Pitching is tough on this night slate, but there are still a few guys I (Tommienation1) am considering for tournaments. Awesemo will update this article later with his thoughts, so make sure to check back before lock!
Gerrit Richards ($7,100 DK/$8,300 FD)
Richards is a guy that I’ve used in all of his starts this year, and I’ll likely be going back to the well with him tonight. He’ll get a Royals team that has a lot of strikeouts near the bottom of the order, such as Soler, Orlando, and Butera (all guys that strikeout over league-average against righties). It’s not a perfect matchup for Richards, but he has the highest swinging-strike rate on the slate (12.6%) and ranks 13th in Whiffs/Swing of any starter in the MLB. I’ll bet on the talent here and take the savings on DraftKings.
Jameson Taillon ($12,000 DK/$9,200 FD)
Taillon is clearly overpriced on DraftKings, but outside of Richards, there isn’t really another pitcher I’m excited about on this slate. This Marlins team has been pesky, but if you look at the individual matchups that he’ll see, he’ll get 5 guys that K over 20% against righties since the start of 2017, and Taillon has the talent to mow through this lineup. Coming off a complete game shutout against the Brewers, Taillon has another favorable matchup to keep his momentum going in what should be a breakout season for him.
Clayton Richard ($5,500 DK/$6,200 DK)
Richard is a guy that has, for this price on DraftKings, I’ll take a hard look at tonight because of the nature of the slate. There are some bats that I want to pay up for, and Richard allows me to do that on DraftKings. He has a decent 9.4% Swinging-Strike rate on the year, and the Giants hitters are 8th in Swinging-Strike%, 4th in O-Swing%, and 2nd in Swing%. Richards best pitch is his curveball (21% whiff rate against righties this year), while the Giants are the third-worst against the curveball this season (Pitch Value/100) so it may be a better matchup for the Padre’s pitcher than it seems on the surface.
