MLB Pitching Primer: Thursday, August 30th
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.
Thursday, August 30th
Main Slate
Arms To Trust:
Justin Verlander vs Los Angeles Angels
We have a Thursday night slate that is a bit larger than normal today, with eight games and one true ace on the mound. Justin Verlander has put up excellent numbers so far this season, ranking 8th among qualified pitchers in ERA (2.72), 3rd in SIERA (2.81), 3rd in WHIP (0.94), and 4th in K/9 (11.73). Tonight he gets a bit of a difficult matchup against and Angels team that ranks 6th in wOBA and 22nd in K% against right-handed pitching this season, but Verlander and the Astros are still very strong -250 favorites with the Angels carrying an implied run total just above 3.0 runs. Verlander is priced as the most expensive pitcher on the board at $11,200 on FanDuel, $12,000 on DraftKings, and $23,300 on FantasyDraft. That’s a fair price and makes him a good cash game target, although the high price tag and difficult matchup make him far from a must-play, particularly in large tournaments on the two-pitcher sites.
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