MLB Pitching Primer: Sunday, April 29th
Everything in the sport of baseball comes down to the hitter-versus-pitcher matchup – which makes pitching the most important element of MLB DFS play. Without an understanding of the best pitching plays on the day, your DFS efforts will be sunk! Each day, the Pitching Primer will provide you with some of the top pitching plays on the day – taking a close look at the “why” behind these picks, and helping you to identify pitchers others might overlook.
Sunday, April 29th
Arms To Trust:
Gerrit Cole vs Oakland Athletics
Gerrit Cole is the top arm on the day, looking like a different pitcher this year in Houston than his previous seasons in Pittsburgh. Cole has raised his K/9 to 12.6 this season from 8.69 last year, lowered his WHIP to 0.77 from 12.5, and lowered his ERA from 4.26 to 1.29. Derek Carty has a very interesting piece on this in his MLB Risers and Fallers article available on the RotoGrinder front page, but a good piece of Cole’s success this season is likely due to a change in his pitch selection, throwing more curveballs and sliders and less fastballs. The factors to consider with Cole are whether this change is sustainable, and then whether the safety with Cole justifies his salary. My take is that while Cole will regress somewhat towards his career numbers, he is a substantially better pitcher than he was last season.
Our Premium content can help you make better picks every day
- To read this full article for today’s DraftKings MLB games, you need to have a subscription to Grinders Premium, our premium content package.
- A Premium subscription will allow you to access this article, as well as Consensus Value Rankings, Cheat Sheets, Advanced Matchup Stats, daily picks from top-ranked players and more.
- The best part? You might be eligible to receive a one-year Premium subscription for FREE.