MLB

FanDuel Pitching Primer: Monday 8/16/21

Matt Kupferle  —  @MKupferle Aug 16th, 2021
Griffin Jax takes the mound again, and he dominated a tough White Sox lineup in his last start. Which other pitchers should we consider?

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

Kevin Gausman, San Francisco Giants

Vs. New York Mets
FanDuel Salary: $10,300

This is definitely a weird season for a variety of reasons, including the New York Mets and their precipitous freefall.

The division leader not too long ago, the Mets now stand in unfamiliar territory -- third place in the division. And that's been largely due to the fact that this offense has been ultimately ravaged by a ton of injuries, and Francisco Lindor still remains out. Over the last 30 days, this moribund offense has struggled its way to a .318 wOBA and .160 ISO.

Despite Gerrit Cole returning, our projections have Kevin Gausman as the top play. We project him for 36.9 FanDuel points, 0.5 points ahead of the New York righty. Gausman has shown nice upside this year with a 29.8% strikeout rate.

Mid-Salaried Play

Wade Miley, Cincinnati Reds

Vs. Chicago Cubs
FanDuel Salary: $8,800

There are some teams that we should consistently be picking on for DFS play. One of them is the St. Louis Cardinals, and I couldn't be happier to stick it to my hometown team.

Another team is their bitter rival, the Chicago Cubs -- and man, have they totally stunk at the dish. Over the last 30 days, the Cubbies are rocking a horrific 27.5% strikeout rate, combined with an ugly .155 ISO and .302 wOBA.

While Wade Miley is no strikeout artist, his better-than-50% ground-ball rate makes him very desirable tonight.

Low-Salaried Play

Griffin Jax, Minnesota Twins

Vs. Cleveland Indians
FanDuel Salary: $6,100

If you want to dip your toe into the scary, shallow end of the DFS pool, a pitcher you may want to think about is youngster Griffin Jax of the Minnesota Twins.

Here are a few reasons to get excited about Jax. The Cleveland Indians, Jax's opponent, have been on the struggle bus at the dish lately. They've logged a 23.3% strikeout rate and .309 wOBA in the last month. Not great, Bob.

Jax has also shown some intriguing signs of life recently. He rocked the White Sox for 10 whiffs over six innings in his last start. With that kind of upside, he could be worth the gamble 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.