Today’s slate sees pitching finally reign supreme. We have a half dozen capable arms today and picking the top ones will be a challenge. Today is a day to spend for pitching and look for value bats, the opposite of what we’ve become accustomed to for the last few days. It’s a nice slate and palming smaller ones that exclude a few games would be the best way to narrow down pitching here.
As mentioned in the discord, we will not be writing full articles like this anymore, starting on Friday. We are slashing the premium price in half and strictly doing Discord notes and answering any and all questions. This will help us to give you all access to the same analysis at a lower price, while removing the laborious article formatting and drafting process from our research. Please reach out if you have any questions but becoming a new premium member at the severely discounted rate will be the only way to see our content as of this Friday. Good luck and game on.
DraftKings uses this scoring:
| Hitters | |
| Single | +3 Pts |
| Double | +5 Pts |
| Triple | +8 Pts |
| Home Run | +10 Pts |
| Run Batted In | +2 Pts |
| Run | +2 Pts |
| Base on Balls | +2 Pts |
| Hit By Pitch | +2 Pts |
| Stolen Base | +5 Pts |
| Pitchers | |
| Inning Pitched | +2.25 Pts |
| Strikeout | +2 Pts |
| Win | +4 Pts |
| Earned Run Allowed | -2 Pts |
| Hit Against | -0.6 Pts |
| Base on Balls Against | -0.6 Pts |
| Hit Batsman | -0.6 Pts |
| Complete Game | +2.5 Pts |
| Complete Game Shutout | +2.5 Pts |
| No Hitter | +5 Pts |
Fanduel uses the following:
| Hitters | |
| Single | +3 Pts |
| Double | +6 Pts |
| Triple | +9 Pts |
| Home Run | +12 Pts |
| Run Batted In | +3.5 Pts |
| Run | +3.2 Pts |
| Base on Balls | +3 Pts |
| Hit By Pitch | +3 Pts |
| Stolen Base | +6 Pts |
| Pitchers | |
| Inning Pitched | +3 Pts |
| Strikeout | +3 Pts |
| Win | +6 Pts |
| Earned Run Allowed | -3 Pts |
| Quality Start | 4 Pts |
Phillies() V Yankees() 7:05 EST
| Pitcher | DK $ | FD $ | ERA | WHIP | L wOBA | R wOBA |
| Jake Arrieta | $11,000 | $6,600 | 4.64 | 1.29 | .538 | .367 |
| Gerrit Cole | $6,200 | $11,000 | 2.50 | 0.89 | .352 | .332 |
Jake Arrieta and the Phillies finally return to action as the league constantly reshuffles schedules and plans. Arrieta basically lost last season due to bone spurs and he needs to prove he still has it in a contract year here. Unfortunately for him, the Yankees are hot and hitting everything out of the park. Judge has 6 home runs in his last 5 games, can he do it again?
Gerrit Cole is an ace among aces but has looked vulnerable so far, surrendering some runs to lineups he should have kept silent. The most important thing is he is still striking guys out at a phenomenal pace and he is of course playable on both sites. JY Realmuto has phenomenal numbers against him somehow and could be a fun punt option.
Mets(-130) V Braves (+110) 8:10 EST
| Pitcher | DK $ | FD $ | ERA | WHIP | L wOBA | R wOBA |
| Jacob deGrom | $11,600 | $10,700 | 2.43 | 0.97 | .331 | .318 |
| Mike Soroka | $9,400 | $8,500 | 2.68 | 1.11 | .419 | .281 |
Jacob deGrom is a top starting option every time he takes the field and a matchup with the Braves, although not ideal, does not change that. He has handled them well in the past and today should be no exception.
Mike Soroka has been great to start the year and has had historically fast starts. He will likely stand in the way of a deGrom win here and has the ability to match his performance against the Mets lineup that was just abandoned by Cespedes. He is playable on both sites and is a great option.
Pirates() V Twins() 2:05 EST
| Pitcher | DK $ | FD $ | ERA | WHIP | L wOBA | R wOBA |
| Derek Holland | $6,000 | $6,200 | 6.08 | 1.51 | .244 | .406 |
| Lewis Thorpe | $8,400 | $5,600 | 6.18 | 1.73 | .386 | .384 |
Derek Holland is a mediocre lefty facing off against the powerhouse Twins. Donaldson, Cruz, Sano, etc should all be happy to welcome him to the Twin Cities and will likely send him home early. This is a top option to stack today.
