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MLB DFS Picks and Pivots – Thursday August 2

By Brian Tulloch

LOS ANGELES, CA - AUGUST 01: Yasmani Grandal #9 of the Los Angeles Dodgers (third from left) is mobbed by teammates after Grandal hit a two-run walk-off homerun over the right field fence in the tenth inning of the MLB game against the Milwaukee Brewers at Dodger Stadium on August 1, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. The Dodgers defeated the Brewers 6-4. (Photo by Victor Decolongon/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - AUGUST 01: Yasmani Grandal #9 of the Los Angeles Dodgers (third from left) is mobbed by teammates after Grandal hit a two-run walk-off homerun over the right field fence in the tenth inning of the MLB game against the Milwaukee Brewers at Dodger Stadium on August 1, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. The Dodgers defeated the Brewers 6-4. (Photo by Victor Decolongon/Getty Images) /
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MLB DFS
LOS ANGELES, CA – AUGUST 01: Yasmani Grandal #9 of the Los Angeles Dodgers (third from left) is mobbed by teammates after Grandal hit a two-run walk-off homerun over the right field fence in the tenth inning of the MLB game against the Milwaukee Brewers at Dodger Stadium on August 1, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. The Dodgers defeated the Brewers 6-4. (Photo by Victor Decolongon/Getty Images) MLB DFS /

Welcome to the Thursday edition of MLB DFS Picks and Pivots, a fantasy baseball column focused on helping you find the best core lineup for this slate of DFS action!

For those of you finding us for the first time, the concept behind MLB DFS Picks and Pivots is to give you a first look at the day’s MLB DFS slate, including our top picks, plays and pivots, using FantasyDraft pricing as a reference, to help you build your best line-up and win big.

Picks and Pivots is not a simple “best plays” column but rather it focuses on slate strategy and roster construction to help give you insight into how I will look to play this slate.

Wednesday’s MLB DFS was relatively low scoring as we only had one pitcher, Cole Hamels, score in the top 10 while batters like Yasmani Grandal who homered twice led the way with the bats. The “chalk” in Rich Hill, owned at nearly 70% in GPP’s on FantasyDraft, was mediocre with only 15 points but on a low scoring slate like this, having Hill with one of the big individual bats like Yasmani Grandal or Yoan Moncada was more than enough to carry you in MLB DFS.

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Picks and Pivots is not a simple “best plays” column but rather it focuses on slate strategy and roster construction to help give you insight into how I will look to play this slate. The goal of this article is to dig through the slate, highlight our top plays and help you identify the best slate strategy across your MLB DFS line-ups.

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As always, we will look to update our final lineup thoughts throughout the day 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!

MLB DFS
WASHINGTON, DC – JULY 22: Starting pitcher Max Scherzer #31 of the Washington Nationals throws to an Atlanta Braves batter in the fourth inning at Nationals Park on July 22, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images) /

MLB DFS – Main Slate Overview

We have a nice looking MLB DFS slate tonight with a few East Coast games with weather concerns which could impact one of the premier arms on the slate in Max Scherzer, but do not worry – we have Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke and Madison Bumgarner on the slate as well, so pitching will not be a problem, but should we pay up for these top-tier arms? With my hotel wi-fi not cooperating this morning, I will look to give you a quick overview of the plays that stand out to me today!

The one arm in the mid-tier that stands out to me is Nick Pivetta ($16.2K) who gets a home start against the Marlins and stands out as a solid -175 home favorite with some considerable strikeout upside. On the season, Pivetta has a 29% K rate but that mark spikes against right-handed batters to 31.5% and is better at home at 31.5% compared to a 26.5% road mark in 2018. Pivetta has been on a roll his last three starts against the Padres, Reds and Orioles with a 31.5% K rate, 4% walk rate and 14% swinging strike rate and assuming the weather holds in Philadelphia, the point per dollar upside makes Pivetta one of my favorite plays on the board tonight.

Mike Foltynewicz ($20.2K) may be a bit over-looked on this slate considering the names available at the top, but this is a pitcher with a 28.4% K rate on the year, with that mark spiking to 30% on the season against RHB which sets up perfectly for a Mets line-up that outside of Brandon Nimmo and Michael Conforto is one that we should feel confident attacking.

If you need a cheap pitcher, LHP Brian Anderson is an interesting GPP option against the Yankees at home despite the 10+ run total in this game. Johnson has gone 5 innings and racked up 18+ fantasy points in each of his last two starts against the Twins and Tigers, and his ground ball tendencies and ability to limit HR (0.9 HR/) makes this a spot where his 10.8K price tag does not require all that much to pay off and helps you afford a few big times stacks.

The Nationals offense looks like the top spot to me considering their match-up against Tyler Mahle and the Reds. Mahle on the season has given up .285 ISO to left-handed batters with a 45% fly ball rate and 45% hard contact rate which sets up perfectly to unleash a left-handed Nationals stack. Bryce Harper, Juan Soto and Matt Adams have a .230+ ISO on the season against RHP and make for one of my favorite stack on the slate and you can extend this to add in guys like Adam Eaton and Daniel Murphy as I would expect the Nationals go overly left-handed heavy.

Continuing with my NL EAST theme today, the Braves gets to take on Jason Vargas and yeah, I am stacking against this gas can every chance I get. Vargas on the season is giving up a .239 ISO and a .269 ISO to RHB and this Braves stack honestly is one of my favorite ones on the board. Tyler Flowers ($6.7K) as a cheap catcher and the newly acquired Adam Duvall ($7.6K) provide some cheaper alternatives to the big bats of Ronald Acuna, Freddie Freeman and Ozzie Albies up top.

Home Run Derby
WASHINGTON, DC – JUNE 22 : Bryce Harper #34 of the Washington Nationals hits a fifth inning double against the Philadelphia Phillies at Nationals Park on June 22, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images) /

MLB DFS Sample Line-Up and Slate Overview:

The line-up below is meant to be illustrative only to further back-up the logic laid out in previous slides and is not meant to be an optimal line-up or a roster you simply plug and play on your own!  

More from FanSided

SP: Nick Pivetta ($16.2K)

SP: Brian Johnson ($10.8K)

IF: Ozzie Albies ($10K)

IF: Freddie Freeman ($9.5K)

IF: Cody Bellinger ($7.6K)

OF: Bryce Harper ($10.3K)

OF: Juan Soto ($9.8K)

OF: Ronald Acuna Jr. ($9.2K)

UTIL: Matt Adams ($8.3K)

UTIL: Max Muncy ($8.3K)

Slate Overview: At first glance my player pool lead me to focus in on Nick Pivetta and the Braves/Nationals stacks – and because of their price points means I will likely have to look to a cheaper SP2 like Brian Johnson if I want to make that work. Keep an eye on the weather today and we will see you back here Friday.

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