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FanDuel MLB daily lineups July 17th: Early only & main slate

By Matt Rogers

FanDuel MLB: CLEVELAND, OHIO - JULY 09: Ketel Marte #4 of the Arizona Diamondbacks during the 2019 MLB All-Star Game at Progressive Field on July 09, 2019 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images)
FanDuel MLB: CLEVELAND, OHIO - JULY 09: Ketel Marte #4 of the Arizona Diamondbacks during the 2019 MLB All-Star Game at Progressive Field on July 09, 2019 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images) /
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FanDuel MLB: PHOENIX, ARIZONA – JULY 06: Robbie Ray #38 of the Arizona Diamondbacks delivers a pitch against the Colorado Rockies at Chase Field on July 06, 2019 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images) /

FanDuel MLB: Top Pitching Main Slate

Gerrit Cole ($11,000) has a 37.4% K-rate starting on the mound for a good team. So I get why he’s generally expensive. However, he’s facing an Angels team currently with a hot offense and league lowest 17.8% strikeout rate. So, now isn’t a great time to pay $11K for Cole, unless you have no better options on the board.

Fortunately, there are plenty of great pitchers available. That’s great, because along with Cole as an option, we should see lower ownership among the starting pitchers in the Main FanDuel MLB slate.

Frankly, I think the best options come down to two fairly obvious plays. Robbie Ray ($9,600) and Mike Clevinger ($9,400) are each mildly expensive for this slate. But, they also each have a worrisome 10%+ walk rate, and have shown some inconsistency with their outings in the past month.

But, Clevinger’s 39.7% K-rate, although with a lower population of data (there will be regression in this number), and Ray’s 30.8% K-rate are with Cole among the top three best strikeout rates of all starting pitchers in this slate.

Also, both Mike and Robbie happen to be facing two of the top three worst strikeout rate offenses in baseball, the Tigers and Rangers, respectively. So, while there’s risk with each play, there’s frankly great risk in every other option on the board. And, these two pitchers have the highest ceiling of the evening.

So, which one do you pick? Honestly, I think you’re likely pitching one of the two top FanDuel MLB point-scoring pitchers in this slate. So, you should feel comfortable with either option, and the $200 in additional salary may lean you toward Clevinger after you’ve finished fill out your offensive picks.

But, if you really want to dig deeper, Ray is the better play. Clevinger’s numbers are do for some regression, as he’s only seen limited innings this season, and is still warming up to his normal season-long strength. Also, Ray has displayed more consistency over the course of the season.

And, the Rangers have demonstrated a high volume of strikeouts over the last couple of weeks, making Robbie even more attractive. So I lean more toward Ray, but I’m comfortable starting either pitcher in my lineups for this slate.