FanDuel Pitching Primer: Monday 5/24/21
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-Salaried Play
Lance Lynn, Chicago White Sox
Vs. St. Louis Cardinals
FanDuel Salary: $11,000
Facing his old teammates, Lance Lynn of the Chicago White Sox stands out as a great option tonight.
The Sox have won 20 -- yes 20 -- straight games against southpaws, and there's no surprise the Cardinals are heavy underdogs in tonight's game with Kwang-Hyun Kim on the bump. But a hidden factor in this game is that while the Cardinals slam left-handed pitching, they have struggled against righties with a .297 wOBA mark in this split.
Another high-end option is Brandon Woodruff, but I am shying away as the San Diego Padres, Woodruff's opponent has logged a .364 wOBA in the last two weeks, and they have recorded only an 18.9% strikeout rate over the same time frame.
Lynn tops our projections (34.7 FanDuel points) and is a guy to build around on this slate.
Mid-Salaried Play
Frankie Montas, Oakland Athletics
Vs. Seattle Mariners
FanDuel Salary: $8,400
When the Seattle Mariners called up stud prospect Jarred Kelenic, they were hoping for an offensive explosion. So far, they are still waiting.
Kelenic and the Mariners have been moribund at the dish, to put it politely. They own the league's worst team wOBA mark at .282, and they are striking out at the fifth-highest clip in all of baseball (26.4%).
Montas, meanwhile, has been turning things up a notch. Over his last five starts, spanning 29 1/3 innings, Montas has whiffed 25 batters. He makes for a fine mid-range pick on this slate, and we project him for 29.6 FanDuel points.
Low-Salaried Play
Austin Gomber, Colorado Rockies
At New York Mets
FanDuel Salary: $7,000
Back-to-back impressive outings against the same team (Padres) have some people raising their eyebrows, but in a good way -- let's dig in and see if the Austin Gomber hype is real.
Traded from the St. Louis Cardinals to the Colorado Rockies in the offseason, Gomber has given this rotation a much-needed shot in the arm. While he gave up a horrendous outing to begin the year, he's been outstanding as of late. And if you can dominate one of the best offenses in two consecutive starts, you can pitch.
Now, he's facing a Triple-A offense in the New York Mets. Tthat's not meant as an insult, but with Pete Alonso, Jeff McNeil, Brandon Nimmo, and Michael Conforto all injured, that's just not the same team. Load up on Gomber if you need a value arm.
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.
