MLB

FanDuel Pitching Primer: Monday 4/5/21

Matt Kupferle  —  @MKupferle Apr 5th, 2021
A pretty full main slate leaves us with quite a few pitching options to parse through. Do any stick out in particular?

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 Option

Jacob deGrom, New York Mets

at Philadelphia Phillies
FanDuel Salary: $11,000

Finally, the best pitcher in baseball gets to take the bump today, and we are all here for the excellence of Jacob deGrom of the New York Mets.

Delayed to start the year thanks to COVID-19 protocols within the Washington Nationals, today's top-ranked hurler is primed for a monster evening against the Philadelphia Phillies.

A year after averaging 43.2 FanDuel points-per-game, deGrom will look to replicate that success as truly the only high-priced arm on the slate. If you want to pay up at the SP slot, this is a no-brainer.

Mid-Salaried Play

Justus Sheffield, Seattle Mariners

vs. Chicago White Sox
FanDuel Salary: $7,200

There are not too many opportunities that we may get to roster opposing arms against the Chicago White Sox with supreme confidence, but tonight may just be one of those nights with southpaw Justus Sheffield.

Already missing star outfielder Eloy Jimenez due to a pectoral injury, Tim Anderson, the chief of the engine that makes the offense run, pulled up lame on a ground ball last night against Shohei Ohtani. He's likely to be out a few days.

Missing those two bats, coupled with the hefty swing-and-miss tendencies of the South Siders and their 25.2% strikeout rate in 2020, makes Sheffield a pretty tempting play.

Low-Salaried Play

Dustin May, Los Angeles Dodgers

at Oakland Athletics
FanDuel Salary: $6,800

After getting swept in a four-game set to start the season by the Houston Astros, and bringing in an outfielder to close out the game, the Oakland Athletics are in need of some serious offensive help after scoring only a combined nine total runs in their first four games.

That should be a solid play for flamethrower Dustin May, who is looking to take a major step forward in 2021 as a starter. Projected at over 4X value tonight by our algorithm, and facing an A's offense that whiffed at a 23.8% clip, May should have no problem returning value.

If you want to pivot down, peep May.

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.