MLB

FanDuel Pitching Primer: Friday 5/21/21

Matt Kupferle  —  @MKupferle May 21st, 2021
After getting delayed by a day, it's time for Trevor Bauer to record a monster night. Which other arms should we think about?

Just like in other sports, the focal point of your daily fantasy baseball lineups will be your high-salary studs. These guys take up by far the biggest chunk of your cap space, but they also offer the highest ceiling. And in the case of pitchers, the high-salary options typically come with the highest floors, too.

For hitters, we're looking for guys with big numbers, strong matchups, and with players around them that are likely to produce well, too, increasing our chances for runs and RBI. For pitchers, we want big strikeout numbers, while the ability to go deep in a game and pick up a win is also valuable.

With your high-salary picks playing such a big role in your lineup, you need to be right on these guys, so let's take a look at a few top-end options you can count on to anchor your lineup today.

High-Salaried Play
Trevor Bauer, Los Angeles Dodgers

Vs. San Francisco Giants
FanDuel Salary: $11,800

After getting delayed by one day, Trevor Bauer now attacks Friday's main slate, and he is ready to go nuts.

Bauer, like his Cy Young award-winning season, has been a beast. He's posted a 35.5% strikeout rate in 2021, and his opponent is one that has been strong at the dish but has some warts. The San Francisco Giants have logged a 26.2% strikeout rate, eighth-worst in Major League Baseball.

Bauer tops our projections (42.2FanDuel points) and is a guy to build around on this slate.

Mid-Salaried Play
Kyle Hendricks, Chicago Cubs

At St. Louis Cardinals
FanDuel Salary: $7,500

It feels like Kyle Hendricks may have turned a corner recently. Let's dig in.

While 2021 certainly got off to a rough start, Hendricks has been really solid as of late. Including shutting down the high-powered Los Angeles Dodgers offense, spanning his last three outings, Hendricks has allowed only six earned runs over his last 20 innings pitched, recording 17 strikeouts.

And while the St. Louis Cardinals have been a solid offense, they own some very interesting splits. They have demolished lefties but have really struggled against right-handers, including a wRC+ mark of 92 and only a .159 isolated power (ISO).

Hendricks is a fine mid-range pick on this slate, and we project him for 27.2 FanDuel points.

Low-Salaried Play
Randy Dobnak, Minnesota Twins

At Cleveland Indians
FanDuel Salary: $6,200

At the very end of the pitching end, Randy Dobnak enters the starting rotation to give teammate Kenta Maeda an extra day of rest.

Now, beware -- Dobnak has stunk this season as a reliever. The sinkerballer has recorded an 8.16 ERA and 1.47 WHIP over 14 1/3 innings pitched. But let's also not sleep on how good Dobnak has been historically, and the dude hasn't simply forgotten how to pitch. While he's never been a high-volume strikeout arm, his 3.96 FIP showed in 2020 the dude can get outs.

And, his opponent has been more than kind to opposing pitchers -- the Cleveland Indians have already been no-hit twice in 2021. They rank as one of the league's worst offenses with a .292 wOBA mark, making Dobnak an intriguing value option.

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.