Daily Fantasy MLB Picks for FanDuel and DraftKings - 7/2/18 Monday in the Majors brings us a shorter slate of baseball action that's still packed with interesting decisions. We have legit aces in Corey Kluber and Max Scherzer taking the mound. But there's also a game in Coors and a James Shields' siting. All of this and much more to start your week off right on FanDuel and DraftKings. Now’s your chance to get DFSR PRO, which will give you access to our MLB optimizer and our new player lab! Get started for free by clicking the button below. START YOUR FREE TRIAL NOW! First time with MLB? Be sure to read our free MLB Ebooks on building lineups, general strategy and more. We've got you completely covered. Pitcher Corey Kluber FD 11200 DK 12500 Opponent - KC (Jake Junis) Park - KC FD - 41.74 DK - 22.93 Between the two big money guys, Scherzer and Kluber, I think we can lean the latter for Monday. It’s always tough to fade the incredible peripherals we get from Scherzer, but he’s walking into a matchup against the Red Sox who come in as the very best team in baseball against righty pitching on the season. Instead, Kluber gets to face the Royals who don’t strike out very much (18% of the time against righties) but rank second to last in overall offensive production in that split. Kluber isn’t putting up the same strikeout numbers he did in 2017, dipping from a 34% K rate last season to 27% this year. But he’s so damn efficient. On the season, he owns a 9:1 K:BB ratio and averages more than 6.5 innings per start. Essentially, he’s making up for the reduced K’s by just recording more overall outs. He’s a massive -275 road favorite against the Royals which means he is also making up some ground on Scherzer because of the win expectation points. It’s close between these two aces because of the contextual factors, but I’ll lean slightly in favor of Kluber here and just a little cheaper. Domingo German FD 7800 DK 8500 Opponent - ATL (Anibal Sanchez) Park - NYY FD - 35.11 DK - 18.89 After a three-game stretch two weeks ago in which German averaged more than six innings per start, striking out 28 batters in 19 innings and looking pretty damn dominant, he hit a snag against the Rays (six runs in three innings) and then had his spot in the rotation skipped in favor of a relief performance on June 27th. He’ll move back into the starter role for Monday and comes in at a healthy -190 favorite against the Braves. It’s not an...

Daily Fantasy MLB Picks for FanDuel and DraftKings - 7/1/18 My oh my, can you believe it's July?! The season is at the midway point, the All-Star break is but days away, the trade deadline looms, and before you know it we'll be calling every game a must win for those teams on the brink. For now, however, we've got another fun-filled Sunday slate of action with plenty to break down for our daily fantasy purposes, so what are we still doing here? On to the picks! Now’s your chance to get DFSR PRO, which will give you access to our MLB optimizer and our new player lab! Get started for free by clicking the button below. START YOUR FREE TRIAL NOW! First time with MLB? Be sure to read our free MLB Ebooks on building lineups, general strategy and more. We've got you completely covered. Pitcher Ross Stripling FD 9100 DK 9700 Opponent - COL (Chad Bettis) Park - LAD FD - 42 DK - 22.6 There's no real shortage of solid arms on today's slate, which is a good problem to have. Don't fret, there are still some gas cans to take advantage of with our bats, but we've got several strong options to consider on the bump as well. Stripling leads the way with the top points per dollar projection and second highest raw point projections among starting pitchers at home against the Rockies. Stripling, who moved to the starting rotation over several appearances out of the pen has been a solid arm for the Dodgers, posting a 2.75 xFIP (only four qualified pitchers are sitting on a lower number), with a K/9 over 10 and a mere 1.40 BB/9. Today he takes the Rockies out of Coors Field, which is a significant boost when facing Colorado. Despite their top ten team wOBA this season, the Rockies sit twenty-second overall on the road this year while striking out 23.6% of the time against the split. Everything plays in Stripling's favor this afternoon, as the Dodgers open as -201 favorites, and for a sub $10K price tag on both sites feel free to utilize him everywhere. James Paxton FD 9800 DK 12100 Opponent - KC (Brad Keller) Park - SEA FD - 43.35 DK - 23.57 The only pitcher with a higher raw points projection in our MLB projection system than Stripling is James Paxton. Paxton comes to the hill today with a 3.02 xFIP and striking out the sixth most batter per nine in the majors. He's run into some hiccups along the way, admittedly against some of the most lethal offenses in the game, (BOS, NYY), but today there is little concern as he faces...

Daily Fantasy MLB Picks for FanDuel and DraftKings - 6/30/18 Man, I love MLB Saturdays. Games start early and I get an extra excuse to ignore the wife and kids in favor of watching some ace-level pitchers and offenses against below average arms. Everything seems to be breaking right for this Saturday except of course my family's ability to hang out with their rock (me). Now’s your chance to get DFSR PRO, which will give you access to our MLB optimizer and our new player lab! Get started for free by clicking the button below. START YOUR FREE TRIAL NOW! First time with MLB? Be sure to read our free MLB Ebooks on building lineups, general strategy and more. We've got you completely covered. Pitcher Afternoon Justin Verlander FD 12200 DK 13400 Opponent - TB (Matt Andriese) Park - TB FD - 38.32 DK - 20.88 Verlander was roughed up for his worst outing of the season last game against the Blue Jays on the 25th, allowing four earned runs in 6.6 innings with *only* six K’s. He’s still putting up career highs in strikeouts at a 31% rate with a career low in walks (1.82 per nine). I’m not buying the 1.82 ERA with the 3.57 xFIP coming in way behind it because he’s still somewhat living off of a .223 BABIP against and an 88% strand rate. What this means is that while he’s definitely an ace, he’s priced like a Scherzer type when the reality is something a tier below. That leaves us in a tricky spot because while you’d love to roster him in cash, you are overpaying some for the services. The Rays are a bottom-third offense on the season and strike out 23% of the time against righties. There’s no early line on the Astros, but I suspect Verlander comes in around where Cole hovered last night at -170-180. That’s fine on the win expectation but again, you are paying a premium. Jacob deGrom FD 11700 DK 13600 Opponent - MIA (Pablo Lopez) Park - MIA FD - 36.66 DK - 20.04 deGrom’s start getting pushed back to Saturday helps to go a long way towards some issues on the day. Namely, that starting pitcher completely sucks after Verlander for basically the entire day. He's right in line with the latter on both sites for the late afternoon slate of games considering his matchup, stats and the rest of the starting pitcher player pool. deGrom continues another season-over-season improvement with a 31% strikeout rate (career 27%) and still keeps the walks in check. He’s working with a career-low 2.60 xFIP which is running behind a 1.69 ERA. His issue is, of course, the...

