Daily Fantasy MLB Pitcher Breakdown FanDuel and DraftKings- 7/2/16

Welcome to our new daily article breaking down some plays not covered in today's main picks article. Enjoy!

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Pitching Targets

A quick note if you're new to this article - the main pitching plays today were Chris Archer and Jon Lester, which Austyn covered in the main picks article. This is just to give you a few other guys to chew on today.

Noah Syndergaard FD 10200 DK 11900
Opponent - CHC (Lester) Park - @NYM
FD - 37.41 DK - 25.49
Noah Syndergaard has turned into an Ace's Ace. There's really no other way to put it. He's got the 4th highest K/9 in the majors, the 4th lowest BB/9, and the 2nd best xFIP. That's... pretty damned awesome. And yet he's priced as something less than an ace today - why? Well, those rascally Cubs. They really can hit, and you could never call this a good match-up. And! They're throwing another true ace in Jon Lester. Kinda sucks, right?

Not so fast. Yes, this is a bad match-up - but Syndergaard is really, really good. Vegas likes this game as having a 6.5 total - ridiculously low - and while they have the Cubs favored right now, it's essentially a pick 'em. Getting a guy with an 11 K/9 in a pick-em where the other team has an implied run total of around 3.3 runs is a very favorable spot, and if you can get him here WHILE getting separation from the field, he makes for a fantastic big tournament play. Could it go sour? Sure, against the Cubs it's certainly possible. But I'm more than a little intrigued.

Cole Hamels FD 10100 DK 12400
Opponent - MIN (Gibson) Park - @MIN
FD - 36.56 DK - 24.67
Cole Hamels is a confusing pitcher to analyze this season. He's been widely (and rightly) panned by sabermetricians as having lost a step or two this season. His 3.30 BB/9 is his career worst, and his 8.86 K/9 is his third worst. So that's not good. But... those numbers aren't exactly atrocious. And while they don't support the idea that he's a true talent sub 3 ERA pitcher at this stage in his career, he doesn't need to be to put up a huge fantasy performance from time to time. Well, there's a case to be made that that day is this day. Or something.

First of all, Hamels is leaving the hellish pitcher's park in Arlington and going to a much friendlier park in Minnesota. And, more importantly, he gets to face the batters that play their home games in Minnesota. Those Twins have put up the 2nd worst wOBA against left handed pitching in the American League this season, and have struck out at the third highest rate in the majors. Put it all together and you have a sneaky potential ace start out of Hamels, here. As a side note - he's probably too expensive on DK to consider in either case.

Michael Wacha FD 7400 DK 8500
Opponent - MIL (Anderson) Park - @STL
FD - 36.12 DK - 23.71
So Michael Wacha hasn't lived up to the promise of his electric fast ball and reasonable secondary offerings, and has settled into being basically a league average pitcher. Excited yet? Me neither. But there's something here. Wacha has put up a few big games this season, he just doesn't do it with the consistency of the aces throughout the league. The nice thing, of course, is that you're not paying anything like ace prices to get him today.

What really fuels this potential big tournament play is the match-up. The Brewers are on pace for an historical 26.1% K rate against RHP this season, and back that up with a wOBA that's in the bottom third of the league as well. "If ever there were a day for Wacha to go off, this would be it," he said uncertainly.

Note - Make sure to comment below if you have any questions on on the pitcher's or if you want to just discuss pitching as a whole on the day, thanks for the read!

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