Now THIS is a pitching slate. Wow. Yesterday’s dumpster fire was appropriately capped by a less than spectacular performance from Jacob deGrom, but we still made it through unscathed if you latched onto the likes of Jaime Garcia, Kevin Gausman and Masahiro Tanaka. Even Adam Conley who, I admit, I was gun-shy about, put forth a respectable effort. Today though….gimme!!! Lots of great options on all sorts of price levels, so you’ve certainly got your work cut out for you in picking lineups today. Here’s who I like for Friday:
| vs L | vs R | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Name | Team | Hand | H/A | Opp | IP | K/9 | BB/9 | HR/9 | AVG | SwStr% | ERA | xFIP | WHIP | BABIP | GB% | FB% | GB/FB | wOBA | wOBA | FD | DK | Aces |
| Madison Bumgarner | SF | L | H | COL | 35.2 | 11.36 | 3.28 | 1.26 | 0.252 | 10.7% | 3.03 | 3.45 | 1.37 | 0.333 | 35.4% | 41.7% | 0.85 | 0.226 | 0.346 | $11,700 | $10,900 | $7,100 |
| Noah Syndergaard | NYM | R | A | SD | 32.1 | 12.25 | 1.67 | 0.28 | 0.223 | 15.9% | 2.51 | 1.81 | 1.02 | 0.342 | 57.3% | 22.7% | 2.53 | 0.245 | 0.251 | $11,200 | $12,900 | $7,800 |
| Zack Greinke | ARI | R | A | ATL | 37.2 | 7.65 | 1.91 | 1.19 | 0.297 | 11.4% | 5.50 | 3.72 | 1.46 | 0.347 | 46.0% | 33.9% | 1.36 | 0.395 | 0.339 | $10,800 | $10,100 | $7,200 |
| Chris Archer | TB | R | A | LAA | 32.1 | 11.97 | 4.18 | 1.95 | 0.275 | 11.3% | 5.01 | 3.13 | 1.58 | 0.358 | 39.8% | 31.8% | 1.25 | 0.353 | 0.366 | $10,400 | $9,400 | $6,500 |
| Jordan Zimmermann | DET | R | H | TEX | 33.0 | 6.27 | 1.91 | 0.27 | 0.224 | 7.5% | 0.55 | 4.04 | 1.06 | 0.267 | 47.5% | 36.6% | 1.30 | 0.231 | 0.255 | $10,100 | $8,600 | $6,900 |
| Cole Hamels | TEX | L | A | DET | 30.0 | 8.10 | 4.50 | 1.20 | 0.250 | 13.9% | 3.30 | 4.20 | 1.40 | 0.299 | 51.9% | 25.3% | 2.05 | 0.336 | 0.346 | $9,900 | $9,900 | $6,500 |
| Max Scherzer | WAS | R | A | CHC | 38.0 | 9.24 | 2.84 | 1.18 | 0.232 | 12.2% | 3.55 | 3.62 | 1.18 | 0.286 | 40.8% | 39.8% | 1.03 | 0.368 | 0.224 | $9,700 | $11,100 | N/A |
| Francisco Liriano | PIT | L | A | STL | 28.0 | 9.32 | 5.46 | 1.61 | 0.224 | 10.0% | 3.86 | 4.19 | 1.46 | 0.260 | 56.9% | 29.2% | 1.95 | 0.237 | 0.356 | $9,200 | $8,900 | $6,800 |
| Carlos Martinez | STL | R | H | PIT | 34.2 | 7.27 | 2.08 | 1.04 | 0.183 | 9.4% | 2.60 | 3.79 | 0.89 | 0.202 | 50.0% | 36.5% | 1.37 | 0.328 | 0.136 | $9,100 | $9,300 | $6,450 |
| Danny Salazar | CLE | R | H | KC | 30.0 | 10.20 | 4.50 | 0.30 | 0.139 | 12.8% | 2.40 | 3.84 | 0.97 | 0.197 | 47.8% | 41.8% | 1.14 | 0.167 | 0.281 | $9,000 | $8,800 | $6,850 |
| Vince Velasquez | HOU | R | A | MIA | 31.1 | 11.20 | 2.87 | 0.57 | 0.162 | 12.5% | 1.44 | 3.16 | 0.89 | 0.229 | 36.6% | 43.7% | 0.84 | 0.250 | 0.189 | $8,800 | $10,200 | $6,600 |
| Taijuan Walker | SEA | R | A | HOU | 30.0 | 8.70 | 0.90 | 0.30 | 0.239 | 8.1% | 1.80 | 2.71 | 1.03 | 0.310 | 51.7% | 24.1% | 2.14 | 0.190 | 0.333 | $8,700 | $9,500 | $6,650 |
| John Lackey | CHC | R | H | WAS | 33.1 | 7.83 | 2.43 | 0.81 | 0.230 | 12.4% | 4.32 | 3.39 | 1.11 | 0.278 | 41.8% | 29.7% | 1.41 | 0.330 | 0.267 | $8,700 | $8,700 | N/A |
| Kenta Maeda | LAD | R | A | TOR | 32.0 | 7.88 | 1.69 | 0.56 | 0.205 | 12.3% | 1.41 | 3.47 | 0.94 | 0.253 | 46.5% | 36.0% | 1.29 | 0.229 | 0.240 | $8,600 | $9,800 | $6,800 |
