FanDuel Pitching Primer: Monday 8/24/20

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

Trevor Bauer, Cincinnati Reds

at Milwaukee Brewers

FanDuel Price: $12,000

There's nearly no way around saying this, but Trevor Bauer of the Cincinnati Reds is turning into nearly an auto-play for fantasy baseball purposes when his turn in the rotation comes up.

Over 26 1/3 innings so far this year, Bauer has posted just a silly 43.6% strikeout rate and tamed the free passes with a 7.4% walk rate. His 13.2% swinging-strike rate would be one of the best marks of his career.

And his opponent, the Milwaukee Brewers, has been quite the disappointment in the NL Central, largely due to a moribund offense that has not yet awoken. They rank fourth-worst in wOBA and are striking out 26.0% of the time.

If you can afford Bauer, spend up.

Mid-Priced Play

Jesus Luzardo, Oakland Athletics

at Texas Rangers

FanDuel Price: $7,700

Losers of their last eight games, the Texas Rangers have been an offense we want to target -- for opposing starting pitchers in DFS play. If you can't afford Bauer, Jesus Luzardo provides an excellent fallback option.

While we focused on the Brewers' poor showing with the bats in our previous write up, the Rangers have been horrific -- they are the league's worst team in terms of wOBA (.279), and they sport a paltry .136 isolated power (ISO) mark.

Luzardo has been very solid this season, striking out 23.9% of hitters and he owns the second-lowest implied allowed run total on the slate. He squares off with Texas ace Lance Lynn, but he should be in line for a solid evening.

Low-Priced Option

Casey Mize, Detroit Tigers

Vs. Chicago Cubs

FanDuel Price: $6,800

If you are really in a pickle salary-wise, Casey Mize of the Detroit Tigers could provide some relief, yet he has plenty of swing-and-miss ability to help your lineups.

In his first major league start, Mize struck out seven batters while facing a tough Chicago White Sox lineup. The other Chicago team he will face tonight? Not so scary. They are in an offensive free fall with a .320 wOBA and are more than happy to swing and miss, recording a 27.2% strikeout rate. At the top of the lineup, stars like Anthony Rizzo, Javier Baez, and Willson Contreras are all batting under .225.

If Mize can replicating his last outing (24.9 fantasy points), he could provide some major value.

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.