FanDuel Pitching Primer: Wednesday 9/29/21
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
Max Scherzer, Los Angeles Dodgers
Vs. San Diego Padres
FanDuel Salary: $11,500
There are two very divergent paths from tonight's game that are pretty fascinating to consider: 1) Max Scherzer has been absolutely dominant as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers, recording a perfect 7-0 record with a 0.78 ERA, and 2) the San Diego Padres have been one of the worst teams in baseball in the second half, logging a 25-39 record and going from a playoff lock to an afterthought.
Because of those two paths, Scherzer makes for simply an absolutely brilliant play. Like a fine Cabernet, Scherzer just continues to get better with age. He owns a 34.8% strikeout rate this season paired with an excellent 5.4% walk rate.
We are touting him for the top score on the night, and it's not too surprising why.
High-Salaried Play
Frankie Montas, Oakland Athletics
At Seattle Mariners
FanDuel Salary: $9,900
The end of the 2021 season has certainly been quite a disappointment for the Oakland Athletics. After placing themselves in a dog fight at the beginning of the year for AL West supremacy, things have gone south, and they are pretty much eliminated from postseason play.
But it would be quite unjust to blame Frankie Montas for the A's swoon. In fact, it would be a lie, to be honest. Montas has been truly incredible over the last month, whiffing better than a batter per inning (33 strikeouts in 31 innings) with a sub-3.00 ERA.
Thanks to this fine run of form, Montas has now allowed only 0.99 HR/9, and he's amped up the use of his gorgeous splitter in recent outings. Since the All-Star break, he owns a 2.92 FIP over 82 innings, and he's thrown that splitter 28% of the time. It's no coincidence that he owns a 15.7% swinging-strike rate over that time span, and he makes for an incredible play against a poor Seattle Mariners team tonight that's posted a .314 wOBA and .166 ISO over the last 30 days.
Mid-Salaried Play
Nathan Eovaldi, Boston Red Sox
At Baltimore Orioles
FanDuel Salary: $8,800
Fighting for their playoff lives, the Boston Red Sox need to take the second game of this epically important series with the lowly Baltimore Orioles, and they will hand the ball over to Nathan Eovaldi tonight.
The Orioles will do their best to provide the veteran right-hander plenty of upside for DFS purposes. Over the last 30 days, the O's have sluffed off at the plate, posting an ugly .304 wOBA and the fourth-worst strikeout rate at 26.1%.
Eovaldi has logged an impressive 2.83 FIP this season, including a brilliant 25.4% strikeout rate. Expect a big score out of him tonight.
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.
