Gary Gustafson 
Welcome back MLB DFS fans! Tonight, we have another solid slate on DraftKings with big prizes pools to take down so let’s get started with our top MLB DFS picks for today’s slate!
For those of you new to Picks and Pivots, the goal of this MLB DFS article each and every day is to provide you a “First Look” overview of the slate where we use DraftKings pricing as a baseline to help us get started. Rather than simply write out the “top plays,” this article will focus on slate strategy and roster construction with a GPP mindset to help you get started on your initial builds. Without further ado, let’s dive into today’s slate!
MLB DFS Picks and Pivots: Starting Pitchers
Nothing better than opening up a Sunday MLB DFS slate and seeing clear skies and ten games to choose from!
We have a huge slate today but right off the bat, the pitching pool became really concentrated for me with Kenta Maeda ($9.6K) and Blake Snell ($9.2K) standing out as under-priced elite arms in phenomenal match-ups.
Maeda has been dominant this season with a 29,4% K rate and 15.7% SWSTR rate and those numbers become even more impressive against right-handed batters where he sports a massive 35.4% K rate.
Why does that matter? Well today he will face a Detroit Tigers team with 6 of the 9 batters projected to bat from the right side. Maeda could not have hand picked a better match-up for him and I intend to be all-in on him at this price point.
Blake Snell is not someone we have had the ability to use on many main slates this season but with his workload finally at full strength after throwing 92 and 101 pitches the last two games, this spot against the Miami Marlins looks to be the perfect time to unleash him.
Snell is rocking a 33% K rate and 14.7% SWSTR rate in 2020 and the fact you can get him (like Maeda) at under $10K today against a weak line-up in a pitcher’s park no less – is an easy plug and play for me.
We have 20 arms to choose from in theory today but for me, I am laser focused on a Maeda/Snell pairing as it gives me elite K upside with massive profit potential as the pricing on both arms allows me the ability to still stack up big time offenses.
MLB DFS Picks and Pivots: Bats and Stacks
This game stack paid off in a big way for those who followed in Picks and Pivots yesterday and it looks every bit as juicy today with the White Sox and Royals.
The White Sox get to face lefty Kris Bubic, a pitch to contact arm with a single digit swinging strike rate and a near 50% HC rate which – well – when facing the right-handed power of the White Sox can mean disaster.
We all know the drill by now – the White Sox hammer LHP with the top 6 projected bats all sporting 200+ ISO marks and frankly it is going to be largely line-up dependent on which you prioritize.
Yasmani Grandal has caught back to back games so is this a James McCann day? Yoan Moncada left yesterday’s game late with an injury so do we see him sit out?
The pieces we can likely count on – Tim Anderson, Eloy Jimenez, Luis Robert and the Abreu/E5 duo in the middle of that line-up but we could also see some value at the bottom with guys like Mendick/Madrigal/Engel depending on the line-up we get today.
The Royals side of this game is going to be the lower owned piece and we saw yesterday the kind of power they can bring with cheap bats like Alex Gordon, Ryan McBroom and Ryan O’Hearn.
This game stack works perfectly together as you have elite top-end bats on both sides but you also have a ton of $2K priced value that make it easy to mix and match. We are going to need to wait on the line-ups but my perspective is this – prioritize the White Sox first and then mix in the Royals based on position need once that is locked in.
MLB DFS Picks and Pivots: Wrap up
It is nice to have a slate without Coors Field hanging over us – so today, for me anyways, I think it becomes Maeda/Snell with the offenses you want to build around.
We are still waiting on many team totals which will drive much of the chalk for DFS including a Red Sox/Nationals game that opened at 11.5. With clear skies and a ton of mediocre arms on the slate – offense is going to be the key to unlocking a big win.
Stick around in Discord today and let’s talk some baseball!
Let’s get it tonight my friends!
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