FanDuel MLB daily lineups July 26th: Main slate

FanDuel MLB: Top Pitching Main Slate

We have a lot of great MLB DFS writers who are already giving you good advice for the Starting Pitcher spot, regardless of which DFS tool you’re using. I would advise you use their advice. However, I’m going to throw an unfathomable option for you as well. It’s mostly for those looking for the best GPP play.

Before we get there, let’s summarize your best, more obvious, pitching plays. If you willing to spend the dough, Zack Greinke ($10,200) is a great play. The Marlins have a 26.6% K-rate over the last month, forth worst in baseball. Meanwhile, Greinke’s 23.7% strikeout rate seems modest, but he’s fanned six to nine hitters per game in each of his last five outings.

Greinke has faced some tougher offenses lately too. He’s heating up at a good time to play him against an offense, while not great all season, is falling apart.

But, a better play for FanDuel MLB is Michael Pineda ($8,800) against the White Sox. Like Greinke, Pineda’s modest 22% K-rate pails compared to his high volume of strikeouts over his last several starts. Better, Michael gets a dreadful White Sox offense with a very high 27.5% K-rate over the last month. That’s the second worst in baseball in that time.

Given the price tag, you can likely get around 50 FanDuel MLB points from Michael, while saving more cash than you’d get back from Greinke and really load up on some good offensive options.

I’m not in love with most of the other options. For example, Jose Urquidy ($7,500) might seem like an intriguing options, but pitching anyone against a red-hot Cardinals lineup in St. Louis seems very risky to me.

Almost as risky as picking someone like, Gio Gonzalez ($6,000)? Well hold on a second. It’s funny, I immediately skimmed over Gonzalez as he’s generally a boring MLB DFS option at pitcher this season.

However, I’ve been keeping my eye on how bad the Cubs offense has been in the last month. With a 25.7% K-rate, the Cubs have the sixth worst strikeout rate in baseball over the last month. And their 104 wRC+ in that time drops to 99 when facing left-handed pitchers. Oh, and their K-rate goes up as well.

Suddenly, Gio seems a bit more interesting. I do hesitate to play him after pitching only four innings against the Diamondbacks in Arizona. But, it was clear the Brewers were taking it easy on him after coming back from the Injured List.

Another thing clear to me is that Gonzalez is NOT giving up many runs this season. He may not last six innings for the quality start (although that’s not out of the question), but it’s likely he’ll have three or less earned rungs giving up and against a team with a high K-rate, Gio could pile up to seven strikeouts.

There’s risk with this play, yes. The Cubs still have some good offensive players, who just happen to mostly be flat right now, and Gio struggles with walks at times. But, if Gonzalez has a standard 2019 outing against the Cubs of the last month, we’re getting a 30 to 40 FanDuel MLB point play on a dirt-cheap salary with tons of cash to spend on big offensive bats. We’re going to need it.