Monday resulted in a mix of good and bad. The good was that I continue to be an “Adam Conley whisperer” and my Darkhorse pick, Robbie Ray, went on to be the highest scoring pitcher of the night on DraftKings (24.15 points). The bad was that my “ace” Kenta Maeda gave up four runs in the third inning and finished with a short four-inning outing. While yesterday was devoid of Ace pitchers, tonight has a ton of options but I am going to take the easy way out and go with Clayton Kershaw.
Ace
Clayton Kershaw (FD-$13,000 / DK-$13,700)
If you’ve read my column so far this year you know that I am not afraid to make a bold call and fade the top ace but tonight is not one of those nights. With so many Ace options tonight I expect Kershaw’s ownership to be a little bit lower than normal given his huge price tag. Not that you need a reason to roster Kershaw but he does face an Angels team that is in the bottom 10 in ISO (.128) and wOBA (.309) against lefties this season and he is a huge favorite going against Jered Weaver. Make every effort you can to fit him in your Cash lineup and maybe even a GPP.
Value
Jaime Garcia (FD-$8,900 / DK-$9,200)
If you are looking to avoid the Aces all together tonight, then Garcia is the guy you should be looking at. He faces a Rockies team that has struck out 25.8% of the time against lefties (3rd worst) and will be playing in St. Louis that greatly suppresses home runs and runs compared to Coors Field. Garcia has pitched well so far this season including a 9.5 K/9 which would be a career-best.
Juan Nicasio (FD-$8,400 / DK-$7,300)
If you are paying up for Kershaw today, then you will need a value pitcher for your #2 slot in two-pitcher leagues. Nicasio fits the profile at just $7,300 on DraftKings. Nicasio has had his ups and downs so far this season including giving up four runs in each of his last two starts. However, tonight Nicasio gets to face a Braves team that continues to struggle hitting with a league-worst .078 ISO and .275 wOBA against righties. Nicasio will also be pitching at home tonight where he has pitched much better so far this season.
Darkhorse
Michael Pineda (FD-$7,300 / DK-$7,500)
Tonight’s Darkhorse recommendation of Pineda is all about strikeouts. I love to target low priced pitchers that have big strikeout upside and Pineda fits the bill tonight with his career 23.4% K-rate pitching in an NL park facing a Diamondbacks team that strikes out 20.7% of the time against righties this season. Pineda should be reserved for only GPP lineups.
On the Hill – Results
Monday
| Date | Type | Pitcher | DK $ | DK Pts | Grade |
| 16-May | Ace | Kenta Maeda | 9700 | 6.80 | F |
| 16-May | Value | Adam Conley | 8200 | 20.10 | A |
| 16-May | Value | Jerad Eickhoff | 6700 | 10.70 | C |
| 16-May | Dark | Robbie Ray | 6800 | 24.15 | A+ |
Season
| Type | A+ | A | B | C | D | F | Tot | DK Cost | DK Pts | DO Score |
| Ace | 6 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 24 | $11,296 | 21.82 | 4.38 |
| Value | 9 | 5 | 8 | 15 | 0 | 14 | 51 | $8,310 | 15.96 | 3.31 |
| Dark | 9 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 26 | $6,654 | 16.40 | 4.46 |
- DK Cost is the average DraftKings cost per pitcher selected
- DK Pts is the average DraftKings points scored per pitcher selected
- DO Score is the Daily Overlay score for each type
Come back to DailyOverlay later today for the MLB Consensus list and some sample MLB lineups.
Follow me on Twitter @Rotopilot
