In daily fantasy baseball, success starts with nailing the starting pitcher spot in your lineup.
When compared to hitters, pitching performance tends to be much more predictable and stable throughout the course of the season. You know what you're getting from a top-level ace when you roster him: probably a dominant effort with only one or two implosions per season. In contrast, even the game's best hitters have days at the plate when they go 0-for-4.
As a result, lineup construction should begin with the starting pitcher. Which pitchers should you consider on today's main slate?
High-Priced Option
Kyle Gibson, Texas Rangers
Vs Seattle Mariners
FanDuel Price: $8,700
It feels a bit icky to recommend Kyle Gibson over Patrick Corbin, but this is 2020, y'all.
Here's the challenge with Corbin -- the offense he is facing is far stronger. The New York Mets rank ninth-best in MLB in team wOBA (.324), and their 10.0% walk rate and 22.3% whiff rate are both tough metrics for opposing arms.
For Gibson, the Seattle Mariners are a far easier offense to attack. They rank sixth-worst in team wOBA (.286), and their 24.8% strikeout rate is a lot more palatable.
Don't mess around with Corbin and spend down for Gibson.
Mid-Priced Play
Dallas Keuchel, Chicago White Sox
At Detroit Tigers
FanDuel Price: $7,800
It seems a bit odd that Dallas Keuchel of the Chicago White Sox has become a strikeout machine, racking up a 28.9 PPG average on FanDuel, but he's been brilliant to start the year and is still priced at a reasonable offering.
While Kuechel has yet to face the Detroit Tigers this season, he did face a similarly-strike out happy squad in the Milwaukee Brewers in his last turn and whiffed eight hitters over seven innings.
The Tigers have been strong at the dish, but are also striking out 29.9% of the time this season, the worst mark in the league. If you want to live a little dangerously, Keuchel is your man.
Low-Priced Play
Randy Dobnak, Minnesota Twins
at Milwaukee Brewers
FanDuel Price: $7,000
If you are looking for a strike-throwing machine, you are in for a treat as you think about rostering Randy Dobnak of the Minnesota Twins.
While we just highlighted the hefty strikeout rate of the Tigers, the Milwaukee Brewers clock in just behind them with a mark of 28.4% on the season (second-worst). The bigger difference here is that their team wOBA mark of .295 is nearly 25 points lower than the Tigers.
In addition, with stars like Christian Yelich and Keston Hiura still rounding into form, their .133 isolated power (ISO) mark is one of the league's worst marks too. Dobnak isn't going to light up the radar gun, but he could be primed for a big night.
Matt Kupferle is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Matt Kupferle also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username MKupferle. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in his articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.