Major League Baseball

FanDuel MLB: Picks and Pivots for Wednesday September 21

Updated Mar. 5, 2020 1:51 a.m. ET

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Sep 5, 2016; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Chris Sale (49) delivers in the third inning against the Detroit Tigers at U.S. Cellular Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-USA TODAY Sports

FanDuel MLB: Picks and Pivots for September 21

Welcome to the Wednesday edition of Picks & Pivots, a daily fantasy baseball column focused on providing analysis and insights into the top FanDuel MLB lineups. The purpose of this column 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!

Wednesday’s MLB schedule kicks off at 3:10PM EST with three early games and an additional 12 games on the 7:05 PM EST FanDuel MLB Main Slate.

I will continue to track winning Tournament lineups and compare trends over 5 day periods to help us understand what it takes to remain profitable. I HIGHLY recommend each of you do this each morning to look back on the previous night and understand how the winning lineups are constructed in the games you participate in.

The view below tracks GPP entries over various time periods, breaking out key metrics to understand the trends and compositions of GPP winning rosters:

Time Period	Score	Pitcher Salary	Pitcher %	Hitter %	Hitter $/Player	Value
Season	255.4	$ 8,633	25%	75%	$ 3,296	7.30
5 Day	250.9	$ 8,867	25%	75%	$ 3,267	7.17
Prev Day	207.4	$ 9,600	27%	73%	$ 3,175	5.93

Now on to the picks…For more DFS Strategy insights, check out my latest article to help take your game to the next level! I highly recommend gamers track their game performance across the various types of games they play – GPP’s, Cash, Multipliers etc – as this simple exercise will help teach you more about profitable roster construction than you can imagine.

Aug 31, 2016; Detroit, MI, USA; Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Chris Sale (49) warms up before the first inning against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

The main slate on Wednesday is absolutely loaded with aces as Max Scherzer, Corey Kluber and Chris Sale all take the mound.

Over the last month all three pitchers have been in elite form as each pitcher is putting up gaudy per game numbers – Scherzer (53.2), Sale (50.4) and Kluber (47.8).

Strategically, I have a hard time not paying up at pitcher on a “shorter” slate as I find it hard to believe all three pitchers will falter and frankly the top offense is easy to fit in while still paying up at SP (more on that in a moment).

Chris Sale ($11,000) at Philadelphia stands out as my top choice on the slate as he comes into this game with a 30.5% k rate over the last month which is the second highest of any pitcher in baseball. Over the last 30 days, his opponent, the Philadelphia Phillies, have struck out at a major league leading 27.7% clip which seems to align perfectly for a huge FanDuel score!

One other aspect of this slate I like, is you can easily build your lineup around Sale and pivot to Scherzer or Kluber who are all priced within a few hundred dollars of each other and allows you to create multiple lineups off the same base!

Sep 12, 2016; Houston, TX, USA; Texas Rangers left fielder Carlos Gomez (14) celebrates with third baseman Adrian Beltre (29) after scoring a run during the first inning against the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

As I mentioned in my pitching summary, even though we will look to pay up at SP, it does not mean we have to fade the top spot for offense.

The Angels and Rangers have the highest projected total on the board (10.5 runs) and with two hittable pitchers on the mound we are still able to build a rather cost-effective lineup.

Derek Holland takes the hill for the Rangers and on the season has surrendered a 35% hard contact rate to RHB with a .348 wOBA and .477 slugging percentage. The Angels lineup is stacked with right-handed bats and there are two value plays I will look to utilize so I can pay up for Chris Sale.

C.J. Cron ($2,600) in the heart of the order and is too good of a value to pass up at this price allowing us high upside exposure to Holland. I write about this guy ALOT, but frankly I will keep doing so until FanDuel adjusts their pricing as Andrelton Simmons ($2,600) is a must play for me at shortstop.

Simmons is averaging 15 points per game over the last two weeks, the highest of any shortstop on the slate and batting 5th/6th puts him in a great spot to drive in runs at a bargain price.

On the other side of this match up, Jered Weaver takes the hill for the Angels and we should load up on Rangers bats from both sides of the plate! Weaver gives up a 40% hard contact rate to RHB and surrenders a .370 wOBA and .500+ slugging to hitters from both sides of the plate.

A full stack is in play here with all the Rangers top bats as players like Adrian Beltre ($3,100), Carlos Gomez ($3,500) & Carlos Beltran ($3,400) are all very fairly priced and make for an easy plug and play when looking to fit in a top arm!

September 9, 2016; Anaheim, CA, USA; Texas Rangers second baseman Rougned Odor (12) tags out Los Angeles Angels first baseman C.J. Cron (24) in the seventh inning at Angel Stadium of Anaheim. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Below you will find my initial lineup for Tuesday’s Main FanDuel MLB slate including notes/comments on my roster construction.

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Best of luck tonight gamers!

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