FanDuel Pitching Primer: Monday 7/19/21
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?
Mid-Salaried Play
Casey Mize, Detroit Tigers
Vs. Texas Rangers
FanDuel Salary: $8,100
There's a lot of high-priced and low-priced players today, but in the middle, Casey Mize and a tantalizing matchup tonight against the woeful Texas Rangers cannot be ignored.
First, peep Mize's prowess this year -- unbeknownst to many, the righty has logged a very strong 3.59 ERA and 1.14 WHIP this season, spanning 95 1/3 innings. While the whiffs maybe aren't super high (77), the matchup takes care of that.
The Rangers clock in with a .299 wOBA and 89 wRC+, and their strikeout rate (24.1%) is elevated as well. For a cheaper option, peep Mize.
Low-Salaried Play
Ryan Yarbrough, Tampa Bay Rays
Vs. Baltimore Orioles
FanDuel Salary: $7,400
Coming with a value over 4.0X, Ryan Yarbrough can simply not be ignored if you want to go bargain basement hunting tonight in DFS.
First, the matchup, which is juicy as hell -- the Baltimore Orioles are not a good baseball team, clocking in 22nd in team wOBA (.302) with a 24.0% strikeout rate.
Secondly, Yarbrough may not win the strikeout title with his sub-20% K Rate, but his 4.30 FIP shows he's more than held his own as a starter this year. He's held the juggernaut Jays in check in each of his last two starts, recording wins, so if you are hunting for a cheap play, the southpaw may be your guy.
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.
