FanDuel Price: $11,100
Why He Will Go Overlooked:
It seems silly to assume that Jon Lester will fly under the radar, but today's rare set of circumstances may cause him to see much lower ownership than he should. For starters, many daily fantasy players were burned by Jake Arrieta -- an expensive hurler -- in this very matchup yesterday. This may cause Lester to lose some ownership due to recency bias.
Lester's price is also a bit restrictive, being the most expensive on the slate. With Corey Kluber and Zack Greinke both in excellent matchups and coming at more affordable price tags, Lester may be the third-most popular of the expensive pitching options.
Speaking of price tags, the shiny new toy Lucas Giolito is just $7,200 in a favorable matchup against the Mets. Baseball fans have anxiously awaited the arrival of the top prospect all year and will excitedly roster him at such an affordable price tag.
Don't get me wrong -- Lester certainly won't go completely overlooked in a favorable matchup tonight. However, you may be able to target him at a much lower ownership percentage than this matchup would ordinarily dictate due to the complexion of tonight's slate.
Why You Should Use Him:
Lester has been flat-out dominant this season, easily leading the slate in FanDuel points per start. He's shown tremendous upside recently, too, striking out at least seven batters in six-straight starts -- a span in which he averaged 51.7 FanDuel points.
He should have no problem keeping that streak alive in tonight's matchup against the Reds. Cincinnati ranks just 24th in wOBA against lefties this season, while also posting the 12th-highest strikeout rate (22.3 percent) and sixth-lowest walk rate (7 percent) against lefties.
Cincinnati can credit a lot of their high strikeout numbers to their high swinging strike rates -- their 10.5 percent mark ranks seventh in the league. Lester has been missing a lot of bats recently, posting an impressive 12.3 percent swinging strike rate over his last six starts.
Lester has the highest floor on the slate, while also possessing one of the highest ceilings due to his matchup. When you consider that you might be able to get him at low ownership, it should become your first priority to try to fit him into your lineups tonight.