Daily Fantasy MLB Pitcher Breakdown FanDuel and DraftKings- 5/22/16

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 weather report but here we will look at other dudes to consider.

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Pitching Targets

We already covered Kenta Maeda and Noah Syndergaard in our main picks article.  If you want breakdowns on those guy head over there.

Jordan Zimmermann FD 9700 DK 10000
Opponent - TB (Archer) Park - @DET
FD - 32.38 DK - 17.2
From a matchup standpoint it's not great that he's facing off with Chris Archer, but outside of that this is a wonderful spot for Zimmerman. The Rays strikeout at the 3rd highest rate in the league against right-handed pitchers this season, so although Zimmerman doesn't possess that electric strikeout punch, his numbers should be helped quite a bit by the Rays tendency to swing at bad pitches. When they do make contact, the Rays have actually been even worse, ranking dead last on BABIP (Batting average on balls in play if you're new here) which plays pretty nicely into the hands of a pitch to contact type of guy like Zimmerman. Throw in the fact that the Tigers are at home and Archer has had his struggles on the road this year and I think that Zimmerman could be a sneaky good option today (although I like Syndergaard and Maeda much more).

Cole Hamels FD 10200 DK 12200
Opponent - HOU (Keuchel) Park - @HOU
FD - 31.11 DK - 16.46
I learned my lesson yesterday that Houston just isn't the same team offensively that they were a year ago, so I actually like Cole Hamels today (even though he's a bit pricey on both sites) and here's why. Houston as a team has really struggled offensively this season, particularly against left-handed pitching where they have the 2nd highest K %, and rank 15th in OPS and wRC+. Now I get that the Astros are going to bring out a lot of right-handed bats to face Hamels, but Hamels has actually been pretty solid this year against righties, posting a K/9 of 9.95 and an xFIP of 3.71. Bringing it all together, Hamels faced Houston back on April 20th, and went 6.2 innings while allowing 1 earned run and striking out 7 on the way to a win. He's not exactly the safest pick in the world, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him replicate those numbers based on how poorly Houston has been playing as of late.

Jerad Eickhoff FD 7100 DK 7200
Opponent - ATL (Kelly) Park - @PHI
FD - 32.32 DK - 17.24
Now moving on to a cheaper option and the often successful method of "start whoever is facing the Braves" strategy, we get to Jared Eickhoff. I realize that he's been struggling some as of late (including getting roughed up a bit by the Braves two starts ago), but if there's any team to right the ship against it's certainly Atlanta. Eickhoff pitches significantly better at home as well, where he's got a K/9 of 9, a BB/9 of just 1.73 and an xFIP of 3.31. Those are pretty elite numbers, and if you pair that with the Braves 2nd worst OPS and 3rd worst wRC+ against right-handed pitching and the matchup gets even better. The icing on the cake is the fact that Eickhoff is facing Casey Kelly, a guy who has only pitched 3 innings in the majors this year so he's got a good chance to get the win if he pitches well. If you want to go cheap at pitching today, Eickhoff is your best bet.

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