FanDuel Pitching Primer: Tuesday 4/27/21
Just like in other sports, the focal point of your daily fantasy baseball lineups will be your high-salary studs. These guys take up by far the biggest chunk of your cap space, but they also offer the highest ceiling. And in the case of pitchers, the high-salary options typically come with the highest floors, too.
For hitters, we're looking for guys with big numbers, strong matchups, and with players around them that are likely to produce well, too, increasing our chances for runs and RBI. For pitchers, we want big strikeout numbers, while the ability to go deep in a game and pick up a win is also valuable.
With your high-salary picks playing such a big role in your lineup, you need to be right on these guys, so let's take a look at a few top-end options you can count on to anchor your lineup today.
High-Salaried Option
Lucas Giolito, Chicago White Sox
Vs. Detroit Tigers
FanDuel Salary: $10,600
After getting blown up in his last start, Lucas Giolito really burned a lot of fantasy and DFS managers.
But if there was ever a sweet bounce-back opportunity, this has to be it. Despite that awful performance, Giolito was averaging a solid 42 FanDuel points before that start and still owns a 32.1% strikeout rate. And his opponent, the Detroit Tigers? They've recorded the highest strikeout rate in the league this season (28.9%) with only a .276 wOBA.
An argument can be made to pay up for veteran Max Scherzer ($12,000), and I wouldn't blame you -- but our algorithm projects Giolito as the top scorer on the day, so spend up and reap the reward.
Mid-Salaried Play
Zach Eflin, Philadelphia Phillies
At St. Louis Cardinals
FanDuel Salary: $8,800
After teammate Zack Wheeler dominated the St. Louis Cardinals a day ago, even though he almost lost the win thanks to horrific closer Hector Neris, Zach Eflin takes the ball for the Philadelphia Phillies and will look to replicate Wheeler's success.
Our math pegs Eflin as the fifth-highest scorer on the night (29.8 points), a mark the right-hander has bested twice already this season. And the Cardinals? They stink at the dish, logging a .297 wOBA and 24.3% strikeout rate.
Look for Eflin to smash tonight.
Low-Salaried Play
Michael Wacha, Tampa Bay Rays
Vs. Oakland Athletics
FanDuel Salary: $7,000
Well, we definitely bonked this one yesterday as Austin Gomber brutally destroyed any visions of granduer. Let's try this again with Michael Wacha of the Tampa Bay Rays, who does face a pretty good offense in the Oakland Athletics.
Up to a team mark of a .307 wOBA, the A's, led by slugger Matt Olson, have shown plenty of ability to take it to opposing pitchers. They do, however, provide some swing-and-miss capability with a 24.3% mark, and Wacha has been a juicy play as of late.
Coming off a brilliant 55 point outing a few turns ago, Wacha was one out from a quality start against the Kansas City Royals, and he's been nothing if consistent this season. For a salary-saving option, peep Wacha.
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.
