Last Friday was a very boom or bust day for pitchers with six pitchers finishing with negative points on DraftKings. Unfortunately, I was unable to stay away from a couple of the “busts” with Matz and Taillon but at least I also hit on a couple of the “booms” with both Tanaka and Scherzer finishing in the top five pitchers on the slate.
Today we kick off the week with a solid 10-game slate of night games with an obvious ace and a lot of solid value options to choose from. As is often the case who you choose largely depends on the pricing at the site you are playing on.
Ace
Jake Arrieta (FD-$11,900 / DK-$13,700)
You probably don’t need me to tell you to play Arrieta who has followed up last season’s excellent 1.77 ERA with a 1.74 ERA so far this year. He is a huge favorite today against a Reds’ offense that strikes out 23.0% (6th worst) against righties and his in the bottom five in wOBA and wRC+. Arrieta is a great option in both Cash and GPPs as long as you can find enough good value bats.
Value
Trevor Bauer (FD-$8,900 / DK-$12,800)
Bauer is no “value” on DraftKings today priced at $12,800. If you are going to pay that much you might as well go up and get Arrieta (at least in Cash lineups). However, Bauer checks in at just $8,900 on FanDuel for a $3,000 savings from Arrieta. He gets a great matchup traveling to an NL park in Atlanta to face a Braves offense that ranks in the bottom two in ISO, wOBA and wRC+ this season. Bauer can be considered as a Cash game option on FanDuel if you want to fit in some Coors Field bats today and is a viable GPP option on both sites.
Matt Shoemaker (FD-$8,500 / DK-$9,900)
Shoemaker has really come on over his last seven starts this season with a 2.09 ERA and 10.8 K/9. Two of those starts have come against the Astros, who he will face again today at home. In the previous two starts, he has pitched 15+ innings while allowing five runs and striking out 18 batters. The strikeout should come again tonight as the Astros have struck out 24.3% (3rd worst) against righties this season. Shoemaker is a great GPP option and potential Cash game option on two-pitcher sites.
Darkhorse
Vincent Velasquez (FD-$8,100 / DK-$7,900)
I’m not digging too deep tonight with so many strong mid-priced options on the slate. So, I will go with Velasquez who will be making his first start tonight after a DL stint and will be pitching in Arizona against the Diamondbacks. Velasquez has definite risk tonight pitching in a hitters’ park in the heat of Arizona but he should be low-owned and has big strikeout upside against a Diamondbacks team that has struck out 23.4% (5th worst) against righties this season. Velasquez is an intriguing GPP-only option.
On the Hill – Results
Friday
| Type | Pitcher | DK $ | DK Pts | Grade |
| Ace | Max Scherzer | 13900 | 18.70 | A+ |
| Value | Steven Matz | 10600 | -7.65 | F |
| Value | Masahiro Tanaka | 8800 | 20.10 | A+ |
| Dark | Jameson Taillon | 7500 | -0.40 | F |
Season
| Type | A+ | A | B | C | D | F | Tot | DK Cost | DK Pts | DO Score |
| Ace | 23 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 45 | $11,776 | 25.22 | 6.29 |
| Value | 20 | 10 | 11 | 24 | 3 | 25 | 93 | $8,566 | 16.29 | 3.59 |
| Dark | 18 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 12 | 50 | $6,650 | 16.99 | 4.94 |
- 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
