FanDuel Pitching Primer: Tuesday 9/28/21
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
Logan Webb, San Francisco Giants
Vs. Arizona Diamondbacks
FanDuel Salary: $9,000
Completely overshadowed possibly all season long, Logan Webb has been an absolute weapon for the San Francisco Giants this year, and he could be a monster again tonight.
Let's peep these numbers for Webb this year. In 139 1/3 innings, Webb is rocking a 2.81 FIP, buoyed by 0.59 HR/9 allowed, a 26.2% strikeout rate, and an absurd 61.2% ground-ball rate. Those are bananas numbers by themselves but in conjunction with one another? Oh, baby.
And his opponent tonight at the plate has been woefully inept. Over the last 30 days, the Arizona Diamondbacks sport a disgusting .287 wOBA (third-worst), .144 ISO (fourth-worst), and 23.8% strikeout rate (eighth-worst).
There are several high-salaried options worth considering, but Webb stands out tonight for me.
High-Salaried Play
Adam Wainwright, St. Louis Cardinals
Vs. Milwaukee Brewers
FanDuel Salary: $9,300
The St. Louis Cardinals need a single win to clinch a playoff spot in their final six games, and there's no one better to get there than Adam Wainwright.
In over 1,200 innings at Busch Stadium, Wainwright has recorded a sub-3.00 ERA in his home park. That's pretty, pretty, pretty good.
Now, we know that Wainwright is really good at home, and the matchup becomes even better against a Milwaukee Brewers team that ranks 8th-worst in team wOBA over the last 30 days (.308) and their .161 ISO is a bottom-10 mark, too.
Finding the fountain of youth, Wainwright has been downright nasty, and with this outstanding matchup, he's worth paying up for.
High-Salaried Play
Chris Sale, Boston Red Sox
At Baltimore Orioles
FanDuel Salary: $10,000
Not one, not two, but three aces we want to highlight, and last but not least is Chris Sale of the Boston Red Sox.
Now, just because he went last does not mean he is one we should ignore -- quite the contrary, rather. Sale is on a Red Sox team that's a heavy moneyline favorite, and he faces an Orioles roster that's rocking a mere .308 wOBA with a lofty 26.1% strikeout rate over the last month.
And Sale? While he did whiff only one Oriole two starts ago, he also eviscerated them for eight strikeouts in his debut performance this season. Expect a big number tonight from Sale.
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.
