bill!
Arizona right now is in the driver’s seat for the NL Wild Card and with a very winnable series in San Diego, this seems like the perfect spot to load up on Arizona as they go for the kill in their playoff hunt!
Godley steps to the mound tonight with three straight starts with 7 or more strikeouts and 46+ FanDuel points including a home start against the Padres where he struck out 9 batters over 7 innings, walking none and surrendering 4 hits and 2 ER!
Godley has a massive ground ball rate (55%), gets a huge ballpark boost pitching in Petco and has the second highest swinging strike rate of any pitcher on this slate which gives him the rare combination of run prevention/safety with strikeout upside, especially against a Padres team that strikes out at a 25% clip this season, third highest mark in baseball!
Godley is the clear-cut top arm for me on this slate as Max Scherzer is simply warming up for the playoffs and Chris Archer is clearly not right so you can feel comfortable using Godley in cash games and GPP’s as he has one of the safest floors but also clear 50+ FanDuel point upside at a price that allows you to still load up on bats!
FanDuel MLB – Top Hitting Stacks:
Arizona RHB versus Travis Wood: If this game were in Chase Field the Arizona bats would be super chalk but with the game being played in San Diego it should suppress ownership on a large slate like this which could make them a sneaky team to target tonight!
Over the last month, Travis Wood is giving up a .348 ISO and .490 wOBA to right-handed hitters and now gets the unenviable task of cooling down two of the hottest left-handed mashers in baseball. Check out these numbers for J.D. Martinez ($4,800) and Paul Goldschmdt ($4,100) over the last month:
- Martinez – .517 ISO and .488 wOBA
- Goldschmidt – .458 ISO and .444 wOBA
With the inflated price tags in San Diego I do not expect the ownership to be high here so taking a shot on two of the hottest hitters in baseball against a mediocre left-hander seems like a nice high upside play here! Assuming that Arizona gets to Wood early, and considering he has not gone more than 5 IP in his last four starts, then we get the benefit of taking on the Padres bullpen so do not be afraid to keep a player like Jake Lamb ($3,100) in your stacks who will be seriously ignored with the lefty-lefty match-up.
Dodgers bats versus Aaron Nola: If you are looking for some value stacks for your team then look no further to some of the Dodgers left-handed bats in Citizen’s Bank Park against Aaron Nola. Over the last month, Nola is giving up a .291 ISO and .491 wOBA to left-handed hitters and will have to face a line-up loaded with them in one of the best hitting spots for left-handed power! Corey Seager ($3,100) and Yasmani Grandal ($2,600) should be back in the line-up today for the Dodgers and provide exceptional value at their respective weak positions if you are looking to pay up in other spots!
FanDuel MLB – Sample Line-Up and Slate Overview
Please Note: This is NOT an optimized line-up, it is simply illustrative to show the type of roster build we can have using the logic previously laid out in Picks and Pivots. My actual line-up may differ from the line-up shown here.
More from FanSided
- MLB Rumors: Justin Verlander has a clear suitor, but it comes with a catch
- MLB Rumors: Braves trade grade, Cardinals trade bait, Red Sox selling
- USMNT news: Turner to Forest, Trusty to Sheffield, Reynolds to Westerlo
- Inside the Clubhouse: What I’m hearing as the MLB Trade Deadline nears
- Yankees: Luis Severino has blunt assessment of another miserable outing
P: Zack Godley ($9,600)
C: Yasmani Grandal ($2,600)
1B: Paul Goldschmidt ($4,100)
2B: Rougned Odor ($2,400)
3B: Jake Lamb ($3,100)
SS: Corey Seager ($3,100)
OF: J.D. Martinez ($4,800)
OF: Scott Schebler ($2,800)
OF: Adam Duvall ($2,400)
Slate Overview: As we head down the stretch of MLB DFS, keep an eye on the standings so you know which teams have something to play for and which are simply playing out the string. Be smart with your bankroll, start scaling back but do not be afraid to take some GPP shots until we can get to Week 3 in the NFL season. Enjoy the last few days of DFS baseball everyone – you are going to miss it when it is gone!
Best of luck in your FanDuel MLB contests and stay tuned to Fantasy CPR for all the latest DFS news and analysis across MLB, EPL and the NFL!