MLB

FanDuel Pitching Primer: Tuesday 5/17/22

Matt Kupferle  —  @MKupferle May 17th, 2022
Jameson Taillon headlines the starting pitching crew for Tuesday's main slate. Which other pitching options should we think about?

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-Salary Play
Jameson Taillon, New York Yankees

at Baltimore Orioles
FanDuel Salary: $9,200

This slate leaves a bit to be desired at pitcher, and there are some high-salaried options like Logan Gilbert ($10,100) and Nathan Eovaldi ($9,500) who could see some hefty roster percentages. But with challenging matchups against the Toronto Blue Jays and Houston Astros, respectively, I'm pivoting over to Jameson Taillon of the New York Yankees.

Let's peep some of Taillon's work in 2022. He's been nearly impossible to barrel (7.4%), he's given out almost no walks whatsoever (2.3%), and his 46.9% ground-ball rate is a solid mark. The one knock against the righty is a low strikeout rate (19.4%), which does leave a bit to be desired.

However, the struggling Baltimore offense may cure a lot of those ails. They are near the basement in terms of team wOBA (.292) and ISO (.116), and that pairs delightfully as a team to attack when you notice their lofty 24.5% strikeout rate.

We are projecting Taillon for 28.1 FanDuel points, but there's certainly upside potential for a lot more.

Mid-Salary Play
Reid Detmers, Los Angeles Angels

at Texas Rangers
FanDuel Salary: $8,100

I'll be very honest that this is a pretty tough slate to parse through, and normally speaking, I don't love guys coming off milestone games. If you missed it, Reid Detmers hurled a no-hitter in his last outing. Only a leadoff walk to Taylor Walls in the sixth inning prevented Detmers from a perfect game.

And while Detmers doesn't necessarily provide the strikeout upside that we crave in fantasy baseball, everything else shines in the guy's profile. Over 31 innings this season, he's walked only seven batters, good for a minuscule 0.84 WHIP. Detmers also isn't allowing many barrels (7.9%), suggesting he's keeping hitters off balance.

The other thing going for the young southpaw is that the Texas Rangers are not exactly the Murderer's Row at the dish. They rank at the bottom of the league in terms of team wOBA (.281) and isolated power (.278), although they are a bit difficult to whiff (20.1%).

Given his affordable salary and a lack of great options, go with Detmers.

Low-Salary Play
Dylan Bundy, Minnesota Twins

at Oakland Athletics
FanDuel Salary: $7,000

Expected to return tonight for a start after battling COVID-19, Dylan Bundy probably couldn't have asked for a much softer landing spot than facing off with the Oakland Athletics in Oakland tonight.

Using ESPN's park factors, we can see that Oakland ranks 21st in park factor and 27th in home run factor on the year. Not only is it a difficult hitter's venue, but the home team ranks at the bottom of the league with a .260 wOBA and .108 ISO, and they strike out the seventh-most with a 24.4% K rate.

Now, Bundy isn't exactly doing his best impression of Cy Young this season. Over 25 innings pitched, he's logged a 5.76 ERA, although a 3.46 xFIP shows that he's maybe been a bit unlucky. He's been stingy with walks (4.7%), and he owns a very respectable 30.1% CSW rate. If you're searching for a cheap hurler, Bundy is 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.