Daily Fantasy MLB Picks for FanDuel and DraftKings - 6/29/18 We've got some big time Friday MLB action with some peaking starters taking the mound, other complete gas cans and a whole slew of offenses in solid spots across the league. Now’s your chance to get DFSR PRO, which will give you access to our MLB optimizer and our new player lab! Get started for free by clicking the button below. START YOUR FREE TRIAL NOW! First time with MLB? Be sure to read our free MLB Ebooks on building lineups, general strategy and more. We've got you completely covered. Pitcher Gerrit Cole FD 11500 DK 13000 Opponent - TB (Wilmer Font) Park - TB FD - 46.73 DK - 25.24 After starting the season in, basically, a lights-out fashion, Cole has moderately cooled off over the last three games. Whether it was the four earned runs in the games against the A’s and the Rays, the paltry five innings against the Royals, or the 10 walks in his last 18 innings he hasn’t really hit value at these prices in his last few outings. But there are still signs we are buying at a fine price on Cole. He struck out eight Royals while only allowing one earned run in his last outing. And the season-long strikeout numbers are among the best in the league. This is still an ace-level pitcher we are talking about, against one of the light-hitting offenses in baseball. The Rays come in with less than three implied runs (2.94 at open) and the ballpark really helps Cole as it limits power all around. I still think he’s something of a deal even on a bigger slate of games, though I suppose the last few outings at least have me a little wary. Trevor Bauer FD 12000 DK 13300 Opponent - OAK (Paul Blackburn) Park - OAK FD - 44.81 DK - 24.22 He and Cole’s starting pitcher schedules have lined up in lockstep over the last couple of weeks so it always seems like we are going back and forth between to the two when making lineups. Bauer’s been every bit an ace this season, continuing a career arc that’s seen steady (remarkable) gains over the last three seasons. He’s now striking out 32% of batters (career 24% average) with a career-low 3.03 xFIP. The big change over the last couple of years has been the steadier reliance on the curveball, leading to a dramatic increase in his O-Swing% (per FanGraphs). He’s not quite as high a favorite as Cole (-165) and the A’s come in with a higher implied run line (3.46) but he’s still about as strong a cash game option...

Daily Fantasy MLB Picks for FanDuel and DraftKings - 6/28/18 Now’s your chance to get DFSR PRO, which will give you access to our MLB optimizer and our new player lab! Get started for free by clicking the button below. START YOUR FREE TRIAL NOW! First time with MLB? Be sure to read our free MLB Ebooks on building lineups, general strategy and more. We've got you completely covered. Pitcher Early Slate Jon Gray FD 8400 DK 9500 Opponent - SF (Chris Stratton) Park - SF FD - 29.82 DK - 15.29 I am not quite ready to jump back on the Kershaw train and Greinke is only available on the all-day slate so I am going to be rolling with Jon Gray on today's early slate. He is coming off a dominant performance at home in Coors where he allowed just one earned run to the Marlins while striking out a season-high 12 batters. Through 16 starts, he has a poor 5.52 ERA but the xFIP(2.82) is much better and 2.5 runs lower while he has a very unsustainable .379 BABIP. Even more good news as the upside is sky-high as he has struck out double digits four times and sits with an elite 11.45 K/9 and 13.5% swinging strike rate. He has had some issues with the Giants this season but they are currently struggling with a .281 wOBA and 78 wRC+ over the last 14 days and do strike out 24% of the time vs. right-handed pitching. All things considered, he is my top pitcher on the early slate in all formats. Also consider Zack Greinke(ARI) if playing the early slate on FanDuel Main Slate Lance McCullers Jr. FD 10400 DK 11100 Opponent - TB (Ryne Stanek) Park - TB FD - 36.47 DK - 19.3 On the main slate, I there are two intriguing options at the top and seeing as both the Nationals and Ray both rank in the bottom half of the league against righties, I will take the pitcher with the discount who gets the better pitchers park tonight. McCullers has a couple blowup games on his resume this season but overall has been good holding opponents to two or fewer earned runs in 11 of his 16 starts and sits with a 3.82 ERA and 3.47 xFIP. Not only does he have a nice floor but upside as well with a 9.45 K/9 and 12.7% swinging strike rate. The matchup also stands out at the Rays not only K 22.7% vs. righties but have also struggled a ton lately with a .292 wOBA, 86 wRC+ and whopping 27% K rate over the last 14 days. Lock McCullers into your lineup in all formats on...