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.
Trevor Bauer ($13,600 DK/$12,000 FD)
Bauer has been incredible over the 7 starts, posting at least 8 strikeouts in all of them while getting an abundance of Swinging-Strikes. $13,600 is certainly pricey, but the matchup is a much betterthan it appears if you only look at the Royals on a team level. They’ll have 5 players in their lineup today that strikeout at over 24% rates to righties (dating back to the start of 2017), so another double-digit K game for Bauer could be in the cards at what we project to be pretty fair ownership. He’s gone at least 100 pitches in every start this year, too, which matters when you’re paying up this high and you need every last inning and strikeout to pay off.
Sal Romano ($5,100 DK/$5,900 FD)
We never thought we’d see the day Sal Romano was mega-chalk, but that’s how we have the main slate playing out tonight, and it’s hard to get away from him. He’s been much better as of late, posting 2 15% Swinging-Strike rate games in his last 3 starts and getting the chases to go along with them. The White Sox are one of the best strikeout matchups for a right-handed pitcher, too. You add in Romano’s price tag on DK, which allows you to do so much with the rest of your roster, and there you have it – Sal Romano chalk day!
Tyler Anderson ($5,900 DK/$6,000 FD)
If you don’t want to eat the Romano chalk, Tyler Anderson makes for a nice tournament pivot, as he’s shown the ability to miss bats in Coors and will come at much less than half the ownership. 7 righties in the Giants lineup shouldn’t scare you off, as Anderson has a lower xFIP, Line-Drive rate, wOBA, WHIP, and hard-hit rate to righties on the season, so this matchup should suit his strengths. Taking a pitcher in Coors is tough to stomach, but with the nature of the slate, it makes sense to get away from the Romano and Stroman ownership while still being able to stack up the big bats, and Anderson allows you to that tonight.
