FanDuel Pitching Primer: Monday 8/30/21
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 Play 1
Robbie Ray, Toronto Blue Jays
Vs. Baltimore Orioles
FanDuel Salary: $10,900
This main slate is certainly not the biggest -- but man, what a great set of options that we get to choose from.
First and foremost, I'm riding with Robbie Ray, and he's perhaps my dark horse to win the AL Cy Young this season. Ray has dazzled hitters this season thanks to one major change -- his ability to get ahead in the count. Ray, who has always struggled with strike one, has logged a 62.5% first-pitch strike rate this season, 10 points better than last season.
That's massive for a guy with swing-and-miss stuff like Ray, who sports a 30.2% CSW rate and faces a Baltimore Orioles offense that has a 23.6% strikeout rate over the last 30 days.
Our projections have Ray as the second-best option today -- Corbin Burnes headlines the slate, but faces a far tougher San Francisco Giants offense, making him my top option.
High-Salaried Play 2
Zack Wheeler, Philadelphia Phillies
At Washington Nationals
FanDuel Salary: $10,600
Look fam, if you've read this piece from me this season, you know I love me some Zack Wheeler. And what's not to love?
The veteran right-hander is still up to his usual tricks, recording a 50.7% ground-ball rate this year, paired with a scintillating 29.1% strikeout rate in 2021, by far the best mark of his career. He's done all that with impressive command numbers, logging a 5.1% walk rate.
He falls slightly behind Ray for me because of the matchup -- the Washington Nationals boast a very similar team wOBA mark, but their strikeout rate sits at 21.2%, a few ticks lower than the Orioles mark.
He makes for an awesome option -- we peg him for 33.3 FanDuel points -- and should make for a great play.
Mid-Salaried Play
Luis Garcia, Houston Astros
At Seattle Mariners
FanDuel Salary: $8,600
One of my favorite plays of the day has to be Luis Garcia of the Houston Astros -- let's dig in on what makes him a great play Monday evening.
The young right-hander has been truly outstanding this season -- he's recorded a 28.9% strikeout rate this year in 123 1/3 innings pitched, logging an outstanding 3.38 FIP in 2021.
The Seattle Mariners, Garcia's opponent, have been pretty below average at the plate recently. Over the last 30 days, they have recorded a 23.5% strikeout rate, and their .301 wOBA ranks ninth-worst in the league over that time frame.
To save some cost, consider rostering Garcia.
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.
