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MLB DFS Pithing Gems July 22: Can Sonny Shine Once Again?

By Brandon Lauderback

DFS: CINCINNATI, OH - JULY 03: Sonny Gray #54 of the Cincinnati Reds reacts after getting the final out in the eighth inning against the Milwaukee Brewers at Great American Ball Park on July 3, 2019 in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Reds won 3-0. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
DFS: CINCINNATI, OH - JULY 03: Sonny Gray #54 of the Cincinnati Reds reacts after getting the final out in the eighth inning against the Milwaukee Brewers at Great American Ball Park on July 3, 2019 in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Reds won 3-0. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /
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DraftKings MLB
CLEVELAND, OH – AUGUST 19: Starter Mike Clevinger #52 of the Cleveland Indians pitches during the first inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Progressive Field on August 19, 2018 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images) /

MLB DFS Pitching Plays

Mike Clevinger  – It feels like I just wrote up Clevinger as one of my top pitchers just last week. Oh yeah, that would be because I did, and he dropped 61 FD points on 12 strikeouts. I will get into his pitch mix shortly, but he made some minor changes recently that are really showing. Since he has a small sample size from this year, we will use his combined 2018-2019 stats. Clev has a 3.56 xFIP, 28.2% K rate, 42% GB rate, and a 36% HC rate. He should see slightly more RHH, than LHH, which benefits his upside since he has a 31% K rate on that side. The Blue Jays have a 24.2% K rate to RHP, which is bottom five in the league.

Pitch Mix – This season, Clevinger has been using mainly his fastball, and slider, basically dropping the curve, and only using the change on LHH. That fastball is getting some massive whiffs this year, seeing an almost 25% boost up to 45%, the slider is also getting almost 50% whiffs. That slider still gets good GB numbers as well, while the fastball showed some life in his last two games in that department for the first time all year. The big whiff increase on that fastball is due to a three MPH jump in velocity on that pitch, while slightly increasing the vertical movement to above 10 inches. It is simply an extremely difficult pitch to hit. The slider also moves fast, and breaks hard. I expect his price to keep going up, so get him while he is below 11K on FanDuel.