Pitchers
Walker Buehler- This slate doesn’t appear quite as loaded at the top tier as it was yesterday, but there are still plenty of quality options starting with Walker Buehler against the Diamondbacks. The Diamondbacks are not a super high strikeout opponent, their projected lineup owns a just a 22% strikeout rate, but that might not matter given the form that Buehler has been in. Over the last month, he has hit another level pitching to a 2.93 SIERA with 35% strikeouts. He is the most expensive pitcher on both FanDuel and DraftKings, and as you can see, given his recent form, he is worthy of the price tag. He grades out as my top overall option on this slate and I think he is playable in all formats tonight.
Shane Bieber- Bieber has been unreal for the Indians this season posting a 3.31 SIERA with 31% strikeouts and winning All-Star game MVP. He has a tough matchup on paper with the Minnesota Twins, but it got a nice boost with the news that Nelson Cruz was placed on the IL today. He has routinely excelled in tough matchups this season, and there is a bit of narrative in play with this one as the Indians are just one game behind the Twins in the AL Central standings. I’m looking at this slate, and to me, while Buehler stands out in terms of safety + upside for cash games, Bieber is close enough in price that we should see some pretty depressed ownership even factoring in the complete game upside he has flashed multiple times already in 2019.
Drew Smyly- I find it weird how often I have been on him recently, but he sticks out as one of the top value plays at pitcher tonight priced at $5,800 on DraftKings. There is enough upper tier pitching that I don’t want to mess with him on FanDuel, but on multi-pitcher sites it’s hard to overlook him as a potential SP2 partner with Buehler. During his time with the Phillies, Smyly is striking out around 30% of batters, while he has control issues, they are muted by both his newfound strikeout upside and his price tag. The Giants are not a high strikeout lineup, but they aren’t a good one offensively either and at his price we aren’t looking for 8 strikeouts, just 12-15 fantasy points.
GPP Option: Caleb Smith- Smith’s control has been holding him back recently with over 11% walks for the last month, but his matchup sticks out tonight against the Atlanta Braves. The Braves are not typically a team that we like to target in DFS, but given some of their recent injuries there are a much more strikeout-prone team. Tonight’s Braves lineup strikes out 25% of the time against left-handed pitching, and we know that Smith has upside with his K’s. This game also takes place in pitcher-friendly Miami, where Smith has excelled this season.
Building Blocks
Hunter Dozier + Jorge Soler- I guess you could call this a holiday, but it’s Edwin Jackson day once again, and with the amount of games and the fact that the Royals are not a great offense, we might actually get some relatively low-owned exposure here. It’s no secret that Jackson has been the number one target for MLB DFS players over the past few years — especially earlier this season during his time in Toronto. He will make the start for the Tigers tonight, and there’s no worry about getting him out of the game early as the Tigers bullpen is equally awful. Both Dozier and Soler have an ISO of .250 or higher against right-handed pitching, and they aren’t priced out of the cash game range on Friday night.
For now, these are my only two “Building Blocks” on this slate. I will be plugging both into my optimal lineups and then hopefully mixing in some exposure to the other top offenses on this slate with the savings I get from Drew Smyly as my SP2.
Written by Ben Hossler (Follow @BenHossler on Twitter)
