CheeseIsGood's Million Dollar Musings - MLB DFS Strategy: Friday, May 6th
Happy Friday! We were set to have a glorious 13-game slate with a slew of top-tier aces tonight. However, the weather is horrendous in the Northeast (thanks Roth!), and it looks like we are going to lose at least two games from this slate. Two games wouldn’t be much, except they are Scherzer and Cole starts, which drastically changes things. I’m moving forward as if the Rangers-Yankees and Mets-Phillies game are a wash, but we’ll loop back in later if something changes. We’ll also need to keep a close eye on the Royals-Orioles and Blue Jays-Guardians.
Friday Night Pitching
There is some chance that we end up getting some Max Scherzer innings tonight, but I’m preparing for a slate that loses both Cole and Scherzer, setting our aces up to look like this:
FIVE ACES TURNED TO TWO
Kevin Gausman at Guardians
Shane Bieber vs Blue Jays
Yu Darvish vs Marlins
(Max Scherzer and Gerrit Cole?)
WAIT, THE NUMBERS ARE WHAT?
Eric Lauer at Braves
When I first looked at this slate, I was so excited about being able to play Kevin Gausman at an extreme ownership discount. I like him better than Scherzer and Cole straight up, and projections were going to give people Scherzer/Cole instead. But, alas, now we’re left to hope that the slight discounts to Shane Bieber and Yu Darvish hold the Gausman ownership in check.
Gausman has struck out 41 batters in 31 innings without a single walk this season. That is unbelievable stuff. Plus, he’s done that with a tough opening schedule including the Astros, Yankees, and Red Sox. He was great in 2021, so this is completely believable, and at this point, I’m all in. I am not scared off even one iota by the low strikeout matchup, as he will get plenty of help added in from good pitching weather and a lack of power in the Cleveland lineup. He’s my clear SP1, even if somehow both Cole and Scherzer get to pitch.