FanDuel Pitching Primer: Friday 8/6/21
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
Chris Bassitt, Oakland Athletics
Vs. Texas Rangers
FanDuel Salary: $9,800
On a 14-game main slate, Chris Bassitt sticks out head and shoulders above the rest of the pitching options, and we should be lining up to roster him.
Many folks can appreciate the veteran right-hander thanks to his consistent brilliance and ground-ball heavy approach. His 3.52 FIP is supported by a 42.9% ground-ball rate and only 0.99 homers per nine allowed. He's also got a 24.9% strikeout rate, which gives him good upside in DFS.
The matchup is there, too, After trading Joey Gallo away, the Texas Rangers have struggled over the last seven days to a .262 wOBA and 23.9% strikeout rate.
While Corbin Burnes ($11,000) has elite strikeout numbers, he doesn't check as many boxes as Bassitt does due to a difficult matchup with the San Francisco Giants. Bassitt is the top play tonight, per our projections.
Mid-Salaried Play
Wade Miley, Cincinnati Reds
Vs. Pittsburgh Pirates
FanDuel Salary: $8,500
Ranked as the fourth-best starter on the night, according to our model, Wade Miley can continue his incredible 2021 run.
The Pittsburgh Pirates stink at the plate right now. While they do keep their punchouts in check, they pack very little punch. They've recorded a .290 wOBA and paltry .098 isolated power (ISO) in the last week -- the latter of which is far and away the worst mark in the league.
While Miley does not whiff a ton of hitters (18.5% strikeout rate), his whopping 50.4% ground-ball rate -- leading to a 0.71 homers per nine -- keeps him from having blowup innings, and he did strike out six in six innings in his lone meeting with Pittsburgh this year.
Miley is worth a look in the mid-range.
Low-Salaried Play
Kyle Muller, Atlanta Braves
Vs. Washington Nationals
FanDuel Salary: $7,700
Look, I can't explain it -- since trading away do-it-all shortstop Trea Turner, the Washington Nationals have been absolutely surface-of-the-sun hot at the plate. Over the last week, they've logged impressive marks of a .331 wOBA and a tiny 16.3% strikeout rate.
But with Juan Soto likely on the bench after getting dinged up on Thursday, the Nats could come crashing back to reality today.
Enter Kyle Muller.
Muller is an interesting low-salary option who can help you get the bats you want, which is handy on a Coors slate. While it's a small sample size (29 2/3 innings pitched), Muller has posted a very good 27.2% strikeout rate, and he's been hard to square up, surrendering only a 31.5% hard-hit rate.
All of this makes Muller a decent value option on this big slate, and we have him as the third-best point-per-dollar arm.
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.
