This article outlines the best daily fantasy MLB pivots of the day at every position. We take a comprehensive look to uncover these core recommendations, factoring respective salaries into the analysis.
Please note, these player picks were organized early in the day. For MLB contests, always check lineups and weather closer to game time. Rain, wind, or unexpected managerial decisions could open up additional sources of value. Be sure to keep an eye on the MLB Headlines and Injuries desk.
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We’ll focus on the 12-game main slate tonight at 7:05pm ET.
PITCHER
Brandon Woodruff – Brewers (at Indians) – Yahoo: $36, DK: $8700, FD: $8700
There are some days when Woodruff would be one of the most popular pitchers. This probably isn’t one of them. Gerrit Cole, Kenta Maeda, and Lucas Giolito cost more, but they also have extremely favorable matchups. Woodruff probably won’t even be the most popular pitcher at Progressive Field – Aaron Civale should pull that honor.
Despite all this, he has an outside chance to finish as the top pitcher – or at least as the top value among the “good” pitchers. The Indians offense is below average (87 wRC+ or 13 percent worse than average) with a league average strikeout rate. Woodruff has recorded 10.37 K/9 and a palatable 3.67 ERA. This tends to hide the feast or famine nature of his production. One-quarter of his outings have been electric. The rest, forgettable. He’s thrown between 85 and 96 pitches in every outing. Don’t expect more than six innings and don’t be surprised if he falls short of five frames.
CATCHER
Danny Jansen –Blue Jays (at Ryan Weber) – Yahoo: $10, DK: $3600, FD: $2400
I have every intention of using Will Smith until his price corrects. He’s still ludicrously inexpensive. Jansen, however, will probably slip through the cracks despite a desirable matchup against Ryan Weber and the Red Sox bullpen. For a second straight season, Jansen’s premium plate discipline, average raw power, and average contact skills haven’t parlayed into desirable offensive production. As a fly ball hitter who rarely swings at pitches out of the zone, he should have better outcomes. Instead, a .164 BABIP has helped to fuel a miserable .154/.295/.295 batting line. Weak fly ball contact goes a long way to explaining the low BABIP, so it isn’t just a function of bad luck. He’ll be an above average hitter someday. Meanwhile, playing Triple-A quality opponents today should help him to shine.
FIRST BASE
Rowdy Tellez – Blue Jays (at Ryan Weber) – Yahoo: $18, DK: $3500, FD: $3000
One of the tricks to finding pivots is to look for teams that start more than one player with a specific eligibility. Not only is Tellez overshadowed in this slate, anyone stacking the Blue Jays is liable to turn to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. as their first baseman. Tellez is quietly in the midst of a banner season, batting .266/.336/.532 with seven home runs in 107 plate appearances. His contact rate and quality of contact have improved.
SECOND BASE
Ketel Marte – Diamondbacks (at Trevor Cahill) – Yahoo: $14, DK: $4400, FD: $2700
I’m not entirely convinced Marte will be a true pivot, but it’s worth a shot. He’s reasonably priced and has an attractive matchup against Cahill and a below average Giants bullpen. DFSers tend to avoid Oracle Park due to its home run-stymying effects. Marte is back to not hitting home runs so that scarcely matters. What he is doing is putting everything in play with a high BABIP. Only 14.4 percent of his plate appearances end in a walk or strikeout, and he’s hitting .315/.350/.443. Few batters are likelier to deliver multiple hits. Since he bats second in the lineup, he should chip in run production too.
Marte is the third-best second baseman according to our Rotoworld Player Projections.
THIRD BASE
Austin Riley – Braves (vs Erick Fedde) – Yahoo: $15, DK: $4000, FD: $2800
Depending on how closely you pay attention to the Braves, Riley is hitting better than you think. He’s batting a mere .250/.290/.491 on the season, but that’s driven largely by his recent performance. Over the last two weeks, he’s hit .370/.383/.761 with four home runs, four doubles, and a triple in 47 plate appearances. While he’s remained an aggressive hitter, his swinging strike rate has declined dramatically. It could be a small sample artifact or a sign that his offseason mechanical adjustments have finally clicked. His opponent, Fedde, is one of the worst starting pitchers in the league. He almost never induces whiffs (3.14 K/9, 5.5 percent swinging strike rate). His only saving grace is a high ground ball rate. Riley likes to lift low pitches.
SHORTSTOP
Trea Turner – Nationals (vs Max Fried) – Yahoo: $20, DK: $5500, FD: $4100
Between a hefty price tag and a tricky opponent, Turner is likely to be overlooked tonight. For the first time in his career, the speedy shortstop is on track to have more home runs (9) than stolen bases (4). He’s batting an insane .364/.416/.636. He should be expected to continue putting ball in play and reaching base with enough power to go completely wild in a given game. His speed helps to neutralize what would otherwise be an unfavorable matchup against Fried.
Turner is used in 30 of the top 50 lineups per our Rotoworld Lineup Optimizer.
OUTFIELD
Josh Rojas – Diamondbacks (at Trevor Cahill) – Yahoo: $11, DK: $2200, FD: $2000
A patient jack of all trades, Rojas will spend the next three weeks trying to prove he isn’t a Quad-A utility man. He features all the qualities one can want in a hitter – patience, contact skills, speed, and sneaky pop. The issue, at least in the Majors, is an unexpectedly high strikeout rate. It’s easy enough to trace the root cause – he’s swinging at too few pitches inside and too many outside of the strike zone. Pitch recognition was one of his strengths in the minors so it’s probably just a matter of adjustment. This is Cahill’s third straight start against the Diamondbacks. I’m anticipating another short outing.
Rojas is second base eligible on DraftKings.
Adam Duvall – Braves (vs Erick Fedde) – Yahoo: $15, DK: $3700, FD: $2700
This is almost the exact same recommendation as Riley. Duvall is a fly ball hitter whose biggest weakness is strikeouts. Fedde might be the single-best matchup in the league for Duvall. The Nationals bullpen isn’t anything to fuss over either. A recent three-homer game might bump Duvall’s rostership above expected levels. It should still settle at no more than seven percent.
