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 McCullers, Houston Astros
At Seattle Mariners
FanDuel Salary: $10,500
Our projections have two guys out in front of the rest -- Lance McCullers and Charlie Morton ($8,600). While Morton is easy to like at his salary, I'm leaning toward McCullers.
The Houston Astros' righty has been outstanding this season. He's logged a 3.34 FIP and 27.8% strikeout rate, and his 54.4% ground-ball rate helps him limit the damage. And let's consider the opponent -- the Seattle Mariners have struck out nearly 26% of the time against right-handed pitching in 2021, so the floor and upside are there for McCullers.
We project McCullers for 36.3 FanDuel points, 0.2 more than Morton.
Mid-Salaried Play
Logan Webb, San Francisco Giants
Vs. Los Angeles Dodgers
FanDuel Salary: $8,000
With all of these Los Angeles Dodgers bats on the IL, is now the time to use a pitcher against LA? I think so.
Logan Webb went five solid innings against these same Dodgers in his last start, fanning five, so the matchup isn't too much for him. Plus, Webb has been really good all year. He's recorded a 25.3% strikeout rate, and his 26.3% hard-hit rate ranks among the league's elite.
The Dodgers haven't been great over the last two weeks as they've been short-handed. In that span, they rank 13th in team wOBA (.328) and have an elevated 25.0% strikeout rate.
With Morton just $600 more, Webb isn't likely to be a popular pick, but he could be a difference maker in tournaments.
Low-Salaried Play
Taylor Widener, Arizona Diamondbacks
At Texas Rangers
FanDuel Salary: $6,500
At the bottom of the salary scale, Taylor Widener makes for an interesting play.
Over the last two weeks, the Texas Rangers have been the worst offense in the league. In that time, they have a .215 wOBA -- far and away the worst mark in baseball. They also own a 26.1% strikeout rate in the split. Yes, please.
On the season, Widener has notched more than a punchout per inning in 33 frames, and his 7.6% walk rate wasn't too shabby, either. If you need to go with a low-salary arm, peep Widener.
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.