MLB

FanDuel Pitching Primer: Wednesday 9/23/20

Matt Kupferle  —  @MKupferle Sep 23rd, 2020
Today's main slate has some top end arms available, but who should be on our roster?

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-Salaried Option

Kenta Maeda, Minnesota Twins

Vs. Detroit Tigers

FanDuel Salary: $10,000

While the other two star pitchers in the AL Central (Shane Bieber and Lucas Giolito) will battle it out on Wednesday outside of the main slate, Kenta Maeda of the Minnesota Twins gets a scintillating matchup on his hands, and yet remains only the third-most-expensive pitcher.

A primer on this Detroit Tigers offense -- they strikeout aplenty (28.1%), and their 28.3% hard-hit rate against righties is not anything that should scare us as fantasy drafters.

Other top arms like Kyle Hendricks don't provide enough swing-and-miss upside, so peep Maeda if you're willing to spend up.

Mid-Salaried Play

Danny Duffy, Kansas City Royals

Vs. St. Louis Cardinals

FanDuel Salary: $7,200

Even when the St. Louis Cardinals "explode" for offense, as they did for a whopping five runs yesterday, this is an offense that is really struggling at the dish, and Danny Duffy will look to extend that misery Wednesday.

Against southpaws in 2020, the Birds rock only a .334 wOBA, and over the last two weeks, they rank as one of the worst teams in the league offensively. That could make for a prime spot for Duffy, who's logged 26-plus FanDuel points in 6 of his last 8 starts.

The Cardinals have scored a combined 27 runs in their last 8 contests, giving us a high floor option in Duffy tonight.

Low-Salaried Play

Trevor Williams, Pittsburgh Pirates

Vs. Chicago Cubs

FanDuel Salary: $6,000

This one is all about that matchup -- Trevor Williams of the Pittsburgh Pirates has been pretty mediocre this season. While he did post a string of 20-plus FanDuel points in 6 of 7 starts, that came to a halt in back-to-back dreadful outings in his last two rotation spots.

But, he faces the NL Central rival Chicago Cubs tonight, who have been a poor offensive team this season. Against righties in 2020, they've struck out at a 25.5% clip, and own a .316 wOBA. Not good, Bob.

If Williams can regain that past form against a Cub offense that's not so scary, he could make for a solid, cheap pitching play.


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.