Welcome to our new daily article breaking down some of the other pitching targets on this slate. We covered our system's top value plays in our daily picks article but here we will look at other dudes to consider.
Now’s your chance to get DFSR Pro with MLB Optimal Lineups, Projections and Player Cards. Or try a free trial of our base package with projections for every player. While the seasons overlap, you'll get access to our tools for the NBA and NHL as well! Get started for free by clicking the button below.
First time with MLB? Be sure to read our free MLB Ebook on building lineups, general strategy and more. We've got you completely covered.
A quick heads up - we post an updates article every day in the early afternoon, EST, to catch everyone up on how things are changing as a result of whatever news has come through. We also have great talks in the comments of that article. Hope to see you there!
Pitching Targets
Note: We discussed Clayton Kershaw and Stephen Strasburg in the Main Article. And will be going over a few more options below.
Opponent - PIT (Locke) Park - @PIT
FD - 41.83 DK - 23.17
Alright let's be honest -- Kershaw and Strasburg going at it is going to be a fun one to watch and both guys should have big games, but who's going to get the W? With a 5 1/2 run-total runs are going to be hard to come by for either side, so if you're chasing a win; Kershaw or Strasburg isn't your guy.
If you play on FanDuel and play tournaments, I would plugin Madison Bumgarner. This guy is one of the best pitchers in the game and draws a favorable matchup against Jeff Locke (much better chances to get the W). Jeff Locke's ERA is well over 5, and Bumgarner's ERA is a tad under 2. See the difference? The Giants should have no problem scoring today and Mad-Bum's upside is through the roof with a 28.1 K%. Go ahead and fade Kershaw and Strasburg with Bumgarner; he's also an elite pitcher.
Opponent - STL (Garcia) Park - @CHC
FD - 35.37 DK - 18.46
The 37-year-old workhorse has just been pitching out of his mind. He is coming into this contest sporting a 2.98 FIP, 0.93 WHIP and 27.1 K%. He is putting up elite numbers as a Cubbie and should deliver a quality start against the Cardinals. If you're one of those people into narrative games, this contest has just that. Not only is this one of the better rivalries in baseball, but Lackey was rocking a Cards' uniform last season. So there's your "narrative" for all of you narrative junkies out there.
The Cardinals aren't the ideal offense to target against, but with the way Lackey has been pitching this season, I'm not in fade mode, instead I'm in play mode. He has tremendous upside and I wouldn't be surprised if he pitched a gem. Looking for some separation and don't like Madison Bumgarner? Then Lackey is your guy.
Opponent - CLE (Tomlin) Park - @CLE
FD - 31.16 DK - 16.38
Drew Smyly has been inconsistent this season, but when he's on, you definitely want a piece of him. In his last outing, he allowed two earned runs, no walks and fanned 12 batters. He was on! This guy has tremendous upside with a 27.7 K%, which is why he is a nice tournament option to pair up with one of those elite arms. He owns a 4.75 ERA with a 3.88 xFIP. He's been a much better pitcher than his ERA suggests, so don't worry so much about that and trust the southpaws arm. This kid has electric stuff!
The Indians like to play all their righties against southpaws, so it will be interesting to see what they put together today. The good thing is that nothing has really worked. They own a .313 wOBA (20th in MLB), .135 ISO (26th in MLB) and 95 wRC+ (19th in MLB). They have not been as good against southpaws as we anticipated (at least myself), so go ahead and get Smyly in your lineups. He could win you a tourney with that upside!
So yeah, baseball season! And we've got some goodies you can take with you. At the end of the post, we have our MLB eBook that you really ought to check out before setting even a single daily fantasy MLB lineup. It's free, below.
And Daily Fantasy MLB Picks for FanDuel and DraftKings every day!
Get a free trial to DFSR NFL DFS projections for DraftKings and FanDuel.
Get a free trial to DFSR NBA DFS projections for DraftKings and FanDuel.
A packed slate of late-season NBA DFS action on DraftKings and FanDuel
We've got a ton of games going with picks and plays for DFS NBA games…
A packed Tuesday of NBA DFS action on FanDuel and DraftKings
We've got an interesting slate of NBA DFS action on DraftKings and FanDuel.
View Comments
Thoughts on Fister?
Nick what do you think of Chacin tonight vs Houston as a GPP play?
Good question Mike I like running a cheap pitcher and he's in a couple of my line ups. Guess we can hope for 25-30 points. Let's hope tonight's not the game Houstons bats wake up!
@Stan
I like Fister and he's been great this season, but there is no upside. The Angels strikeout under 20% of the time and Fister isn't known for his K ability.
I do like his matchup, but I just don't like the upside.
@Mike
I'm not a fan of his at all. He will be pitching on the road and has not done anything this season, besides his performance vs. Detroit. The Astros do strikeout a lot , but I wouldn't touch Chacin.
Ok thanks Nick yeah pretty much the only thing going for him is their strikeout rate hate the park and not a huge fan of Chacin another guy I was looking at was Karns vs Detroit any upside there for tournaments? Decent park they strike out a fair amount and Karns isn't terrible trying to figure a way to grab Clayton and a few decent bats without completely giving up on life at a number of positions
What about Wright against the White Sox? Is he just too expensive to mention?
@Mike are you playing cash games or tournaments?
message me on twitter @nrodriguezdfs if anything
@tony
No I'm a fan of Wright today. He's been great this year and I'm expecting him to get some run support. Not a top option on today's slate (obviously), but should have a nice outing
Only GPP
@mike
I'd much rather go Karns over Chachin. I don't mind the Karns play one bit. he''s a nice gpp play
Ok thanks I appreciate it good luck tonight