The following Spotlight Pitchers were selected by Awesemo.com writer Jake Hari. If you’re looking for game-by-game analysis, check out the MLB Strategy Video from this morning. Make sure to check out the MLB rankings and ownership for more content on today’s slate!
Chris Sale ($12,800 DK/$11,400 FD)
Sale has gone back-t0-back games posting Swinging-Strike rates over 20% while posting 27 strikeouts in 16 innings in that time. The A’s strikeout above league-average against lefty pitchers this year, and even though Sale doesn’t have a lot of trouble walking guys, it can’t help but boost his value that they’re tied for the league’s lowest BB% in the MLB against LHP, too. I’m expecting Sale to go out and rack up double-digit strikeouts for his 3rd straight start and he’s also got a great chance at a win as a -250 favorite.
Caleb Smith ($6,500 DK/$7,600 FD)
Smith has been a bit of a bright spot on an otherwise lost season for the Miami Marlins, as he’s striking out both righties and lefties at a near 30% clip, 1.24 WHIP, and 3.46 xFIP this year. The Dodgers aren’t a great matchup, but Smith has shown he has the swing-and-miss stuff to pick up strikeouts as he ranks in the top-30 in Whiffs/Swing%. The price on DK is great, and going to Smith should give your lineup a bit of differentiation in tournaments, as I’m not expecting him to be popular as he’s more expensive than Garrett Richards and Trevor Cahill.
Trevor Cahill ($5,100 DK/$7,200 FD)
Cahill is the definition of a tournament play as there is a ton of risk in playing him, but the price tag and potential reward is worth considering him. The Red Sox are about as bad of a matchup as one could whip up for a right-handed pitcher, but he’s got some nasty strikeout stuff as evidenced by his 32.4% O-Swing rate, 16% Swinging-Strike rate, and a 33.7% K-rate in 4 starts this season. When he gets hit, he gets hit hard (46.3% Hard-Hit%) so this start could go very poorly, very quickly, but I can’t ignore the numbers that Cahill has posted, and he’s clearly worth much more than $5,100.
Smith not starting today
Cahill wow sry I listened to that ? prediction wtf and I paid for this nonsense