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Welcome to our new series covering RIVAL Fantasy picks for MLB! We will focus on two fantasy contest types offered on RIVAL - Challenges and FantasyBook (Over/Under).
Challenges are H2H matchups between two MLB players. You choose which one you think will score the most fantasy points, then place a bet to back it. If another user chooses the other player at any time before the contest, the bet is on! If your player scores more fantasy points, you win 1.8x your bet.
FantasyBook is more traditional over/under DFS prop picks - whether you think pitchers and hitters will score Over or Under the set lines, and choosing your amount. You can parlay multiple picks together to vastly increase the juice (ex: 3 picks = 5x your bet).
RIVAL Fantasy offers some of the industry's best and easiest-to-win MLB DFS games. There are no large-field tournaments filled with sharks where you have to get lucky to place. At RIVAL Fantasy, you're not playing against other people; you're just playing against the projections. Check here for the updated rules and scoring.
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RIVAL Challenge Picks
Wander Franco vs. Esteury Ruiz
Franco is seeing the ball well lately, averaging 13.6 FPTS per game over his last 11 games. Ruiz, meanwhile, hasn't exceeded 10 FPTS over his last seven games. This is an easy choice - back the better hitter here.
If someone is willing to choose Peterson in this matchup, gladly take their money and move on with your life. Olson has one of the toughest matchups on the board in Max Scherzer, but his 9.5 FPTS per game average is about four points ahead of Peterson's for the year. Peterson is hitting .218, and while he's coming off a two-homer, 45 FPTS game, that was the only time he has been impactful all season long.
RIVAL Over/Under Picks
Pablo Lopez (UNDER), Charlie Morton (OVER), George Kirby (OVER)
Lopez has gone under the 17.9 FPTS he needs tonight in three of his last four starts, and he has allowed ten earned runs over his last two. The Rays boast one of the best-hitting lineups in the entire MLB, and they just went for seven runs last night against the upstart Louie Varland. I'm backing the under here.
The Mets should have a better record and better team-hitting stats with the stratospheric hype they received this offseason (don't we do this every year?). Morton, meanwhile, has gone over the 19.33 FPTS he needs tonight in four of his last five starts. He put up 10.6 FPTS in his first outing against them, but the 39-year-old veteran has been sharp more often than not this year and I'm trusting his season-long metrics (3.62 ERA, 25.3% K%, 80th-percentile Whiff %) to help him get the job done.
12.76 FPTS is an astonishingly low number for a pitcher with Kirby's talent, and I'm backing the over on him tonight. The young righty hasn't been striking hitters out at the same rate as last year, but his 2.1% walk rate is close to leading the league, and his 3.04 ERA (3.24 xERA), 1.01 WHIP, and 4.3% barrel rate are all well above average. He averages 18.71 FPTS per start, which means that he could surpass his number tonight even with a below-average game. The Padres aren't as scary as their perception, either, as they rank 25th in OPS (.672), eighth in strikeout rate (24%), 18th in ISO (.150), and 25th in wOBA (.300) against right-handed pitching this season.
Bonus: Patrick Corbin (UNDER)
Max Muncy (OVER), Max Kepler (UNDER), Ian Happ (UNDER)
Vegas has the Dodgers with a lofty 6.6-run implied total tonight, so I'm willing to get to more than a few Dodgers' bats in prop bets today. While opposing starter Brandon Williamson has a decent 4.29 ERA through four starts, his 6.30 xERA, 1.33 WHIP, and everything about his Statcast profile suggest he's due to get blown up any time now. Muncy is my favorite, but feel free to get to the other studs in this lineup (Will Smith, Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts).
Kepler has been awful this year - this feels like a free square regardless of who the opposing starter is. The 30-year-old has a .189 AVG, .631 OPS, and a rough .276 wOBA. He hit .137 with a .547 OPS in May, so it's not like he's starting to right the ship after a difficult start.
Happ has gone under the 7.46 FPTS he needs in five consecutive games, and he's got a tricky matchup on tap tonight against Jaime Barria and company. Barria has made 13 appearances (two starts) and has been elite at limiting hard contact and barrels this season.
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