I might have an aspiring “On the Hill” writer with my son who came up with his own Darkhorse pick yesterday when he selected Albert Suarez at 0.9% owned in a Double Up to help easily bring home a winning lineup. I guess I better make sure I keep having success with my pitcher recommendation because there is always someone pushing for your job. So let’s take a look at tonight’s full 15-game slate.
Ace
Max Scherzer (FD-$11,900 / DK-$13,900)
Scherzer might break the single-game strikeout record tonight. He has a 32.3% strikeout rate this season and faces a Brewers team that has the highest strikeout rate (25.9%) against righties this season. If that wasn’t enough Scherzer has a 43.1% strikeout rate against current Brewer hitters over 65 plate appearances. It could be a long night for Brewers’ hitters and a good night to pay the price to own Scherzer.
Value
Steven Matz (FD-$10,400 / DK-$10,600)
Matz is kind of a “value ace” tonight as he carries a sizeable price tag but still offers big savings from Scherzer especially on DraftKings if you are looking to pay down a little bit at pitcher. Matz also carries some risk tonight after experiencing some soreness in his elbow in his last start. Due to this, I would suggest limiting your exposure to him in Cash games and making him primarily a GPP play in a favorable matchup against the Braves.
Masahiro Tanaka (FD-$9,500 / DK-$8,800)
Tanaka last start was eight innings of one-run ball with five strikeouts against the Twins. The same team he will square off against the Twins again tonight. The Twins rank in the bottom 10 in K%, wOBA, ISO and wRC+ against righties this season. Tanaka also comes in as the biggest favorite of the night so a win is well within reach. Tanaka is a solid Cash or GPP option.
Darkhorse
Jameson Taillon (FD-$7,200 / DK-$7,500)
Taillon had a rough outing in his last start allowing three homers in four innings to the Cubs in Chicago. I’m willing to give him a pass on that outing against one of the best offenses in baseball. Tonight he shouldn’t face as much of a challenge against a Dodgers offense that is only in the middle of the pack against righties this season and will be playing at PNC Park in Pittsburgh which should help Taillon control the long balls. Taillon will be opposed by the Dodgers’ Nick Tepesch who hasn’t pitched in the majors since 2014 and holds a career 4.56 ERA in 39 starts. Taillon is worth a GPP flier and possibly can be used as a #2 pitcher on two-pitcher sites.
On the Hill – Results
Wednesday
| Type | Pitcher | DK $ | DK Pts | Grade |
| Ace | Cole Hamels | 10400 | 27.30 | A+ |
| Value | Trevor Bauer | 10600 | 42.35 | A+ |
| Value | Jose Quintana | 7900 | -6.40 | F |
| Dark | Francisco Liriano | 5800 | 9.85 | D |
Season
| Type | A+ | A | B | C | D | F | Tot | DK Cost | DK Pts | DO Score |
| Ace | 22 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 44 | $11,727 | 25.37 | 6.20 |
| Value | 19 | 10 | 11 | 24 | 3 | 24 | 91 | $8,541 | 16.51 | 3.56 |
| Dark | 18 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 11 | 49 | $6,633 | 17.35 | 5.04 |
- 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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