Diving into today’s MLB DFS slate to uncover your best pitching plays.
Nine games on tonight’s slate and there doesn’t look to be any weather concerns.
Corbin Burnes
Burnes has been one of if not the best pitcher in the majors (with Jacob deGrom out) this season. In his 26 starts, Burnes has an ERA of 2.34 with an even lower FIP of 1.58, a WHIP of 0.94, and a K rate of 35.5%. The K rate really stands out to me as Burnes has struck out at least nine batters in half of his starts including in each of his last two starts. Burnes should cruise again tonight against a Mets team that just has not got the job done at the plate. This season the Mets rank 19th in team OPS and 24th in team wOBA against right-handed pitching.
Robbie Ray
Ray is in a bit of a slump as he has allowed three runs in less than five innings of work in two of his last three starts but I am not letting a couple of minor average starts to stop me from rostering Ray as he has put up some excellent numbers. Ray has an ERA of 2.72, a WHIP of 1.04, and a K rate of 32.8%. Just like with Corbin Burnes the ability to rack up the strikeouts jumps out at me with Ray as he has double-digit strikeouts in five of his last seven starts. The match-up against the Twins also stands out for me when it comes to Ray. The Twins rank 22nd in team OPS and team wOBA this season while ranking 21st in team wRC+ against left-handed pitching.
Tyler Anderson
If you are looking for a cheaper pitcher on this slate to pair with one of the ace pitchers I would look at Anderson. Anderson has allowed just one earned run in each of his last two starts and has only allowed more than three earned runs once in his past 15 starts. In those 15 starts, Anderson has an ERA of 3.26, a WHIP of 1.12, and seven quality starts. Now Anderson doesn’t strike out a ton of hitters as his K/9 rate only sits at 7.04 in these starts but Anderson has at least been consistent with the number of strikeouts he gets each start as he has at least four strikeouts in 12 of those 15 starts. The match-up for Anderson is also an elite one as the Angels have struggled all season long to hit the ball against left-handed pitching due to injuries. This season the Angels rank 20th in team OPS and 19th in team wOBA against lefties. The Angles are also struggling mightily right now. Over the past two weeks, they have had the second-lowest team ISO and fourth-lowest team OPS.
Other to consider
The three pitchers I have listed above are the pitchers I am going to have the most exposure to on this slate but they are not the only pitchers I will have in my pool or exposure to tonight. The following pitchers are those pitchers that are in my pool that were not talked about above.
- Jordan Lyles
- Chris Ellis
- Lance Lynn
- Clayton Kershaw
That will do it for our version of the Pitching Primer today. Best of luck in your contests!
