MLB DFS picks and pivots: September 25, the Night of Lester

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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – AUGUST 05: Jacob deGrom #48 of the New York Mets pitches against the Miami Marlins during their game at Citi Field on August 05, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images) /

MLB DFS – Wednesday pitching breakdown

Much like we had on Tuesday, Wednesday’s MLB DFS slate gives us the opportunity to build around elite, high strikeout arms that are pitching in meaningful spots and it will be interesting to see how the industry follows after Tuesday’s slate where the overwhelming pitcher chalk was with guys like Syndergaard (50%) and Mad Max (35%) while guys like Gerrit Cole and Mike Clevinger were under 15% owned.

Jacob deGrom ($23.1K) may not be able to pitch his team into the playoffs (barring a miracle collapse by the Brewers) but he has his sights set on back to back NL Cy Young awards and with a home match-up against the Marlins, this could be the exclamation point on another dominant season for de-GOAT.

deGrom steps to the mound as a massive -372 favorite against a Marlins team with a slate-low 1.98 IRT and with a 31.3% K rate over the last month that ranks top 10 in baseball, I think we all know what we are getting from Jake at this point and he makes for the clear SP1 option on this slate.

Shane Bieber ($22.9K) can either be viewed as an SP1 pivot or the Robin to deGrom’s Batman on this slate if we want to go double aces once again. Bieber’s 30.3% K rate and 14% swinging-strike rate on the year just barely trails deGrom and with Cleveland sitting 1/2 game out of the wild card right now, this is a spot where the Indians are going to push their ace much like they did with Mike Clevinger last night.

Despite being up 11-0 last night, Clevinger still went 7 innings and struck out 10 White Sox on his way to 35+ fantasy points and that same ceiling is very much in play for Bieber this evening. The White Sox projected lineup has a 28.3% K rate against RHP this season and the last time they faced Bieber he struck out 9 on his way to 29 fantasy points.

Going with deGrom and Bieber gives you a clear 50 point floor with 60+ fantasy point ceiling and we saw last night that this build can not only be contrarian but also take down GPP’s if we hit on the right cheap stack!