MLB

FanDuel Pitching Primer: Thursday 9/24/20

Cristian Javier comes in at a low salary and has a sweet matchup versus Texas. Should you take the savings on the bump tonight?

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-Salaried Option

Corbin Burnes, Milwaukee Brewers

At St. Louis Cardinals

FanDuel Salary: $10,600

If there's one thing we know, it's that the St. Louis Cardinals are consistent -- consistently terrible on offense.

Just like the 2019 season, the 2020 version of the Cards are bad at the dish. They rank 21st in team wOBA (.312), sporting a putrid .132 ISO and 23.3% strikeout rate.

Those marks could get even uglier against one of baseball's biggest pitching breakouts, Corbin Burnes. He's logged 49-plus FanDuel points in each of his last four starts, and he is whiffing hitters at a 37.6% clip.

With Walker Buehler returning from injury and Lance Lynn taking on the Houston Astros, Burnes is the high-salary guy worth rostering tonight.

Mid-Salaried Play

Kwang-Hyun Kim, St. Louis Cardinals

Vs. Milwaukee Brewers

FanDuel Salary: $8,200

Runs will likely be at a premium tonight between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Cardinals . We know that Burnes is tough to hit, but Kim has been really good, too.

Despite a poor outing last time out, when he allowed four runs on six hits in 5 2/3 innings pitched, Kim still owns a sub-2.00 ERA and sub-1.00 WHIP for the year.

The Brewers, like St. Louis, have been pretty bad at the plate. They clock in 19th in wOBA and have a whopping 26.7% strikeout rate, giving Kim plenty of strikeout upside tonight.

Low-Salaried Play

Cristian Javier, Houston Astros

At Texas Rangers

FanDuel Salary: $7,400

Another offense we have consistently picked on in this space is that of the Texas Rangers, who might be the league's worst offense. The Rangers rank 29th in both team wOBA (.278) and ISO (.142), and they are striking out 25.1% of the time against right-handers.

That makes Cristian Javier a saucy play. He's only $7,400, and he ripped off a 36-point outing against these same Rangers at the beginning of the month. Javier has a 25.3% strikeout rate and is giving up hard-hit balls just 27.4% of the time.

Consider Javier as a bargain option who could provide a very nice return on investment.



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.