Carlos Marmol Daily Fantasy News, Rankings, Projections

To illustrate the difference in the quality of pitching over the last two days, five of 14 pitchers reached $10K on both sites last night, while just two of 30 reach $10K on either site with none exceeding that number on DraftKings. One of those pitchers (Noah Syndergaard) leads the board with a 28.3 K%, but is fresh off a long DL stint, having faced just 12 low A ball batters since May. The other (Madison Bumgarner) pitches in a great park, but has a below average strikeout rate (19.6%) and while the Athletics have a 93 wRC+ and 15.5 K-BB% vs LHP, they have a team 118 wRC+ on the road and 120 wRC+ over the last seven days. If we're not looking at high end pitching tonight, maybe we speculate on lesser proven arms who have shown some upside. It could all come crashing down for Felix Pena, who's facing the Dodgers (110 wRC+ vs RHP) with a board high 91 mph aEV), but he does have the second best strikeout rate on the board (28.1%) and costs less than $7K in a great park tonight. Shane Bieber is in a terrible spot at home against the Yankees (16+ HR/FB on the road, vs RHP and last seven days), but his 19.2 K-BB% through seven starts is the worst he's done since being drafted. His 23.1 K% is a top 10 mark on the board tonight for $8K on either site. Opposing him is Domingo German, who has the third highest strikeout rate on the board (26.9%) and is tied for the top SwStr rate (15%). This is a really tough spot as well (Indians 123 wRC+, 27.5 Hard-Soft% at home, 106 wRC+, 20.6 K% vs RHP), but the run prevention has improved over the last month and while his ERA is still well above his estimators, it's much more due to strand rate issues than hard contact. Strikeouts (17.8%) and ground balls (55.3%) are both down for Dallas Keuchel, but the latter is still well above league average, while his ERA and estimators remain below four. The Tigers are competent against LHP (108 wRC+, 19.9 K%), but without much power, Keuchel should be albe to keep them grounded in one of the most negative run environments in baseball. Carlos Martinez has walked just five over his last four starts. He still has just a 22 K%, but perhaps as much upside as anyone on the board not coming off the DL tonight with an 84.7 mph aEV. Anibal Sanchez (23.3 K%, 3.98 SIERA, .289 xwOBA, 84.5 mph aEV) has simply been a better pitcher since ditching some sinkers for more cutters this season. The Diamondbacks are better than their 82 wRC+ and 24.4 K% vs RHP now that they're a bit healthier, but he still costs less than $8K. Maybe the most interesting arm is Nathan Eovaldi though. He's struck out nine, while allowing a single run in two of his last three starts and Tampa Bay has him elevating a 97 mph fastball this year, which has led to a 25.3 Whiff% on it, the highest of any of his pitches with three above 20%. His 24.3 K% is fourth best on the board and there are significant questions about each of the pitchers above him tonight. His .331 SIERA is fourth. Maybe the Rays have finally found the key to unlocking his potential.

Noah Syndergaard and Carlos Martinez match up in a rematch from opening day and the top pitching matchup on the early slate. These are the top two pitchers on the board and the only ones above even $9K this afternoon. In the initial matchup, Martinez walked the park, while Syndergaard did allow two HRs on pitches that had no business even being put in play, but also struck out 10. His strikeout totals since have been seven, five, 11 and six, while he hasn't gone more than six innings in a start this season, but has thrown at least 100 pitches in each of his last two. He's exceeded an 11 SwStr% in every start this season (15.7% total leads all pitchers on Wednesday, day or night). A .328 BABIP with some suspect defense has caused some issues. He's allowed just one HR since that first start against the Cardinals. His .261 xwOBA and 28.4% 95+ mph EV are both lowest on the day slate. He has the most upside on the board and if players are considering using batters against him, it's probably for stolen base potential as batters from either side have a .263-4 xwOBA against him since last season. Tommy Pham (148 wRC+, .196 ISO vs RHP since last season) and Dexter Fowler (126 wRC+, .235 ISO) are probably the biggest SB threats, but the former costs more than $4K on either site, while the latter drops down to fifth in the order today. Martinez has allowed a single run and gone six innings in each of his four starts since his opening day disaster. However, his 27.8 K% comes with just a league average 9.5%. He continues to have issues with the base on balls though, walking seven more in his last two starts and has an 11% career walk rate vs LHBs. While Martinez is a great option this afternoon, left-handed hitters can be used against him and Brandon Nimmo (150 wRC+, .217 ISO vs RHP since 2017), one of the most patient batters you'll see, bats leadoff for $3K or less on either site. That's probably the extent of interest players should have in Mets bats, though Jay Bruce (126 wRC+, .264 ISO) doesn't cost much more against a pitcher who has allowed LHBs a .324 wOBA (35.3 Hard%) since last season.

Max Scherzer is the top projected pitcher on the slate by a wide margin with the RotoGrinders Player Projections grouping several pitchers (James Paxton, Luis Severino, Carlos Martinez, Justin Verlander) closely together far behind him. The Daily K Predictor also likes Scherzer (8.77) for more than a strikeout more than Justin Verlander (7.62) and James Paxton (7.01). While Scherzer is the no brainer, Paxton could be the top value. His velocity and strikeouts bumped back up in his most recent start (eight strikeouts, 25 batters). He faces the Phillies (71 wRC+ on the road, 82 wRC+ vs LHP) at Safeco for less than $9K on either site. Verlander struck out 11 with just one walk in his last start. He also has a favorable matchup against the Royals (85 wRC+ on the road, 82 wRC+ vs RHP), but has an 11.2 BB% on the season and has allowed hard contact on 37.8% of batted balls with a 34% ground ball rate. He costs a bit more than Paxton on FanDuel. A cheaper name to look at might be Aaron Nola. Consistency has been an issue, but after a strong effort in his most recent start (7.1 IP – 1 ER – 8 K), he now has a 49.1 GB%, 3.5 Hard-Soft% and 15.2 K-BB% on the season. He faces a tough offense, but in a great park in Seattle.