MLB FanDuel continues to roll on Tuesday, with another full slate of games following a big Memorial Day holiday, yesterday.
There are several great pitching match ups tonight, and we will narrow our search down to a top pitching play, identify the best mid-range salary option, tag a sneaky pick, and find a cheap value for the MLB FanDuel pitcher position tonight. We’ll also discuss pitchers to fade, and target for hitting. As an MLB FanDuel player, you know evaluating daily pitching is a vital part of building your lineup for a big pay-day.
After a long hiatus, we’re back this week with several MLB FanDuel Daily Pitching articles articles, starting with tonight’s games. While there are several great pitching options tonight, throughout the 15 game MLB schedule, the picks are tricky. Arms like Sale will be tough to own because there are expensive hitting options. And there are a few great affordable options, beneath the shadow of a hitters park. Here’s a look at the list of games we’ve narrowed our search down to:
SEA Ariel Miranda at COL Tyler Anderson 7:10pm
MIL Zach Davies at NYM Tyler Pill 7:10pm
HOU Mike Fiers at MIN Jose Berríos 8:10pm
DET Justin Verlander at KC Eric Skoglund 8:15pm
CHC Eddie Butler at SD Dinelson Lamet 10:10pm
Let’s start by looking at our top scoring, but also more expensive, MLB FanDuel pitcher for Tuesday night…
Next: Top Scoring Pitcher
Top Scoring MLB FanDuel Pitcher
While I generally love picking Chris Sale ($11,700) each time he’s pitching, there’s a game in Coors tonight and Sale’s salary really limits your options with hitting. Over the last two weeks, I’ve had more success in cash games with an affordable pitcher and loaded hitting.
So with a value pitcher strategy in mind, we’re fading Sale tonight, and we immediately skip down to Robbie Ray ($9,400) and Justin Verlander ($9,300) to save over $2K in pitching. Surprisingly, Ray does not match up well against the Pirates, and had an unusual 6 MLB FanDuel point outing against the Pirates on May 14th.
So paying $9.4K for Robbie tonight seems risky. Severino ($9,200) may look attractive after his outing against the Royals, but that was an exception this month. And Samardzija ($8,900) is matching up against a very good Nationals lineup, and a pissed off Bryce Harper, no thanks.
I’ve faded Verlander over the last couple of weeks as he’s had some struggles on the mound. But Justin also has faced some very good lineups, including the Astros, and still kept his strike ratio to an acceptable level. And tonight, Verlander is pitching in Kansas City against a terrible Royals lineup, which matches poorly to Justin. We could see Verlander exceed seven K’s tonight, and 50+ MLB FanDuel points is a reasonable expectation tonight. Try to find a way to afford Verlander Tuesday.
Next: Top Mid-Range Pitcher
Mid-Range Salary Value & Sneaky Pick
Eddie Butler ($7,200) probably isn’t on many MLB FanDuel player radars tonight. Butler only has nine strikeouts in 14 innings, unimpressive. But Eddie did have a five strikeout gem in Saint Louis against the Cardinals, completing a quality start as well, taking the win, and piling up 43 MLB FanDuel points.
Tonight, the Cubs are in San Diego against a struggling Padres lineup in a poor hitting park environment. So his match is better than the last two games in Chicago, against the Brewers and Giants.
Also, the Padres have the 2nd worst wRC+ in baseball against right handed pitchers in San Diego. So if there’s an opportunity for Butler to come back into the 40 MLB FanDuel point range, tonight is the night. Also, with so many expensive bats tonight, Eddie is the path to affordability without sacrificing points at pitcher.
Sneaky Pick: Tyler Anderson ($7,000). When fellow Fantasy CPR expect, Brian Tulloch, offers MLB FanDuel advice, I listen. Tulloch has been on fire lately and in his FanDuel MLB Picks & Pivots column, he surprised me. Tyler Anderson is pitching against a decent Mariners lineup in Coors Field. On the surface, that sounds like a very dangerous pick.
But as Brian mentioned to me this morning, all of the stats point toward Tyler as one of the top picks for tonight. And with so many attractive but expensive bats, that makes this pick more appealing. Anderson will likely also have low ownership with the Coors Field environment, making Tyler a sneaky pick for tonight.
Next: Cheap Value
Cheap Value
For cheap value tonight, I admit this pick likely screams desperation. You’re essentially tossing away the pitcher pick for all of the top hitters tonight. I couldn’t even find a picture of him for this article! However, Tyler Pill ($5,500) may actually surprise us. The intriguing thought around Pill is that we don’t know what we’re getting from Tyler as a major league starting pitcher, this is is first.
But what we do know is that Pill has been impressive in Double and Triple A this season. Tyler has a low 1.60 ERA in the minors, and is striking out nearly two hitters per walk. That is important. Looking at the match up, and specifically the splits for the Brewers hitters against right-handed pitchers away from home, walks jumped out at me.
The Brewers have a very unimpressive 88 wRC+ in this pitcher and park situation, 19th in major league baseball. Even worse, they’re only hitting a .236 average and have a 21% strikeout ratio. The only stat saving the Brewers against righties away from home is walks. They getting a free walk to first base over 8% of the time, making them more dangerous.
But if you can find a pitcher who has a lower walk ratio, the Brewers are in trouble. Which is exactly why we like Pill. And if Pill can get us anything above 20+ MLB FanDuel points with a big hitting lineup, this could be a great GPP or Cash option tonight.
Next: Offensive Pitching Target
Offensive Pitching Target
Now that we’ve found several great pitching options for tonight, we’ll turn our attention to the pitchers we believe you should fade the most, and which lineups to stack for tonight.
Rockies vs. Ariel Miranda
At first I thought Miranda may actually be a problem for the Rockies in Coors Field tonight, until I saw Miranda’s splits against right handed pitching. The left side of the plate doesn’t match up well against Ariel, but anyone setting up on the right side is likely to smoke some baseballs beyond the warning track in Coors Field. Load up on some Rockies RHB’s tonight. They’ll be chalky, but you don’t want to be the only person without several 40 MLB FanDuel point hitters in your lineup, do you?
Twins vs. Mike Fiers