It is nice to see that my pitcher recommendations are doing so well in the Overall Leaderboard this season. Be sure to check out Matt’s lasted column reporting on the Expert Grading so far this season. We’ll try to keep it going this week including calling out two Darkhorse candidates tonight as there are big price differences between FanDual and DraftKings tonight.
Ace
Noah Syndergaard (FD-$11,400 / DK-$11,400)
With a few solid “ace” candidates tonight my decision came down to Madison Bumgarner and Syndergaard. At the end of my analysis, I landed on Syndergaard who has pitched better than Bumgarner so far this season, is a slightly bigger favorite and has more strikeout upside. I also have some concerns regarding the wind blowing out in San Francisco tonight. So we’ll fire up Syndergaard on both sites as my ace pitcher recommendation of the night.
Value
Ian Kennedy (FD-$8,200 / DK-$8,800)
Kennedy has started the season strong for his new team, the Royals, this season with a 1.35 ERA and 28% K-rate through is first three starts. Tonight he will face an Angels’ team that is struggling offensively to start the season with the 2nd worst ISO (.089) and league-worst wOBA (.241) against righties so far this year. Kennedy is a small road underdog tonight but the Royals hit righties well and I expect them to get to Angels’ righty starter Garrett Richards tonight. Kennedy is a viable option in both Cash and GPP lineups.
Rick Porcello (FD-$7,400 / DK-$8,100)
Porcello is a decent sized road favorite tonight against Julio Teheran and the light hitting Braves. The Braves rank dead last in ISO this season against righties at .069 and have the 4th worst wOBA against righties at .283. Porcello has been better than his surface numbers indicate so far this season with a 2.89 xFIP compared to his ERA of 4.66. He has also greatly improved his K-rate (30.8%) so far this season so there may be more strikeout potential than many consider when thinking about Porcello. I prefer him as a potential Cash game pitching option on two-pitcher sites but he could also be worth a GPP flier.
Darkhorse
Kevin Gausman (FD-$6,500 / DK-$8,600) / Ross Stripling (FD-$7,600 / DK-$5,600)
Two for the price of one Darkhorse picks tonight due to the wide salary discrepancy on these two pitchers between FanDuel and DraftKings. Gausman at $2,100 cheaper on FanDuel makes for a great high upside GPP play due to his big strikeout potential tonight against the Rays’ offense which is last in the majors in K-rate against righties at 28.1%. Meanwhile, Stripling is $2,000 cheaper on DraftKings and comes into tonight’s matchup as a decent sized home favorite against the Marlins. Stripling does not have the strikeout upside that Gausman has but should be in a good position to go deep in the game, limit the damage and pick up the win in a pitcher-friendly environment against the Marlins’ team with the 4th worst ISO against righties at just .116 this season. Gausman should be limited to GPP lineups on FanDuel while Stripling could be a second pitcher option on DraftKings in Cash or GPP lineups.
On the Hill – Results
Friday
| Date | Type | Pitcher | DK $ | DK Pts | Grade |
| 22-Apr | Value | Jeff Samardzija | 9300 | 25.65 | A+ |
| 22-Apr | Value | Gio Gonzalez | 9100 | 25.30 | A |
| 22-Apr | Dark | Nick Tropeano | 6100 | 13.20 | C |
- Ace selection (Felix Hernandez) was scratched on Friday
Season
| Type | A+ | A | B | C | D | F | Tot | DK Cost | DK Pts | DO Score |
| Ace | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 12 | $11,333 | 20.43 | 3.92 |
| Value | 3 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 0 | 9 | 26 | $8,442 | 13.75 | 2.50 |
| Dark | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 12 | $6,425 | 17.56 | 4.83 |
- 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.
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