MLB DFS Pitching Gems Of The Day July 4: Fireworks For Griffin Canning

MLB DFS Pitching – Very Early Pitching Plays:

Brandon Woodruff – Most people will be flocking to Boyd, and Lopez in the Detroit/White Sox game. While that isn’t a bad approach, it leaves Woodruff to fly under the radar. This season, Woodruff has a 29.1% K rate, 3.19 xFIP, 42.5% GB rate, and 36.5% HC. The Reds have a moderate K rate at 22.6%, but what interests me the most is that in his last game against this team, he put up 12 strikeouts, got the quality start, and the win good for 58 FD points. Woodruff uses a wide range of pitches, with his Fastball, and Sinker being the most used pitches, followed by the change-up (Mostly for LHH), and Slider.

In June, all of those pitches had over a 42% GB rate, with each one getting a significant boost in that category, compared to the earlier parts of the season. Cincinnati hits a lot of ground-balls on all four of his pitches, with low ISO numbers as well, and pretty high whiffs to the Slider. He is my favorite play on this first early slate.

Matt Boyd – Boyd is slightly more expensive than Woodruff, with a 30.8% K rate, 3.27 xFIP. 36.1% GB rate, and 38.4% HC. He will see eight RHH, where his K rate sits at 31%, however, this is where Boyd comes with some risk. He gives up more power to this side of the plate, .189 ISO, far less GB at only 31.3%, and 38% HC. This means when he does give up contact, it’s more likely to result in a home run. Abreu and Jimenez are both solid bets to take Boyd deep, if you are looking for some nice leverage plays.

He is very fastball and slider-heavy, mixing in the change-up. All three of those pitches get good whiffs, but in June all of them had low GB numbers. With the limited options on this slate, Boyd is going to be popular, but might be better suited for GPP’s due to his recent form.