Daily Fantasy MLB Pitchers for FanDuel and DraftKings - 4/7/17

Here's where you can find some recommendations for tournament pitchers target for FanDuel and DraftKings. Find our main set of cash game picks here.

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Pitchers

Francisco Liriano FD 8000 DK 8900
Opponent - TB (Andriese) Park - @TB
FD - 34.59 DK - 22.83

Woo, buddy. The pitching on the late slate is gonna make you nostalgic for yesterday, when the likes of Brandon McCarthy was a viable cash-game option. From the looks of what we've got tonight, I'd say Liriano is going to be one of the two highest-owned pitchers in tournaments, and that kind of tells you the whole story. The other option is Zack Wheeler, and he'd be the first place I'd turn in cash games, but Liriano might the best we're gonna get for GPPs, which, I know, is gross. But just wait. It's gonna get worse. Here's the pitch for Liriano: With the exception of a rough stretch in Pittsburgh last year, he's actually been pretty good over the last three years. Walks have always been an issue and resurfaced in a major way in 2016 with 4.69 per 9. What really sunk him, though, were the homers. After back-to-back seasons with .72 HRs/9 in 2014-15, he surrendered twice that number last year. So the move to Toronto in the second half looked a disaster waiting to happen, but he somehow found a way to navigate the hitter-friendly environs of the AL East and turned in 10 games of pretty solid work. Also, the strikeout potential is still there (at least 23% K rate and 9 Ks/9 every year since 2012), and the Rays led the majors last season in K% vs. LHP. So, while he's wildly inconsistent -- and just plain wild -- there is real upside here if the good version of Liriano shows up.

Mike Fiers FD 7300 DK 7500
Opponent - KC (Vargas) Park - @HOU
FD - 30.13 DK - 19.82

Listen, I don't relish the idea of trying to sell you on Mike Fiers. He's always been a pretty marginal talent, and he tanked last season as the homers climbed and his strikeouts plummeted. So maybe that's it. Maybe his two-year run as a K-per-inning guy is done and before long he'll relegated to the bullpen or out of the league. But both the projection system and Vegas kinda like him in this spot, so we'd probably better hear them out. It starts with the aforementioned ability to miss bats. If Fiers is having trouble doing that, then he's usually in trouble, because while his curve is nasty, his fastball is pretty bad. Last season, the Ks/9 dipped by nearly 2 over the previous two seasons' averages, but he posted nice spring numbers, which is at least mildly reassuring. There's also the Kansas City lineup to consider. It's nowhere near as pesky-fearsome as it was just two years ago; last season they were about league average in K% vs. RHP, but worst in the AL (by a lot) in wRC+. The addition of Brandon Moss could help some in that regard, but when the pitching pool is as shallow as it is today, you're gonna have to take some chances, and I'm ok with taking some against the Brandon Mosses of the world.

Wei-Yin Chen FD 7700 DK 8200
Opponent - NYM (Wheeler) Park - @NYM
FD - 28.99 DK - 19.18

When the column starts with Francisco Liriano, you can expect to end up in some dark places by the time we reach the end. This one's a pure pivot play off of Wheeler, who will likely demand a lot of attention in all contest formats on the night slate. Chen struggled last season for a variety of reasons (injury, decreased velocity, decrease in pop-ups) all of which conspired to give him a career-high 1.6 HRs/9 and 4.50 FIP. Even when he's on his game, Chen's kind of an unpalatable blend of boring and risky, because he's around league average in Ks and doesn't get a lot of ground balls. Prior to last season, he was able to work around those shortcoming by coaxing an absurd amount of pop-ups, but in 2016 that number fell from 14% to 5.8%. That's worrisome, especially when the wind is blowing out, like it's expected to tonight at Citi Field. But if Chen rediscovers the tools that made him a solid guy for the Orioles, he's got a lineup than can struggle at times against LHP.

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