It’s Friday, and unseasonably warm temperatures are in store yet again for much of the U.S. That means it’s going to be a perfect night for baseball, and we're back to highlight our favorite pitchers for the main slate MLB DFS contests on FanDuel and DraftKings.
RotoBaller has all your fantasy baseball and DFS needs! Check our probable pitchers page to see all of today’s starters, and be sure to utilize our MLB DFS Optimizer to create unique lineups for tonight’s slate!
When we are looking for which pitchers to play, we want guys with solid run prevention and a good chance at pitching deep enough into the game to pick up the win. But we don’t always have to target pitchers on teams that are heavily favored either. In fact, we want strikeouts more than anything whenever possible as the scoring system on both FanDuel and DraftKings really rewards pitchers who rack up Ks.
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Best starting pitchers, sleeper SPs for Friday's MLB DFS contests
By Dan Palyo
Shohei Ohtani, Angels vs. Royals ($10,800 DK, $11,400 FD)
Ohtani takes the mound on short rest tonight because he only threw two innings against Boston on Monday before a lengthy rain delay prevented him from coming back and resuming his start.
The Angels’ righthander is easily the best option on the board tonight against a struggling Royals' offense at home. Other than some walk issues, Ohtani has been lights out this season and has provided both elite run prevention and strikeouts.
With KC being near the bottom of the league in most offensive statistics against RHPs, Ohtani is well worth his salary on either site, especially in cash games where he provides the type of safety that no other pitcher can.
Zac Gallen, Diamondbacks vs. Padres ($8,300 DK, $10,000 FD)
After a few tough outings to start the year, Gallen is back in excellent form, allowing just five hits and one walk while piling up 18 strikeouts in his past two starts.
Those starts came against Milwaukee and Miami, and he will have a tougher challenge tonight against a Padres lineup that just got Fernando Tatis Jr. back.
However, Gallen could easily still be a top scorer in this matchup. He has the command and stuff to pitch well against any lineup, and the Padres are striking out 25 percent of the time against righties this year. It’s a riskier play, but a pivot off Ohtani to Gallen in tournaments could pay off.
Hunter Brown, Astros at Braves ($9,800 DK, $9,100 FD)
I’m not sure how many people will look to the rookie Brown here at this elevated price, but we're intrigued by the youngster's potential. There were some concerns coming into the season about his ability to pitch deep into games, but he’s quickly erased those, going seven strong innings in each of his past two starts.
Brown gets a Braves team that is very dangerous on offense for sure, but it also strikes out quite a bit. Brown is a lot like Gallen in that you are betting on talent in a tough matchup, but Brown will likely have lower ownership and just as high of a ceiling.
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Jon Gray, Rangers vs. A's ($9,100 DK, $8,800 FD)
Gray left his last start early after being hit on the arm by a comebacker, but he's been cleared for his usual workload, so we're not too worried about his durability tonight.
He was pitching well in that game and has been relatively effective so far this season as the Rangers ace. You have to love the matchup with Oakland, who continues to be one of the worst teams in baseball.
The strikeouts should be decent here, but the run prevention could be potentially elite if Gray is sharp. He’s an ideal option as an SP2 in cash games with Ohtani as your SP1, and his FanDuel price puts him in play for tournaments there, as well.
Braxton Garrett, Marlins at Guardians ($6,900 DK, $7,600 FD)
Garrett is a talented lefty who has shown the ability to miss bats going back to last season. This year, he’s cleaned up his control and has just a three-percent walk rate through his first two starts.
We don’t pick on Cleveland too often, especially for strikeouts, but it hasn't been doing all that much on offense this year, averaging just over four runs per game. The Guardians have struggled against lefties, too, with only a .119 ISO.
As an SP2 on DraftKings in tournaments, all we're really looking for from Garrett is five decent innings with around five strikeouts, and even if he gives up a few runs, he can still get us the 10-12 DK points we are looking for from a pitcher at his price point.
