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MLB DFS Pitching Primer: Friday, July 19 – Aces Abound

By Dan Palyo

CLEVELAND, OH - JULY 12: An Indians fan holds a sign saluting All Star Game MVP Cleveland Indians starting pitcher Shane Bieber (57) during the fourth inning of the Major League Baseball game between the Minnesota Twins and Cleveland Indians on July 12, 2019, at Progressive Field in Cleveland, OH. (Photo by Frank Jansky/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
CLEVELAND, OH - JULY 12: An Indians fan holds a sign saluting All Star Game MVP Cleveland Indians starting pitcher Shane Bieber (57) during the fourth inning of the Major League Baseball game between the Minnesota Twins and Cleveland Indians on July 12, 2019, at Progressive Field in Cleveland, OH. (Photo by Frank Jansky/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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BOSTON – JULY 14: Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu throws during the first inning. The Boston Red Sox host the Los Angeles Dodgers in a regular season MLB baseball game at Fenway Park in Boston on July 14, 2019. (Photo by Matthew J. Lee/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
BOSTON – JULY 14: Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu throws during the first inning. The Boston Red Sox host the Los Angeles Dodgers in a regular season MLB baseball game at Fenway Park in Boston on July 14, 2019. (Photo by Matthew J. Lee/The Boston Globe via Getty Images) /

MLB DFS Pitching Primer: Top-Tier GPP Pivot

Hyun-Jin Ryu (10.5k FD, 11k DK) vs. Miami

It’s an embarrassment of riches today with the pitchers we have in this top tier. It’s really a shame we couldn’t split them up over the next couple days because you know we are going to have one of these slates soon where we are combing through mediocre pitchers looking for one we think has the best chance of not getting destroyed.

But I digress. Ryu is enjoying the best season of his career and is showing no sign of slowing down. He’s been arguably the most consistent pitcher in all of baseball, failing to pitch more than 6 innings in only three of his 18 starts this year (and in one of those games he left early with an injury, another one was in Coors field). The league ERA leader has simply dominated his competition this year without flashy strikeout numbers. His walk rate is 2.5% which has helped contribute to an absurd 0.93 WHIP. He just rarely makes mistakes and doesn’t allow that many baserunners.

Ryu has been simply amazing at home this year and while I normally don’t weigh home/road splits as much as other analysts, this statistic is pretty incredible. In L.A. he’s posted a 0.85 ERA, 0.77 WHIP, .189 batting average against, and a 26% K rate. The Marlins are a better offense vs. lefties, but still grade out as one of the worst offensive teams in all of baseball. Ryu has a sparkling 52% ground ball rate and the Marlins as a team have one of the highest groundball rates in baseball. Ryu doesn’t need to strike out 10 to put up a big score tonight, he could still end up the high-scoring pitcher with an efficient 7-8 inning outing.