We have 14 games going tonight which means 28 starting pitchers, and since most teams began their season five days ago, we’ll be getting most team’s aces. Last year in the FantasyPros expert accuracy, I was ranked #1 out 70 fantasy baseball analysts for starting pitchers. This morning, and most other weekday mornings, I’ll bring you my daily fantasy baseball pitcher’s chart along with my top streamer of the day, top DFS cash game option and top DFS tournament option. Every Tuesday, this chart can be found within my FanDuel lineup advice article which comes out around lunchtime. Alright, ready? Let’s do this!
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Top Streamer
Johnny Cueto (SF vs SD)
With at least a dozen aces on the mound today, pickings are slim from a streamer perspective. If you play in a 10-team league, Dustin May or even Rich Hill might still be available and either is a major upgrade over Cueto today. San Franciso’s de facto ace won’t go deep into the game this evening but he got the job done in his first start, going 4 innings and allowing just 1 run with 3 Ks against the Dodgers’ imposing lineup. Today, he gets an easier task, at home (a major pitcher-friendly park) against a decent Padres lineup. You likely won’t get the win, but a handful of strikeouts are possible to probably go with solid ratios.
Top DFS Cash Game Option
Gerrit Cole (NYY @ BAL)
Any time we see two of Gerrit Cole, Jacob deGrom or Max Scherzer throwing on the same day, it makes for an extremely difficult decision. Today, we have all three. Scherzer pitches in the earlier slate so assuming you are playing the main slate, he is already out of the equation. Then when you look at the matchups, deGrom draws a struggling, but dangerous Red Sox lineup while Cole gets perhaps the worst lineup in baseball with the Orioles. This one is a gimme unless you are hoping to save some money, in which case Rich Hill is probably your best option since the Twins are -195 favorites against the visiting Cardinals.
Top DFS Tournament Option
Lance Lynn (TEX vs ARI)
Like Scherzer listed above, Lynn is on the earlier and all-day slates. If you want a main slate GPP play, Matt Boyd is your best bet, as he has double-digit strikeout upside at home against the Royals. But he should have big ownership in DFS tournaments just like Cole, deGrom and Scherzer. Lynn, however, probably won’t. He was excellent in his first game, tossing 6 scoreless innings with 9 strikeouts and just 2 hits allowed. Most people see a game in Arlington and immediately jump away from the pitching options, but they have a new ballpark which is expected to be more pitcher-friendly. The Rangers aren’t big favorites against the visiting Diamondbacks, but as evidenced last year, Lynn has the capacity to go deep into games (6+ innings in 25 of 33 starts) and can rack up the strikeouts in a hurry (10+ in 9 contests). If he can do that while putting $2,000 back in your budget for the lineup, he’ll be the most useful DFS pitcher of the day.
Start/Sit Table
Guide
*All stats based on our daily projections
OWN – ownership % between ESPN and Yahoo!
Score – Based on an algorithm that weighs if their ratios are too high to offset the odds of them getting a win and add strikeouts to your team totals
Recommendation – For Roto and H2H season-long leagues
DFS Cash – Not based on value, but performance only. Heavily favors ratios and odds at getting the win and quality start
DFS GPP – Not based on value, but performance only. Built to focus more on strikeout potential and stamina
*The table is sorted by their season-long fantasy appeal
Thanks for reading and good luck today!
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