MLB

FanDuel Pitching Primer: Friday 9/27/19

Matt Kupferle  —  @MKupferle Sep 27th, 2019
James Paxton has been absolutely dominant as of late, and he has a matchup with the whiff-happy Rangers. Who else should you trust tonight?

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

James Paxton, New York Yankees

at Texas Rangers

FanDuel Price: $9,800

Look, I know Walker Buehler is a boss, but if you haven't paid attention to what James Paxton has been doing lately, you need to get out from under that rock.

The dude has truly been one of the best pitchers in baseball down the stretch. He's won 10 starts in a row. He ranks second on the main slate with a 29.5% strikeout rate, and in his last four starts, he has a microscopic 0.36 ERA and 0.69 WHIP.

He dominated these same Texas Rangers, who own a 25.5% strikeout rate, for a seven-inning, 12-strikeout performance four turns ago, so play Paxton and expect a big night.

Mid-Priced Option

Mike Fiers, Oakland Athletics

at Seattle Mariners

FanDuel Price: $8,300

It's been a bit up and down lately for Mike Fiers, but if he can replicate his last outing, he should be fine for tonight's start against the mediocre offense of the Seattle Mariners.

Over the last 30 days, Seattle has struggled with a 26.4% strikeout rate, including a lowly .286 team wOBA in that span. That bodes well for Fiers, who fired eight scoreless innings with only two hits allowed against the Texas Rangers in his last start.

Fiers has 15 wins on the season, and he will look to make it 16 and clinch a Wild Card spot for the Oakland Athletics tonight.

Low-Priced Play

Vince Velasquez, Philadelphia Phillies

vs. Miami Marlins

FanDuel Price: $7,600

This season has to go down as a dud for the Philadelphia Phillies as it started with exceedingly high hopes following the off-season acquisitions of Bryce Harper, J.T. Realmuto, and Jean Segura.

That doesn't mean we should ignore the volatile Vincent Velasquez, who faces the dreadful Miami Marlins tonight. Miami is likely to win the dubious moniker of being the league's worst offense -- both in terms of team wOBA (.288) and isolated power (.133, ISO). And they pair those numbers with a juicy 24.3% strikeout rate.

Velasquez has been, well, Velasquez as of late. He was brilliant with eight strikeouts versus the Atlanta Braves in a win two starts ago, but he was bombed by the New York Mets last time out. Given this poor offense of Miami, Velasquez could be a great play 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.