Oct 12, 2015; New York City, NY, USA; New York Mets center fielder Yoenis Cespedes (52) hits a three run home run during the fourth inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers in game three of the NLDS at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Andy Marlin-USA TODAY Sports

MLB Picks and Pivots – FanDuel Picks April 3, Opening Day!

Welcome to the Opening Day edition of Picks & Pivots, a daily fantasy column focused on providing analysis for the upcoming MLB FanDuel slate. 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 pay day!

Follow me on Twitter @2lockSports and feel free to pose questions each day as you work to construct your DFS roster on FanDuel!

Sunday April 3^rd is Opening  Day with 3 games on tap, including a rematch of last year’s World Series with the Mets and Royals playing Sunday night.

Before we get into the normal format, I want to take this chance to highlight a key few changes to FanDuel’s MLB scoring since we last saw them.

The point values have increased across the board, so we should expect higher scores for our teams than in past years. The breakout for some key stats is shown below:

• Pitcher: Win (12pts), Strikeout (3), IP(3), ER (-3)
• Hitters: HR(12), Triple (9), Double (6) and Single (3)

One of the biggest changes is that we no longer get penalized for outs made by batters, and with the increased points towards home runs, targeting power hitters will be more profitable with these new point totals. Targeting all or nothing type hitters in the past could leave you with negative points, but the upside of “chasing the homerun” now is obvious, just like it is on DraftKings.

Make sure you review the new scoring rules prior to creating your lineup. Way too often, I see gamers jump into games on DFS sites without fully vetting the rules/payouts etc. Do not make that mistake. Now on to the picks…