Million Dollar Musings: Tuesday, August 1
CheeseIsGood, a two-time winner of a $1,000,000 first-place prize in DFS, is here to give you his musings on the upcoming MLB DFS slate. Whether you are looking for the top pitchers or the best stacks, Cheese has you covered with an extensive deep dive into his MLB DFS picks.
Well, we made it to August! We start the new month with a massive 14-game slate, with a whole bunch of everything. We’ve got not only the Padres back in Coors Field but also teams like the Braves and Dodgers in good matchups. On the pitching side, Spencer Strider headlines the slate, but there is no shortage of aces behind him, along with upside from some cheaper pitchers in good matchups.
I’ll sort through the MLB DFS picks as best as I can, but there are a lot of ways to go tonight.
Tuesday Pitching: MLB DFS Picks on FanDuel & DraftKings
We have a loaded pitching slate, starting with the best DFS pitcher in the land and then all kinds of options in different price tiers. I’m going to sort the buckets based on DK pricing.
THE ACE AND SOME OTHER ACES AND SOME OTHER PEOPLE OVER $9,000
Spencer Strider vs. Angels – 39.6% K, 7.2% BB, 3.73 ERA, 2.54 SIERA
Framber Valdez vs. Guardians – 26% K, 6.2% BB, 3.29 ERA, 3.45 SIERA
Freddy Peralta at Nationals – 28.3% K, 9.3% BB, 4.46 ERA, 3.86 SIERA
Zac Gallen at Giants – 26.2% K, 5.1% BB, 3.36 ERA, 3.63 SIERA
Pablo Lopez at Cardinals – 30.2% K, 6.8% BB, 4.13 ERA, 3.37 SIERA
Justin Steele vs. Reds – 22.3% K, 5.4% BB, 2.87 ERA, 3.88 SIERA
Zach Eflin at Yankees – 25.2% K, 3.7% BB, 3.64 ERA, 3.37 SIERA
Carlos Rodon vs. Rays – 16.7% K, 13.3% BB [4 starts]
Bryce Miller vs. Red Sox – 23.9% K, 5.1% BB, 3.96 ERA, 4.01 SIERA
Spencer Strider = The Best. There is no real analysis needed here anymore but to say, if you can afford Strider, you should play Strider. Sometimes he gives up a couple homers and a few runs, and it just doesn’t matter. He’s a 40% strikeout pitcher in a world where 40% strikeout pitchers do not exist. The dude has double-digit strikeouts in four straight starts and 9+ strikeouts in seven straight. Obviously, it’s not as easy as just lock-and-load at this salary, but when choosing between Strider and spending up on any bats on this slate, chalky or not, I go Strider every time. I will also continue to point out that when a guy is at this extreme of a salary, it’s never actually likely that he’s the best points-per-dollar play on the slate. He may not even be the highest raw points scorer. You’re paying for the high floor, the consistency, and the immense ceiling.
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