We have a stacked 15-game MLB slate on Friday, which means there are plenty of entries to sift through on PrizePicks.
A quick refresher if you aren’t familiar with PrizePicks: You can combine up to five different player squares to pay out up to 10x your entry.
You can do a Flex Play or a Power Play. A Flex Play provides lesser odds, but you can win money even if you don’t nail every pick. A Power Play is all-or-nothing.
Here’s how I would approach Friday's MLB slate.
What is PrizePicks? A daily fantasy operator — meaning they’re available in more states (30) than sports betting is! — PrizePicks offers a unique opportunity for action on player picks in which you combine two or more entries together.
Nico Hoerner Fantasy Score More Than 7.5
Right-hander Brandon Pfaadt takes the mound for the Arizona Diamondbacks and should be a good fade candidate against the Chicago Cubs.
It has been a difficult rookie season for Pfaadt, who is 1-8 with a 6.25 ERA and 1.45 WHIP through 16 appearances. The right-hander's underlying metrics are also poor, ranking in the 12th percentile or lower in average exit velocity, Barrel% and Hard-Hit%.
His last start also came against Chicago, a game in which he surrendered four runs on seven hits through six innings pitched. Nico Hoerner flew past this number with two stolen bases, a single and two runs.
We should expect another strong performance in this matchup, considering Hoerner's tremendous recent form. He has surpassed this figure in three of the past four games, averaging 12.5 fantasy points over that stretch.
Always a threat to reach base and swipe a bag, there are multiple avenues for Hoerner to keep this strong streak going.
Cody Bellinger Fantasy Score More Than 7.5
In a play with some solid correlation, we are also going to back the guy who hits two spots behind Hoerner in the batting order – Cody Bellinger.
Going back to Pfaadt's aforementioned previous start against the Cubs, Bellinger went yard in the third inning against the right-hander. Bellinger has put together a tremendous season, posting a .316 BA, .545 SLG and .903 OPS with 25 homers.
Considering his recent success against Pfaadt, there is no reason to believe he won't keep it going in this contest. There is definitely a scenario that plays out where Hoerner reaches base and Bellinger knocks him in, and we can bank on this possibility by stacking these hitters against a struggling rookie hurler.
Corbin Carroll Fantasy Score Less Than 7.5
We are also going to fade an Arizona Diamondback in this matchup against left-handed Cy Young candidate Justin Steele.
Through 27 starts this season, Steele is 16-3 with a 2.49 ERA and 1.13 WHIP. His underlying metrics are also strong, ranking in the 79th percentile or higher in xERA, average exit velocity and Barrel%.
That brings us to Corbin Carroll, who is the clear runaway for NL Rookie of the Year. With that said, he may struggle in this matchup against Steele, a guy whom Carroll is 1-3 with a single against in his career.
He also enters this contest in relatively poor form, failing to surpass this number in each of his past four games while averaging a mere two fantasy points over that stretch. Finally, Caroll struggles mightily against left-handed pitching as his splits drop by approximately 26% when doing so this season.
