MLB

FanDuel Pitching Primer: Tuesday 6/1/21

Max Fried has been outstanding as of late, and he faces a Nats offense that's been up and down recently. Which other arms should we think about?

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 Play
Tyler Glasnow, Tampa Bay Rays

At New York Yankees
FanDuel Salary: $10,700

Tyler Glasnow added a third pitch this offseason, and boy, oh boy, has he been brilliant this year.

Sporting season-long marks of 98 strikeouts in 70 innings pitched, a scintillating 2.57 ERA, and only a 0.93 WHIP, the offensive doldrums of the New York Yankees, Glasnow's opponent, are only going to get worse tonight. In the last 14 days, the Yankees have ranked sixth-worst in team wOBA with an ugly 27.6% strikeout rate.

Glasnow tops our projections and is a guy to build around.

Mid-Salaried Play
Max Fried, Atlanta Braves

Vs. Washington Nationals
FanDuel Salary: $8,800

The Washington Nationals have been better at the dish of late. With Josh Bell and Kyle Schwarber slugging long balls, they've certainly improved and are going to be a tough offense to pitch to.

But for all of their pop in the lineup, they have shown some ugly warts, too. They have still been swinging and missing a lot, as evidenced by their 24.7% strikeout rate over the same time frame -- so this isn't necessarily a particularly scary matchup for Max Fried.

Since returning to pitch following an injury, the lefty has been brilliant. Fried has allowed only one earned run in each of his last four starts, and he makes for a great mid-range play.

Low-Salaried Play
Sonny Gray, Cincinnati Reds

Vs. Philadelphia Phillies
FanDuel Salary: $7,700

We haven't seen the best of Sonny Gray yet this season -- his 3.40 ERA and 1.32 WHIP are certainly indicative of that -- but if his last two outings are a reflection of him rounding into form, the best could be coming soon.

Over the last two turns, Gray has pitched 12 innings while whiffing 13 and allowing only 2 earned runs. And what's even better, the team Gray faces, the Philadelphia Phillies, have been awful over the last week. They've logged the third-worst team wOBA (.240), a .100 isolated power mark, and a 24.4% strikeout rate.

We peg Gray as a 4.13x value tonight, and against this woeful Phillies lineup, it could be a monster evening for Gray.


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.