The following Spotlight Pitchers were selected by Awesemo.com writer Jake Hari. For more analysis on the slate, check out Awesemo’s Rankings and Ownership Projections.
Justin Verlander ($13,400 DK/$12,200 FD)
It’s pretty safe to say Verlander has the highest upside on this slate which lacks quality options up top, and he’s got arguably the best matchup on the slate to go with it. The White Sox strikeout over 25% of the time against righties, while Verlander has no issue striking out righties (29.5%) or lefties (33.3%). The run total for Chicago continues to plummet, as it’s now down to a minuscule 2.5, cementing Verlander as the best option and a scary fade at what we expect to be massive ownership on DraftKings.
Marco Gonzales ($7,300 DK/$7,300 FD)
Gonzales has done a great job getting swings and misses lately, posting a 13.1% Swinging-Strike rate and 39.1% O-Swing rate over his last 4 starts, which were in tough matchups against the Angels, Yankees, Red Sox, and Royals. The 8 righty Angels bats may scare some people off, but he’s striking out over 7% more righties than lefties on the year and has just a 3.35 xFIP against them with a 45.7% Ground Ball rate. As a pivot off of Shelby Miller, who many like in the mid-tier, Gonzales makes for a solid GPP play at much less projected ownership.
Aaron Slegers ($5,600 DK/$5,500 FD)
The reasons to play Slegers are more about price and matchup than his actual talent, but on this slate, where we want to pay up for Verlander, Slegers is a quality SP2 option. Targeting the Orioles with right-handed pitching has been a profitable strategy this year, as they have a 24.8% K-rate, .289 OBP (lowest in MLB), and 82 wRC+ versus righties in 2018. Slegers doesn’t have huge upside in this spot as he doesn’t post big strikeout numbers, but for $5,600 with the ability to throw 90+ pitches if things go well, he’s certainly in play as a l0w-owned GPP option on DraftKings.