We have 28 out of 30 MLB teams in action today, with only the Cubs and Cardinals idle. There are also four games taking place before 7 p.m. ET, leaving us with 10 games on the main slate for FanDuel and DraftKings.
RotoBaller has all your fantasy baseball and DFS needs! Check our probable pitchers page to see all of today’s starters, and be sure to utilize our MLB DFS Optimizer to create unique lineups for tonight’s slate!
When we're looking for pitchers, we want to target guys who can limit runs and pitch deep enough into games to pick up wins. That said, we don’t always need to target pitchers on heavily favored teams. In fact, we want strikeouts more than anything whenever possible, as the scoring system on both FanDuel and DraftKings really rewards pitchers who rack up Ks.
Today’s crop of pitchers isn’t the strongest, although there are plenty who I would classify as “useable.” Here are my top five options spread out across a few different price points.
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Best starting pitchers, sleeper SPs for Friday's MLB DFS contests
By Dan Palyo
Kodai Senga, Mets @ Phillies ($10,200 DK, $9,900 FD)
As I mentioned already, we don’t have many high-end pitchers on this slate, and Senga tops my strikeout projections at 6.9 today, which is over a full strikeout higher than anyone else on the board.
Senga has done a great job of getting Ks this season, but he's also struggled with walks and allowed his fair share of home runs, which makes him a somewhat dangerous play today against a good Phillies lineup. However, he had his best performance of the season against this Philly team back in May, tossing seven shutout innings and allowing only one hit while walking none and striking out nine.
In tournaments, I am chasing upside and some big strikeout totals. I think Senga has the highest ceiling on tonight’s slate and is well worth some shares in GPPs.
Shane Bieber, Guardians vs. Brewers ($9,400 DK, $9,600 FD)
I'll be totally honest with you: I haven’t used Bieber much this season, as he’s often overpriced and hasn’t been nearly as effective as he has been in the past. He comes into tonight’s matchup with just a 17-percent strikeout rate and a 4.52 SIERA, but he has still shown the ability to put up some big DFS scores at times, too, as he dominated both Detroit and Houston for 30-plus DK points.
Bieber’s velocity is down, but he still has solid offspeed pitches and knows how to mix and match his stuff to keep hitters off balance. He doesn’t have much margin for error anymore, but he can get locked in on any given night. Perhaps most important, the Brewers continue to be one of the worst teams in MLB right now in terms of strikeout rate.
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Brayan Bello, Red Sox @ White Sox ($8,400 DK, $8,700 FD)
Now this is my favorite pitcher on the slate tonight on a point-per-dollar basis. Bello has really emerged this season as a solid hurler for the Red Sox and is coming off his best start of the season. He went seven strong innings against the Yankees and punched out eight while allowing just one run.
That performance ran his streak of starts with three or fewer earned runs allowed to 11. The strikeouts have been spotty, but he gets a Chicago team that has been trending up in their strikeout percentage against RHPs lately (26 percent over the past two weeks).
The White Sox have just an 82 wRC+ against RHPs this year and averaging just four runs per game over the past month. I love Bello’s chances of holding them at bay in this favorable spot.
Kyle Gibson, Orioles vs. Mariners ($8,100 DK, $9,200 FD)
I am skipping some options that I think might be chalky and traps (Chris Bassitt, Joe Musgrove) and jumping down to a pitcher who I rarely use in DFS. That said, Gibson’s past six starts have ended with him scoring at least 12 or more DK points and he cracked 20 DK points twice in there.
I don’t expect too much here from him in terms of big strikeout numbers, but hopefully, he can pick up four or five Ks against a strikeout-prone Seattle team while holding them in check. I would definitely skip him on FanDuel where he is priced more than Bello.
Emmet Shaheen, Dodgers vs. Astros ($6,500 DK, $8,400 FD)
The Dodgers’ rookie is set to make his second big league start tonight against the Astros, and he’s still very, very cheap on DraftKings. FanDuel hiked his price in a hurry, so don’t play him over there, as he’s still a risky play against a good team.
Shaheen struck out just three hitters in his debut, but he didn’t allow a hit over six shutout innings and walked just two. He’s an exciting prospect who has shown the ability to strike out guys in the minors, so we could see more whiffs coming yet.
Shaheen is an SP2 on DraftKings and I would rather deploy him in tournament lineups than trust him in cash games.
If you are playing cash games tonight, I would probably go with a Bello/Gibson combo for safety, with Bello being my guy on FanDuel.
Some other cheap options on DraftKings that are worth mentioning are Patrick Sandoval (@ Rockies) and Dane Dunning (@ NYY). Good luck in your contests!