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Daily Fantasy MLB Pitcher Breakdown FanDuel and DraftKings- 5/11/16

Welcome to our new daily article breaking down some of the other pitching targets on this slate. We covered our system's top value plays in our daily picks article and our updates articles but here we will look at other dudes to consider.

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Stacking in DFS MLB is such an important concept if you’re looking to take down a big tournament on FanDuel or DraftKings. It’s also a good way to diversify cash games because the variance in baseball can mean wild swings (ahem) in the scoring on a particular slate. The concept is easy. You want to pile players from one or two teams into your lineups because those guys compound scores by helping each other score runs when the going is good.

Pitching Targets

Note - Jared Eickoff, Max Scherzer and Kyle Hendricks were discussed in our main MLB Picks Article. Here we will discuss a few other options for Wednesday's slate.

Early Slate
Taijuan Walker FD 9000 DK 9700
Opponent - TB (Archer) Park - @SEA
FD - 33.14 DK - 17.7

This Rays/Mariners matchup features two young up and coming stars and very well could be the lowest scoring game of the day. Walker makes a terrific GPP play tonight and could come in very low owned due to him leaving is most recent start with neck soreness. He tossed a 25 pitch bullpen session on Monday and says it feels 95% better and he had no lingering issues. This is a good sign as he enters a favorable matchup vs. the Rays who rank 26th in team wOBA(.292) and dead last in K% vs, right handed pitching as they are striking out over 27% of the time. Walker has made six starts this season and has yet to give up over two earned runs in a game and is working with a 8.16 K/9 rate while limiting the free passes to under one per nine innings.

Evening Slate
Rick Porcello FD 8400 DK 9200
Opponent - OAK (Surkamp) Park - @BOS
FD - 31.22 DK - 15.96

After a disappointing 2015 season where he went 9-15 with a 4.92 ERA, Porcello has completely turned it around to start the 2016 season for the Red Sox. In six starts he has a record of 5-1 and has gone at least six innings in every start. Another positive sign he has turned it around is his strikeout rate of 9.3 K/9 which is close to four more strikeouts per nine than his career average. His current ERA is 2.95 with a xFIP that is in the same range at 3.28. The one thing that scares me a little with Porcello is his extremely high 85% LOB% which is about 15% above the league average. He could definitely see some regression coming but the K's have helped make up for the base runners so far. He will also be gifted with some nice run support as the Red Sox are on fire with the bats beating the A's in the first two games of the series with a combined score of 27-12. I would never trust Porcello in cash games but feel he makes a terrific GP play on Wednesday.

John Lackey
FD 9200 DK 11,100
Opponent - SD (Pomeranz) Park - @CHC

John Lackey will get a terrific matchup tonight in the second game of a double header vs. the San Diego Padres on Wednesday night. The Padres rank 29th ahead of only the Braves in team wOBA(.278) against right handed pitching and have struck out at a 26% rate which is third to only the Rays and Astros vs. RH pitching.

Lackey is having a fantastic start to the season with a 4-1 record and is on pace to grab his 12th double digit win season in 13 major league seasons. His ERA is sitting a 4.02 but an xFIP of 3.25 and a below average LOB%(66%) suggests he is pitching better than the ERA shows and that he is due for some positive regression soon. No better time than a matchup vs. the Padres playing the second lag of a double header in Chicago.

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