FanDuel Pitching Primer: Friday 9/20/19
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. Each day we will highlight a starter to consider from each pricing tier, and we'll also look at one contrarian play for tournaments. Who should you consider on today's main slate?
High-Priced Option
Jacob deGrom, New York Mets
at Cincinnati Reds
FanDuel Price: $11,000
There's really been no discernible difference between Jacob deGrom's Cy Young campaign of 2018, and this year's season. That's how good he has been.
In 190 innings pitched this season, the righty owns a 31.6% strikeout rate (compared to 32.2% last year), 30.8% hard-hit rate, and a fantastic 3.33 skill-interactive ERA (SIERA).
He is up against a Cincinnati Reds team that doesn't have much to play for, and they rank a lowly 22nd in team wOBA (.312). Expect a big night from the ace.
Mid-Priced Option
Merrill Kelly, Arizona Diamondbacks
at San Diego Padres
FanDuel Price: $8,500
Merrill Kelly has turned the juice up lately for the Arizona Diamondbacks, and he looks ready for a big game tonight.
Over his last three starts, the right-hander has averaged 44 FanDuel points, and he has logged a quality start in each of those contests.
Today, he gets the benefit of throwing at pitcher-friendly Petco Park, taking on a San Diego Padres offense that has the second-highest strikeout rate in baseball (26.0%).
The Padres' implied total is 4.32 runs, which is pretty strong on this main slate, so consider Kelly at a pretty decent price.
Low-Priced Play
Mike Foltynewicz, Atlanta Braves
vs San Francisco Giants
FanDuel Price: $7,700
With three straight wins and a quality start in three of his last five outings, Mike Foltynewicz of the Atlanta Braves will look to keep rolling against a dreadful San Francisco Giants team.
Folty is making a bid for a playoff rotation spot, and he's struck out five or more batters in his six of his last eight starts. In recording those three consecutive wins, he's had perhaps his best outings of the year, recording a 1.00 ERA and 0.72 WHIP over 18 innings.
The Giants, meanwhile, are ready to turn the page to 2020. In the last 30 days, they have a league-worst .279 team wOBA, and they are fourth-worst in team strikeout rate (26.2%) in that span. Peep Foltynewicz for a guy with some major upside 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.