| Rick Porcello | BOS | R | A | NYY | 32.2 | 9.92 | 1.65 | 1.38 | 0.200 | 8.1% | 2.76 | 3.01 | 0.92 | 0.241 | 49.4% | 36.1% | 1.37 | 0.198 | 0.350 | $8,100 | $9,100 | $6,000 |
| Marcus Stroman | TOR | R | H | LAD | 43.0 | 5.86 | 2.30 | 0.84 | 0.191 | 7.6% | 3.77 | 3.89 | 0.95 | 0.208 | 59.4% | 28.1% | 2.11 | 0.238 | 0.257 | $8,100 | $9,200 | $6,350 |
| Wei-Yin Chen | MIA | L | H | PHI | 31.2 | 6.82 | 1.71 | 1.14 | 0.244 | 7.6% | 4.26 | 3.53 | 1.11 | 0.275 | 47.3% | 31.2% | 1.52 | 0.230 | 0.316 | $8,000 | $9,000 | $6,000 |
| Rich Hill | OAK | L | A | BAL | 32.0 | 11.53 | 3.66 | 0.56 | 0.222 | 10.6% | 2.53 | 3.35 | 1.22 | 0.324 | 51.3% | 31.6% | 1.63 | 0.271 | 0.302 | $7,900 | $7,400 | $5,950 |
| Yordano Ventura | KC | R | A | CLE | 27.0 | 7.33 | 6.67 | 1.00 | 0.182 | 9.7% | 3.67 | 5.71 | 1.41 | 0.203 | 40.8% | 44.7% | 0.91 | 0.287 | 0.300 | $7,800 | $7,500 | $6,100 |
| Mat Latos | CHW | R | H | MIN | 29.1 | 4.60 | 2.45 | 0.92 | 0.218 | 5.3% | 1.84 | 4.96 | 1.09 | 0.228 | 44.7% | 40.4% | 1.11 | 0.280 | 0.272 | $7,700 | $7,300 | $5,850 |
| Michael Pineda | NYY | R | H | BOS | 27.0 | 10.00 | 2.67 | 2.33 | 0.304 | 14.3% | 6.33 | 3.67 | 1.59 | 0.359 | 40.5% | 38.1% | 1.06 | 0.417 | 0.406 | $7,700 | $7,100 | $6,250 |
| Ubaldo Jimenez | BAL | R | H | OAK | 27.2 | 9.43 | 4.88 | 1.30 | 0.294 | 8.3% | 5.20 | 3.94 | 1.70 | 0.368 | 51.9% | 25.3% | 2.05 | 0.429 | 0.347 | $7,100 | $6,600 | $6,050 |
| Doug Fister | HOU | R | H | SEA | 29.1 | 4.91 | 3.68 | 1.53 | 0.263 | 5.3% | 4.60 | 4.57 | 1.43 | 0.269 | 42.9% | 26.5% | 1.62 | 0.409 | 0.258 | $6,900 | $5,500 | $5,550 |
| Drew Pomeranz | SD | L | H | NYM | 29.0 | 11.17 | 4.03 | 0.62 | 0.190 | 13.8% | 2.48 | 3.52 | 1.14 | 0.269 | 44.9% | 43.5% | 1.03 | 0.279 | 0.255 | $6,700 | $6,600 | $6,000 |
| Chad Bettis | COL | R | A | SF | 37.0 | 6.32 | 1.95 | 1.22 | 0.239 | 8.3% | 3.89 | 3.85 | 1.14 | 0.261 | 46.9% | 29.2% | 1.61 | 0.281 | 0.298 | $6,400 | $7,200 | $5,500 |
| Ricky Nolasco | MIN | R | A | CHW | 33.1 | 7.56 | 0.81 | 1.08 | 0.236 | 9.2% | 4.05 | 3.55 | 0.99 | 0.274 | 44.9% | 41.8% | 1.07 | 0.317 | 0.256 | $6,000 | $7,000 | $6,000 |
| Timothy Adleman | CIN | R | H | MIL | 6.0 | 9.00 | 3.00 | 1.50 | 0.150 | 8.7% | 3.00 | 4.12 | 0.83 | 0.154 | 21.4% | 57.1% | 0.38 | 0.421 | 0.151 | $5,300 | $4,900 | $4,800 |
| Aaron Blair | ATL | R | H | ARI | 11.1 | 3.18 | 3.97 | 0.00 | 0.216 | 6.1% | 3.18 | 5.59 | 1.15 | 0.242 | 34.4% | 43.8% | 0.79 | 0.313 | 0.202 | $4,600 | $6,700 | $5,500 |
| Cory Rasmus | LAA | R | H | TB | 14.1 | 6.28 | 5.02 | 0.63 | 0.106 | 11.9% | 4.40 | 6.24 | 0.91 | 0.111 | 22.2% | 69.4% | 0.32 | 0.232 | 0.215 | $4,300 | $4,000 | $4,500 |
| Tyler Cravy | MIL | R | A | CIN | 5.2 | 7.94 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.333 | 14.5% | 3.18 | 3.75 | 1.41 | 0.421 | 11.1% | 50.0% | 0.22 | 0.533 | 0.202 | $4,000 | $5,300 | $5,100 |
Investing Heavily
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Noah Syndergaard, NYM -- Come on. It’s the Padres. I don’t care what happened to deGrom last night. This is the mighty Thor were talking about here. He’s the best on an amazing board and easily has the softest match-up.
