MLB

FanDuel Pitching Primer: Friday 8/28/20

Matt Kupferle  —  @MKupferle Aug 28th, 2020
Friday marks a monster main slate with a pile of good pitching options. Who sticks out the most?

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

Max Scherzer, Washington Nationals

at Boston Red Sox

FanDuel Price: $10,600

We are loaded with a big main slate on Friday evening, which makes it imperative to nail our pitching options today. Max Scherzer of the Washington Nationals can give us some assurance at the top in date with the Boston Red Sox.

One thing that we can see is while the Red Sox have picked up the offensive pace recently, they have struggled against righties. So far in 2020, they own a weak .313 wOBA and .165 ISO in this split.

Scherzer, meanwhile, keeps dialing things up. He's posted 40-plus FanDuel points in three of his last four starts, and he's hit 10 strikeouts in two of his last five. Spend up for Mad Max.

Mid-Priced Play

Triston McKenzie, Cleveland Indians

at St. Louis Cardinals

FanDuel Price: $8,100

If there's one thing we can learn about the St. Louis Cardinals, at least we can champion them for their consistency. The Cardinals ranked 21st in team wOBA a year ago, and they are 21st so far this year.

Rookie Triston McKenzie was electric in his first outing, and he should be in line for another big scoring effort today. The Cardinals sport putrid marks of a .321 wOBA and .135 ISO against righties this season, striking out 22.5% of the time.

He could indeed be tonight's high score, but he's not priced that way -- consider the young hurler for your lineups.

Low-Priced Option

Corbin Burnes, Milwaukee Brewers

at Pittsburgh Pirates

FanDuel Price: $7,200

No one particularly expected the Pittsburgh Pirates to be an overly tough opponent this season, but man-oh-man have they been gracious hosts for opposing pitchers.

So far against righties in 2020, the Buccos clock in with a .252 wOBA, .114 ISO, and 24.9% strikeout rate. That checks all of the boxes that we crave for a starting pitcher.

While Corbin Burnes started off in a fireman-type role this year, he's now in the starting rotation and could be ready to explode. Tonight against Pittsburgh could be Burnes's coming out party.

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.