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MLB DFS picks and pivots: Friday, September 20

By Brian Tulloch

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - JULY 19: Jacob deGrom #48 of the New York Mets pitches against the San Francisco Giants in the bottom of the second inning at Oracle Park on July 19, 2019 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
SAN FRANCISCO, CA - JULY 19: Jacob deGrom #48 of the New York Mets pitches against the San Francisco Giants in the bottom of the second inning at Oracle Park on July 19, 2019 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /
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MLB DFS
CLEVELAND, OH – SEPTEMBER 19: Cleveland Indians center fielder Oscar Mercado (35) celebrates as Cleveland Indians right fielder Yasiel Puig (66) scores a run during the fifth inning of the Major League Baseball game between the Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Indians on September 19, 2019, at Progressive Field in Cleveland, OH. (Photo by Frank Jansky/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

MLB DFS – Building Our Bats:

While the goal today is to live in a player pool at pitcher in the higher pricing tiers, we have a large slate and player pool of bats to pick from which will likely leave us a handful of punt plays to give us multiple high-end stacking options to pair with our stud arms.

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The Cleveland Indians are an offense that stands out to me at first glance on this slate as one of only six teams with an IRT over 5 and with a hittable opposing pitcher in LHP Drew Smyly. Smyly is a fly ball pitcher with a .544 xFIP, giving up massive ISO marks to hitters from both sides of the plate and high hard contact – so yeah, check check check all those boxes.

On the season Smyly is giving up a .458 ISO and 52% HC rate to LHB while righties are “only” (sense the sarcasm) getting a .244 ISO and 48% HC rate against the Phillies left-hander. Smyly is also coming into this game in poor recent form with over a 2 HR/9 rate over the last 30 days.

The Indians offense is priced fairly and has four fo the top six batters in their projected lineup with .200+ ISO marks against LHP since the start of last season – including Francisco Lindor, Carlos Santana, Jordan Luplow and Franmil Reyes.

If you are looking for a potentially cheaper pivot stack, it may seem gross but the Chicago White Sox take on RHP Jordan Zimmermann and have a 5.2 IRT which is 4th highest on the slate. At this point we all know Zimmermann is one of the worst arms in the league and one we can pick on in DFS as he has allowed a .200+ ISO mark to hitters from both sides of the plate since the start of last season.

This White Sox lineup is one that has some serious pop in the heart of it, with Jose Abreu, Yoan Moncada and Eloy Jimenez all sporting .220+ ISO marks against RHP this season. While Chicago is a lineup we often pick on due to their high K upside, the reality is, they are one of the best offenses in baseball recently, ranking 6th in runs scored and HR’s hit in the last two weeks.

The nice part of this lineup is you may be able to nab some cheap punts within the stack as well especially if #FreeSquare Daniel Palka ($3.9K) and his .241 ISO mark against RHP since 2018 cracks the lineup.

Slate Overview: My take on this slate is to lock in deGrom as my SP1 and mix and match my SP2 with Bieber, Morton or Greinke depending on the stacks and pricing I end up going with. We have a massive slate and the key is going to be finding the punt values and then locking in a stack around that.

Best of luck all – we will see you back here on Monday for the final week of MLB DFS Picks and Pivots – enjoy all the NFL action this weekend and if you need help with your Fantasy Football or DFS builds, well stay with us at FanSided Fantasy because we have it covered!

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