Baseball is back, and if you're someone like me who follows it closely every day and loves the grind of DFS and daily betting, then you have to be excited for this huge 14-game slate tonight. All 30 MLB teams are in action today, but you won’t find the Padres-Phillies contest on the main slate, as it starts at 6:05 p.m. ET.
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're looking for pitchers, we want to target guys who can limit runs and pitch deep enough into games to pick up wins. That said, we don’t always need to target pitchers on heavily favored teams. 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.
We have a really solid group to choose from tonight, so I will continue to roll with my top five but I might include a few “honorable mentions” at the end, too.
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Best starting pitchers, sleeper SPs for Friday's MLB DFS contests
By Dan Palyo
Tyler Glasnow, Rays @ Royals ($10,300 DK, $10,000 FD)
It’s an easy choice for me here, as I think the top spot belongs to Glasnow without question. First of all, you can’t use Ohtani as a pitcher on FanDuel today, and I’m not sure I want to use him on DraftKings as a pitcher anyway.
Glasnow has the superior matchup against a KC team that continues to rank at or near the bottom in most offensive statistics this season. If we are chasing strikeouts -- and we are -- then we should note that Glasnow struck out 12 Royals three weeks ago in just five frames!
Glasnow indeed left his last start early with some cramps, but it sounds like it was a fairly minor issue and he was pitching really well against a good Atlanta offense before exiting in the sixth inning. If you’re playing cash games on either site, penciling in Glasnow is a smart move, he’s going to have a high floor and ceiling tonight in this spot.
Luis Castillo, Mariners vs. Tigers ($8,900 DK, $9,700 FD)
I was preparing for George Kirby tonight, but it appears it will be Castillo who is the first Seattle pitcher back on the bump after the break. He’s having a fantastic season with a 2.85 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP, and he's been very good at home this season, posting a 5-2 record with a 2.44 ERA and 80 strikeouts in 66 innings.
The Tigers aren't as bad offensively as the Royals, but they are middling, at best, and they strike out more than the average team against righties. Castillo's price on DraftKings is really appealing, as we haven’t seen him under $9K in some time. It’s pretty easy to see him going six or seven frames tonight with around a strikeout per inning. There is some safety here, just not quite as much upside as Glasnow.
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Charlie Morton, Braves vs. White Sox ($9,000 DK, $9,500 FD)
The ageless wonder is doing it again. Morton has had some ups and downs this season, but he has been pitching really well now for over a month and is rolling right into a plus matchup here with the South-siders.
Morton has reeled off four straight wins and has the hottest offense in baseball backing him up. Atlanta has been scoring runs at an incredible rate, averaging nearly seven runs per game over the past month.
Other than Luis Robert Jr., Chicago's offense shouldn’t scare Morton much. The White Sox have some power bats, but they also strike out a lot. I like Morton’s chances of getting a win and grabbing six or seven strikeouts in the process. He’s a nice pivot off Castillo and Glasnow for tournaments.
Brayan Bello, Red Sox @ Cubs ($7,700 DK, $8,500 FD)
We have two really appealing pitchers here at the same price on DraftKings. My gut makes me think that Maeda will be the more heavily rostered pitcher based on his opponent (everyone likes to pick on Oakland), but I think I trust Bello more in cash game lineups.
Bello has been quietly flying under the radar for nearly two months. He’s not flashy and hasn’t really piled up strikeouts often other than one eight-K game against the Yankees, but he’s been super consistent, racking up six straight quality starts.
He does a great job of keeping the ball on the ground, and he’s been able to avoid the big inning, allowing him to pitch deep into games (six or more innings in six straight starts).
The Cubs offense can run hot and cold, but they’re a fairly neutral matchup and certainly aren’t good enough to scare me off using Bello in any format.
Kenta Maeda, Twins @ A's ($7,700 DK, $7,000 FD)
Now let’s talk about Maeda, shall we? Since returning from a two-month injury absence, he’s been very good, dominating the Royals and Tigers while also holding down the fort against the Braves. I usually worry about walks and home runs with Maeda, but Oakland doesn’t walk much and lacks the power bats to make us too nervous here.
At only $7K on FanDuel, he’s a really nice tournament play, as paying down at pitcher will allow you to load up on some of the more expensive offenses (like Atlanta's -- play the Braves, please!).
Honorable Mentions: Shohei Ohtani vs. Houston, Corbin Burnes @ Cincinnati, Paul Blackburn vs. Minnesota
