MLB

FanDuel Pitching Primer: Thursday 8/6/20

On a small main slate, who can we trust tonight at the pitcher spot?

In daily fantasy baseball, success starts with nailing the starting pitcher spot in your lineup.

When compared to hitters, pitching performance tends to be much more predictable and stable throughout the course of the season. You know what you're getting from a top-level ace when you roster him: probably a dominant effort with only one or two implosions per season. In contrast, even the game's best hitters have days at the plate when they go 0-for-4.

As a result, lineup construction should begin with the starting pitcher. Which pitchers should you consider on today's main slate?

High-Priced Option

Tyler Chatwood, Chicago Cubs

At Kansas City Royals

FanDuel Price: $9,600

Today is definitely a tough main slate with only two pitching options priced above $8,000. We are forced to choose between Tyler Chatwood of the Chicago Cubs and Zac Gallen of the Arizona Diamondbacks. With the latter facing the Houston Astros, this becomes a fairly easy choice, even with a $1,400 price premium, but let's dig into Chatwood's goodness.

As we highlighted in yesterday's piece, which showcased a brilliant outing from Cub starter Yu Darvish, Chatwood takes aim at a poor offense that ranks 24th in team wOBA (.283) and only a 4.2% walk rate.

While Chatwood's 40.4% strikeout rate is certain to regress, his 17.2% swinging-strike rate shows that there is some real juice to these numbers. Don't overthink this one and roster Chatwood if you can afford him.

Low-Priced Play #1

Josh Lindblom, Milwaukee Brewers

At Chicago White Sox

FanDuel Price: $6,500

None of the low-priced options are for the faint of heart, but one that could be unique is Josh Lindblom of the Milwaukee Brewers.

Make no mistake about it -- Lindblom's opponent tonight, the Chicago White Sox, is more than adept at the dish. Since they have recently put wunderkind, Luis Robert, at the top of the order, the Pale Hose are up to a .341 team wOBA (fifth).

Let's not get too worked up, though -- this is a team that doesn't walk a ton (7.4%), and are whiffing at a 23.2% clip. They also lost Nick Madrigal due to a separated shoulder just after his promotion, so that weakens the lineup a touch as it has already lost Tim Anderson at shortstop due to a groin injury.

Lindblom, who worked in the KBO the last two seasons, has been strong with a strong 29.4% strikeout rate. Consider him as an interesting pivot play.

Low-Priced Play #2

Touki Toussaint, Atlanta Braves

vs Toronto Blue Jays

FanDuel Price: $6,500

For your second low-priced option, the short-handed Atlanta Braves are struggling to even roster viable starters at this point with Mike Soroka injured and ineffectiveness from Mike Foltynewicz.

Touki Toussaint gets the pill tonight, and he actually projects as the second-highest scorer on FanDuel for tonight's games. Despite an offense many thought were primed to explode, early on they rank fifth-worst in wOBA (.279) and whiffing at a high clip (23.1%).

It's only been 6 2/3 innings, but Toussaint has recorded a juicy 15.6% swinging-strike rate, meaning he could be heading for a big night.



Matt Kupferle is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Matt Kupferle also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username MKupferle. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in his articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.