Lewis Thorpe has silenced opponents in his limited relief appearances so far but he likely does not have the pitch count or strikeout upside to be playable here even though the Pirates can’t hit. We’d rather take their bats than him but even that is not appealing.
White Sox() V Brewers () 8:10 EST
| Pitcher | DK $ | FD $ | ERA | WHIP | L wOBA | R wOBA |
| Carlos Rodon | $7,000 | $6,600 | 3.62 | 1.44 | .184 | .323 |
| Brett Anderson | $7,300 | $6,900 | 3.89 | 1.31 | .258 | .325 |
Carlos Rodon is an electric lefty with control problems who is coming off a major injury. He is not playable until he gets more reps in and shows better control but the Brewers offense is also not the most exciting group of bats.
Brett Anderson is a crappy lefty getting the start here presumably because the Brewers are already waving a white flag. The White Sox offense has plenty of big righties to make him pay, including rookie Nick Madrigal who is minimum price on Fanduel.
Royals(+135) V Cubs(-160) 8:15 EST
| Pitcher | DK $ | FD $ | ERA | WHIP | L wOBA | R wOBA |
| Danny Duffy | $6,600 | $6,400 | 4.34 | 1.31 | .339 | .318 |
| Alec Mills | $8,000 | $7,000 | 2.75 | 1.17 | .412 | .232 |
It’s a shame we have this 2 pitchers going today because we have 15 MPH winds blowing in from the outfield which is fantastic pitching weather. Duffy has the most strikeout upside between the two starters here but he also faces the tougher offense. He’s worth a look and can limit damage with enough ks and assistance from the weather.
Alec Mills is an okay pitcher with limited strikeout upside. We already mentioned the weather bonus for him but we aren’t sure if he can get enough strikeouts to be playable, even against the Royals. You can look at him as an SP #2 on DK but that’s likely about it.
Giants(+125) V Rockies(-145) 8:40 EST
| Pitcher | DK $ | FD $ | ERA | WHIP | L wOBA | R wOBA |
| Johnny Cueto | $5,100 | $5,700 | 5.06 | 1.25 | .446 | .228 |
| Chi Chi Gonzalez | $6,200 | $5,600 | 5.29 | 1.46 | .362 | .308 |
Johnny Cueto and Coors are not a great combination to roster on your team. We are looking at Rockies bats here with a particular interest in lefties like Blackmon and Dahl.
Chi Chi barely won this starting position and he wasn’t against tough competition for it. He was terrible last year but has looked okay in his spring and summer appearances. The Giants lineup is not thrilling to stack but guys like Yastrzemski and Brandon Crawford will have opportunities.
Athletics(-185) V Mariners(+155) 9:10 EST
| Pitcher | DK $ | FD $ | ERA | WHIP | L wOBA | R wOBA |
| Frankie Montas | $7,200 | $7,700 | 2.63 | 1.11 | .274 | .278 |
| Justus Sheffield | $5,800 | $6,500 | 5.50 | 1.72 | .359 | .380 |
Frankie Montas looks great so far and has the strikeout upside we need. He is exceedingly cheap on both sites which moves him up the ranks to a top option by himself and using him as your second pitcher on DK with a more expensive ace makes a lot of sense.
Justus Sheffield has twice as many walks as strikeouts so far and we are close to calling him a failed prospect already. Athletics bats are in play and we love righties like Chapman and Laureano.
Dodgers() V Padres() 9:10 EST
| Pitcher | DK $ | FD $ | ERA | WHIP | L wOBA | R wOBA |
| Walker Buehler | $10,300 | $10,000 | 3.26 | 1.04 | .263 | .277 |
| Chris Paddack | $7,600 | $9,100 | 3.33 | 0.98 | .280 | .255 |
We love Walker Buehler but he’s still behind in his pitch count and the Padres are mostly right handed. There is no reason to look here with so many great arms on the board but we also will stay away from Padres bats for the most part.
Chris Paddack has been lights out but the Dodgers are the ultimate test for a right handed arm. He was demolished by them last season and we see little reason to expect anything different today. Dodgers bats are in play.
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