MLB

FanDuel Pitching Primer: Tuesday 8/23/22

Matt Kupferle  —  @MKupferle Aug 23rd, 2022
Max Fried has been tremendous this season, and he's blessed with a great matchup tonight. Which other pitchers should we be targeting?

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 where 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 #1
Carlos Rodon, San Francisco Giants

At Detroit Tigers
FanDuel Salary: $10,800

There's a slew of really dominant pitching options, but amongst all of them, Carlos Rodon of the San Francisco Giants sticks out to me.

While arms like Justin Verlander, Robbie Ray, and Corbin Burnes all have some challenging matchups to consider, Rodon really doesn't have anything we need to be afraid of tonight. He faces a Detroit Tigers squad that's been the worst in team wOBA (.273) and ISO (.106), and their 24.3% strikeout rate is more than a healthy amount.

Rodon's projected for 37.1 FanDuel points, which leads the pack. If you can spend up and still get some strong bats in, he appears very much worthy of the investment.

High-Salary Play #2
Max Fried, Atlanta Braves

At Pittsburgh Pirates
FanDuel Salary: $10,200

With so many good options available, there's a case to be made for a lot of the top-flight starters. But please indulge me and listen to why I think Max Fried makes a lot of sense, as well.

If we are taking a peek at really bad offenses on Tuesday's main slate, the Pittsburgh Pirates certainly stick out like a sore thumb. They strike out the second-most in the league (25.5%), they aren't overly intimidating with a .141 ISO, and their .287 wOBA is among the league's worst marks.

While Fried may not possess the strikeout prowess that many of the others do, his profile is otherwise glittering. He's recorded a 2.49 FIP in 145 1/3 innings pitched, notched a 4.3% walk rate, and posted a 24.6% hard-hit rate.

All of this makes Fried a great play.

Value Play
Corey Kluber, Tampa Bay Rays

Vs Los Angeles Angels
FanDuel Salary: $8,200

If these high-salary arms aren't your jam, Corey Kluber of the Tampa Bay Rays could be right up your alley.

Despite the talents of hitters like Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout, the Los Angeles Angels are an offense we can absolutely attack for DFS purposes. They lead the league in strikeout rate by a country mile (26.1%), and their .297 team wOBA mark is pretty nasty, too.

In a solid bounce-back 2022 campaign, Kluber has been pretty solid over 122 2/3 innings pitched. He's logged an 18.2% K-BB% rate, and he's allowed only a 27.8% hard-hit rate this season.

If you need a pivot from the top plays, peep Kluber.


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.