Zack Greinke, ARI – You get to push aside the shaky wOBA splits here because it’s the Braves. I said Thor had the softest match-up, but in actuality, this is. Their numbers are crappy across the board, but now add in that their .258 wOBA and 52 wRC+ at home rank dead last in the majors. Dead. Last.
Jordan Zimmermann, DET – The Rangers wOBA and strikeout rates against righties and over the last seven days are sitting just below league average right now, so factor in Zimmermann’s performance this year which has been pretty sick and the Rangers’ 26th-ranked .281 wOBA and 21.3-percent K-rate on the road and I don’t mind saving a few bucks in this top tier to use him.
Moderately Priced
Danny Salazar, CLE – He’s had three strong quality starts in his last four outings and now gets a Royals team that has been below-average against right-handers all year, but has been even worse over the last seven days. We’re talking a .238 wOBA with a strikeout rate just above 20-percent and a massively disappointing .036 ISO in that span. No really, that’s .036 which is really tough to do even if you were trying.
Rick Porcello, BOS – He tossed seven shutout innings with a 0.86 WHIP against these Yankees last week and the boys from the Bronx haven’t gotten any better. They showed one night of life against the Orioles but went back to getting shut down once again by Gausman. Their numbers at home are a little bit better than the road, but we’re still talking about a veteran team posting a .262 wOBA over the last seven days with a .088 ISO.
Wei-Yin Chen, MIA – I love this play tonight and will be using Chen heavily this evening. The Phillies not only have a .231 wOBA with a 29.5-percent K-rate against southpaws this season, but they’re ice-cold right now with a .248 wOBA and a 48 wRC+ over the past week.
Middle Class
Mat Latos, CHW – He was hit hard by a power-swinging Orioles team his last time out, but now gets to face a reasonably soft Twins team he held to one run over six innings earlier this season. The Twins’ .303 wOBA against righties this season is underwhelming and their 23-percent strikeout rate certainly tips the scales in Latos’ favor. Add in their .286 wOBA and meager .118 ISO over the last seven days and you probably have a decent GPP play here.
Ubaldo Jimenez, BAL – You know I hate recommending Ubaldo at any point in the season let alone just coming off a thumping by the White Sox, but the A’s .284 wOBA over the last week is below the seasonal mark they post against right-handers and they’ve been mashing the ball in the dirt 44.4-percent of the time lately. This looks like one of those annoying outings that helps breed false hope in fantasy owners that Ubaldo is worthy of a roster spot. He’s only worthy when the match-up looks this good.
Bargain Basement
Aaron Blair, ATL – Not that anyone should be looking for a dart when the pitching slate is this rich with options, but if you feel the need to throw $3 at the Draft Kings Moonshot and want to really save some money, you can look at Blair’s performance in his two starts and then match that up against a Diamondbacks team that has been absolutely ice cold at the plate recently. Their .271 wOBA over the past week ranks 26th in the league and their fanning at a 22-percent rate. And don’t forget the .087 ISO either. Even if Goldy finally breaks out, the rest of the team’s performance is still in the crapper.