Washington Nationals starting pitcher Stephen Strasburg (37) works in the first inning of a baseball game against the Atlanta Braves Wednesday, April 6, 2016, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
Daily Fantasy MLB Pitcher Breakdown FanDuel and DraftKings- 5/24/16
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 hitter stacks 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: We discussed David Price and Chris Sale in the Main Article, and will be going over a few more options below.
Opponent - NYM (Harvey) Park - @WSH
FD - 38.76 DK - 21.58
On a night with Chris Sale pitching, Strasburg's ownership percentages will be down, which is great for tournaments. He will be going up against the Mets, who just loss Lucas Duda and have been struggling in the month of May. They own a 89 wRC+ (22nd in MLB) and .299 OBP (24th in MLB). I rarely talk about on-base percentages, but [wow], a .299 OBP is just awful. Not only are the Mets struggling to get on base and creating runs, but they are also striking out a ton! They own a whooping 25.3 K% (3rd in MLB), and things won't get any better going up against the Stras-inator tonight!
The Stras-inator on the other hand, has been killin' it! He owns a 2.29 FIP, to go along with a 30.9 K%. I won't list all of his numbers (even thought I want to), but they are all outstanding. But one other thing I will mention is -- even though he owns a 30.9 K%, he has been able to keep the walks under control. He owns a 6.6 BB%, so don't worry about the walks and just watch him rack up the K's!
Opponent - PHI (Hellickson) Park - @DET
FD - 35.53 DK - 19.43
David Price, Stephen Strasburg, Chris Sale and Jeff Samardzija are all excellent cash-game plays, but it's time to talk about a couple of tournament plays. And it all starts with Justin Verlander. Verlander is having a better season than I expected. He has put up 7 quality starts in 9 outings and owns a 3.72 SIERA. Verlander is a guy that I like tonight because of his upside. He owns a 25.4 K% and will be pitching at home against the Phillies.
The Phillies on the other hand, have been one of the most surprising teams in baseball, but they don't have the best of offenses. They own a .289 wOBA (27th in MLB) and .131 ISO (27th in MLB) against right-handed pitching. They do not hit for much power, which will help Verlander big time, as he owns a 1.26 HR/9. Verlander will be backed up by a Tigers' offense that is hot, so look for him to get some run support and possibly pick up the W!
Opponent - MIL (Nelson) Park - @ATL
FD - 40.11 DK - 21.79
Julio Teheran has been solid this season and is a nice SP2 option on Draftkings. He owns a 3.67 FIP and has held opponents to a .214 AVG. His peripherals are nice, but one downfall is his K%. He owns a 20.6 K% in 2016, which isn't all that impressive, but holding opponents to a .214 AVG does stand out to me. Another stat that stands out is how effective Julio has been when pitching at home. Since 2014, he has held opponents to a .213 AVG, and owns a 2.58 ERA and 3.49 FIP.
A matchup against the Brewers gives Teheran a ton of upside. Not only because of how inconsistent they can be, but because they own a 27.6 K% (1st in MLB). These guys strike out a ton, so don't be surprised if he strikes out 7-10 guys on the night. He is an excellent SP2 option alongside David Price.
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View Comments
What do you think about Chris Tillman??
Tillman is too expensive to think about.
He has upside, but not a fan of his tonight with great options on tonight's slate.
I completely agree on Stras, the Mets are very BOOM or K. Losing Duda isn't that big of a deal as he is entirely too streaky to begin with. However if he was in the lineup, he himself is good for 2 K's
Just an FYI, In the optimizer, some of the pitching matchups are incorrect. Examples: Yunel Escobar is facing LAA (Kershaw) and Trotter/Miller facing MIA (Gonzalez).
@Dominic Duda sure is streaky, but I'd much rather face Eric Campbell than Lucas Duda, especially if I'm a RHP
Any thoughts on Karns tonight? He’s bbeen pretty good lately. Just an idea to save some $$.
I like him As a SP2