Daily Fantasy Baseball: DraftKings Pitcher Picks – May 20
By Rich Pelesky
DraftKings Pitcher Picks For May 20
Welcome back to the best place to get expert Starting Pitcher Selections for DraftKings Daily Fantasy Baseball contests. As for yesterday’s picks, Hammel was dominant against the Padres (29.95 FP, 3.4 FP/$1K), Frias was serviceable for the price (12.1 FP, 2.2 FP/$1K), and Sanchez, well, stunk. The only saving grace to having Sanchez (-7.15 FP) was that a lot of owners (~35 to 50% in many DK contests) had Fransisco Liriano who was even worse (-10.3 FP).
Below are my picks for Wednesday, May 20th, 2015. There 14 games in play for the 7:05 pm DraftKings contests. Good Luck!
Jake Odorizzi (TB) at ATL for $8500: The under-the-radar right-hander has put up some very good numbers: 3-3 with a 2.36 ERA, 0.96 WHIP and 44 Ks in 53 1/3 IP. He has an impressive 20.1 FPPG at an average salary of $7462 and has been on target of late with no walks and 20 Ks in his last 4 outings. Odorozzi and the Rays (-130 road favorite) face the Braves and Williams Perez who has a 15.43 ERA and 3.00 WHIP in 2 relief appearances this year. Even for the season-high salary of $8,700, which is finally consistent with his 2015 pitching performance, you can expect a very good return on investment tonight.
Jordan Zimmerman (WAS) home vs. NYY for $8,900: Zimmerman is having an alright year going 3-2 with a 3.66 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, and 5.8 K/9 in 46 2/3 IP. These numbers are well below his career (3.26 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, 7.4 K/9) and 2014 (2.66 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, 8.2 K/9) output. At age 28, he’s in his prime and there’s no reason not to expect his statistics to start reverting to the mean. Plus, Zimmerman has had success in limited exposure to current Yankees hitters, with a .196 BA (15 for 76) against them. Lastly, the Nats are around a -140 home favorite with a low Vegas run line of 7.5 for the game. This all points to a great performance tonight for Zimmerman.
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Tsuyoshi Wada (CHC) at SD for $6500: The veteran 34 year-old former Japanese star is making his 2015 début tonight against the Padres. Wada (4-4, 3.25 ERA, 1.24 WHIP in 13 starts for the Cubs in 2014) has posted a 2.86 ERA, 1.21 WHIP and 29:10 K/BB in 6 rehab starts with AAA Iowa this season. Wada, whose nickname is “Mr. K”, has proven he is a capable professional who can produce in the majors, using a deceptive arm swing and late release point that creates challenges for hitters. Add in the Petco factor (game run line is 6.5) and you have to consider using Wada at the extremely affordable price of $6,500.
Stay Away: Jeff Locke (PIT) home vs. MIN for $5,900: Some people may ponder using Locke tonight with him pitching for the favored Pirates (-150) at PNC Park against the Twins, mostly due to his low $5,900 salary. The former All-Star hasn’t been himself yet this year, but has gone 19-15 with a 3.86 ERA in 58 starts since 2013. However, the Twins are 3rd in the majors in hitting vs. LHP (.290) and are coming off a game where they knocked around left Fransisco Liriano for 7 ERs in 2 IP. Shop elsewhere for a basement bargain – Buyer Beware!
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