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MLB DFS: Best DraftKings, FanDuel daily Fantasy baseball picks, strategy for May 1, 2021

May. 1, 2021
MLB DFS: Best DraftKings, FanDuel daily Fantasy baseball picks, strategy for May 1, 2021

The 2021 MLB season continues on Saturday as the calendar turns to May with a couple of intriguing pitching matchups. The Dodgers and Brewers are both off to a fast start and now they'll meet up with Dustin May taking the mound for the Dodgers and Brandon Woodruff starting for the Brewers. But does that mean you should be avoiding stars like Mookie Betts and Justin Turner and hot bats like Omar Narvaez and Kolten Wong as you fill out your MLB DFS lineups for Saturday with William Hill Sportsbook setting the over-under for that game at seven runs?

On the opposite end of the spectrum, Braves vs. Blue Jays has a total that is listed at 10.5 and that's going to make players from both lineups popular options for MLB DFS stacks. So should you be loading up on stars like Freddie Freeman, Ozzie Albies, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette, or are there better matchups to exploit in the MLB DFS player pool? Before making any MLB DFS picks for Saturday, be sure to check out the MLB DFS advice, strategy and projections from SportsLine daily Fantasy expert Mike McClure.

McClure is a daily Fantasy pro who has won almost $2 million in his career. And when it comes to daily Fantasy baseball, McClure is at his best. Recognized in the book "Fantasy Football (and Baseball) for Smart People: How to Turn Your Hobby into a Fortune" as a top MLB DFS player, McClure's proprietary projection model simulates each game 10,000 times, taking factors such as matchups and recent results into account. This allows him to find the best values on every site.

On Friday, McClure had Braves outfielder Marcell Ozuna as a top MLB DFS pick on FanDuel. The result: Ozuna went 2-for-4 with a double, a run scored and two RBIs on his way to returning nearly 20 points on FanDuel. Anybody who had him in their lineup was well on the way to a profitable day.

Now, with the 2021 MLB season rolling on Saturday, McClure has locked in his top MLB daily Fantasy picks. Head to SportsLine now to see them.

One of McClure's top MLB DFS picks for Saturday is Braves outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr. at $6,000 on DraftKings and $4,300 on FanDuel. A swing-and-miss propensity has been pretty much the only hole in Acuna's game since he burst onto the scene as a 20-year-old in 2018 but his approach looks as refined as ever in the early part of 2021.

Acuna has cut his strikeout rate in half this season to 13.2 percent and his walk rate remains at a sky-high 14.2 percent. And he's absolutely scorching the ball as a result of that improved discipline, yielding career-highs in average exit velocity (95.1 mph), barrel rate (17.3 percent) and hard-hit contact rate (58.7 percent). As a result, he's the National League leader in OPS 1.148 and home runs (8) entering Saturday and Blue Jays lefty Travis Bergen is likely to be overmatched with Acuna slugging .563 in his career off left-handed pitching.

Part of McClure's optimal MLB DFS strategy includes rostering Angels outfielder Mike Trout at $6,200 on DraftKings and $4,500 on FanDuel. Trout has been the best player in baseball over the past decade with three American League MVPs and four other runner-up finishes while never finishing outside the top five in MVP voting since his rookie season in 2012.

And Trout is absolutely blistering the ball again in 2021. The eight-time all-star is 9-for-17 in his last four games and he's had multiple hits in five of his last seven contests. He's now leading the American League in batting average (.425), on-base percentage (.523) and OPS (1.304) and the Mariners are scheduled to have a bullpen day on Saturday with Ljay Newsome opening. Trout has a 1.085 career OPS against Seattle.

McClure is also targeting an undervalued player who is set to explode for huge numbers on Saturday. The stars are aligning for him to return tournament-winning value and he comes at a price that won't break the bank. You can only see who it is here.

So what are the top MLB DFS picks for Saturday? Visit SportsLine now to see DFS millionaire Mike McClure's complete player pool and picks for FanDuel and DraftKings, and cash in big on MLB DFS.


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