FanDuel Pitching Primer: Tuesday 9/1/20
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
Framber Valdez, Houston Astros
vs Texas Rangers
FanDuel Price: $9,900
While the Houston Astros have been in flux a bit with a wild rash of injuries, Framber Valdez has been a consistent arm for this staff.
Despite losing Justin Verlander, Roberto Osuna and Jose Urquidy, Valdez has stabilized this team with a solid average of 40.3 FanDuel points per game. He's achieved that on the back of a scintillating 26.0% strikeout rate and 5.8% walk rate.
He looks even juicier when you realize that he takes the ball today against the moribund Texas Rangers offense, one that ranks in the bottom five in nearly every hitting category.
Spend up for Valdez.
Mid-Priced Play
Dallas Keuchel, Chicago White Sox
FanDuel Price: $8,400
Taking the ball for your first place Chicago White Sox is Dallas Keuchel. Say what?
The veteran left-hander combines with Lucas Giolito for a solid one-two punch, and, yes, the White Sox -- not the Minnesota Twins or the Cleveland Indians -- are atop the AL Central.
They have risen to the top with some loud bats, but they have also arrived thanks to some very outstanding arms, including ones like Keuchel. Now, the lefty won't generate a ton of swings and misses, but he's still been the same old Keuchel -- very few walks (5.7%), very few home runs (0.42 per nine) and a ton of ground-balls (55.9%).
The Twins have been dreadful in this split in 2020, logging a .281 wOBA and .106 ISO against lefties, so don't be shy here.
Low-Priced Option
Chad Kuhl, Pittsburgh Pirates
vs Chicago Cubs
FanDuel Price: $6,500
Players on the Pittsburgh Pirates are usually ignored for DFS purposes. With a run differential of -46, the worst in the National League and third-worst in baseball, some may assume there's no value here. Not so fast, my friends.
Chad Kuhl is pretty interesting. The right-hander has posted 20-plus FanDuel points in four of his last five outings, and he's allowed only six total earned runs across his last four starts.
Pair that with a Chicago Cubs team that is striking out 27.8% of the time against right-handed hurlers, and we could have some low-cost magic here. If you're in a salary pinch, peep Kuhl.
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.
