FanDuel Pitching Primer: Tuesday 4/13/21
Just like in other sports, the focal point of your daily fantasy baseball lineups will be your high-salary studs. These guys take up by far the biggest chunk of your cap space, but they also offer the highest ceiling. And in the case of pitchers, the high-salary options typically come with the highest floors, too.
For hitters, we're looking for guys with big numbers, strong matchups, and with players around them that are likely to produce well, too, increasing our chances for runs and RBI. For pitchers, we want big strikeout numbers, while the ability to go deep in a game and pick up a win is also valuable.
With your high-salary picks playing such a big role in your lineup, you need to be right on these guys, so let's take a look at a few top-end options you can count on to anchor your lineup today.
High-Salaried Option
Trevor Bauer, Los Angeles Dodgers
vs Colorado Rockies
FanDuel Salary: $11,000
If pitching is your thing, holy crap, Tuesday is filled with some monster arms. Shane Bieber ($11,200), Stephen Strasburg ($10,400), and Lucas Giolito ($9,800) are all on the rubber, but Trevor Bauer seems to make the most sense.
First and foremost, Bauer seems to have picked up right where he left off during his NL Cy Young campaign. He's recorded back-to-back 10 strikeout outings, logging 40-plus FanDuel points in each game.
His opponent? Those Colorado Rockies are really struggling, man, especially against righties. Whiffing at a 27% clip with a .082 isolated power (ISO) mark, Bauer makes too much sense to pay up for. Our algorithm pegs him for a crisp 45.4 points on the night, so pay up with confidence.
Mid-Salaried Play
Brandon Woodruff, Milwaukee Brewers
vs Chicago Cubs
FanDuel Salary: $8,800
I do think that there is plenty of worry here -- I absolutely despise when pitchers face an opponent again in such a short time frame. It's certainly one of the perils of early season matchups.
Now, to be fair, Brandon Woodruff of the Milwaukee Brewers eviscerated the Chicago Cubs a week ago, and he was tracking towards a no-hitter against the North Siders with eight strikeouts on the day.
But, with a 29.6% strikeout rate for the Cubs against righties, Woodruff is worth spending for in the mid-priced range.
Low-Salaried Play
Pablo Lopez, Miami Marlins
at Atlanta Braves
FanDuel Salary: $7,400
Despite a brilliant start, a single mistake to veteran catcher Yadier Molina left Pablo Lopez on the wrong side of a disappointing 2-1 loss.
Lopez and the Miami Marlins will definitely have their work cut out against the Atlanta Braves, but he's shown the ability to possibly take the next step forward. In 11 2/3 innings this year, he's whiffed 10 hitters with a miniscule 0.82 WHIP.
We forecast Lopez was for almost 21 points, making him a solid 3X value on the day.
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.
