The following Spotlight Pitchers were selected by Awesemo.com writer Jake Hari. For more analysis on the slate, check out the MLB Strategy Video and Night Shift Podcast.
Charlie Morton ($12,200 DK/$10,000 FD)
Morton will get the pleasure of facing the Tampa Bay Rays at home tonight as the highest priced pitcher on the board. He’s a tough fade even at healthy ownership because his upside is unmatched by any other pitcher on the slate, as he’s striking out over 30% of hitters with just a 1.14 WHIP on the year. The Rays lineup looks a little bit better with Kevin Kiermaier back, but there are still a lot of strikeout to be had to for Morton, so he is clearly the top option on the night in GPPs.
Jonathan Loaisiga ($8,300 DK/$6,200 FD)
Loaisiga had an impressive first start last week going 5 innings and striking out 6 against the Rays. More importantly though, he had a 15.4% Swinging-Strike rate with a 40% O-Swing rate on 91 pitches in that start, and while this is a much tougher matchup, we just saw a pitcher with good stuff put up a huge score against the Mariners. He may not quite be on Domingo German’s level just yet, but Loaisiga’s talent can win out here, and at the ownership we have him projected at, he makes for a nice GPP play on a slate with few options that we feel great about.
Jake Junis ($8,200 DK/$8,000 FD)
Junis is in a boom-or-bust spot at home against the Rangers, who strikeout a lot, but also have a lot of power to go with the strikeouts. There is no doubt Junis can miss bats here and have a successful start against a Texas team that strikes out the 3rd-most in the MLB against RHP, but the weather (80 degrees, wind blowing out) is concerning for a guy that allows a lot of hard-contact. With limited options on the slate, Junis is a nice mid-tier option with 20+ point upside if he can keep the ball in the yard against these free-swinging Rangers.
