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

Dylan Cease, Chicago White Sox

At Oakland Athletics
FanDuel Salary: $10,800

We are possibly witnessing a historically great season, and we are just finally just starting to realize it.

Trying to become the 18th pitcher in the history of baseball that was not an All-Star but did win the Cy Young, Dylan Cease has been red hot on the mound. In 156 innings pitched in 2022, Cease has broken out in a major way, logging a 3.02 FIP strengthened due to a 31.4% strikeout rate. Batters have logged only a 26.3% hard-hit rate against him this year.

And his opponent tonight, the Oakland Athletics, stink at the plate. They've logged the second-worst wOBA in the league (.277), the second-worst isolated power (.129), and a healthy 23.4% strikeout rate.

We have Cease as the top arm on the evening, making him quite the worthy choice.

Mid-Range Play
Kyle Gibson, Philadelphia Phillies

Vs Miami Marlins
FanDuel Salary: $9,100

If you are looking to pivot down and save a little bit of coin, can I suggest some Kyle Gibson action for ya?

Locked into a likely pitching duel squaring up with Sandy Alcantara, we could be in for a doozy this evening. The contest sports a microscopic over/under of 7.0 runs thanks to the prowess of these two arms, but it would be remiss to ignore the pathetic play of the Miami Marlins at the plate. They, like the A's, struggle to manufacture runs -- they rank fifth-worst in the league in team strikeout rate (24.0%) and fourth-worst in wOBA (.288).

Gibson's 19.6% strikeout rate doesn't pop off the page, but he's been buoyed by a 46.0% ground-ball rate and only a 28.7% ground-ball rate. Hitters may not swing and miss a ton, but they certainly don't make a ton of hard contact against him.

Consider the Philly right-hander as a very strong secondary option on Thursday.

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.