Happy Friday, Pitcher List fam! Holy smokes, there’s a lot of pitching on offer to kick off the weekend. Do you want Cy Young winners? We’ve got Cy Young Winners. Do you want up-and-coming strikeout machines? We’ve got up-and-coming strikeout machines. There’s no shortage of high-end starters to load up on for the 12-game schedules on DraftKings and FanDuel tonight. So I’m here to break it all down and help you before those contests lock at 7:05 pm Eastern.
Pitching Kings on DraftKings
| Pitcher | Opp | DK Salary | ERA | WHIP | K% | BB% | DK PPG |
| Shane McClanahan | vs. CWS | $9,600 | 2.01 | 0.91 | 36.3 | 5.4 | 25.5 |
| Logan Gilbert | at TEX | $8,600 | 2.29 | 1.03 | 25.4 | 7.6 | 20.4 |
| Nathan Eovaldi | at OAK | $8,000 | 3.77 | 1.12 | 25.1 | 3.8 | 17.1 |
Of the big five (Cole, Burnes, Musgrove, Bieber, McClanahan), the Rays’ lefty comes in as the cheapest at $9,600. So I’m taking those savings and running for the horizon. Shane McClanahan has been a revelation in 2022 fantasy baseball circles, and now Tampa Bay is letting him pitch deeper into games. Over his last four starts, the 25-year old’s struck out 34 batters over 26 innings while producing a 0.69 ERA, 0.81 WHIP, and a glorious 32.6 percent strikeout minus walk rate (K-BB%).
Recently, Logan Gilbert’s had a couple of down outings in the strikeout department against the Red Sox and Astros. However, those performances may have saved us enough salary to make Seattle’s righty a high-end SP2 option on DK at $8,600. Fortunately, tonight’s opponent, Texas, will not be as formidable of a matchup to strike out and should lead to a better evening for the just-turned 25-year-old. Since May, the Rangers strike out 26.1 percent of the time and only earn a walk in 6.4 percent of their plate appearances to RHPs. Gilbert faced this team in April and held them scoreless over six innings for 23.4 DK points. Another result like that would make him a tremendous second arm on DK tonight.
Because of all the Cy Young contenders pitching tonight, Nathan Eovaldi finds himself priced down at $8,000. The Red Sox ace will find himself in the $9,000-$9,500 range on most slates, so this is an excellent night to roster Eovaldi at a discount. Most people will still have his disastrous five home run inning versus Houston in their brain, but it needs to be in their rear-view mirror. Since that blowup, Eovaldi’s bounced back with two 30-point starts, including an 11-strikeout show versus Seattle and a complete game against Baltimore. Now, the 32-year-old visits Oakland and will look to rack up the strikeouts and innings versus a squad churning out a .196/.260/.295 slash line with a 23.2 percent K rate to RHPs since May 1.
These Dudes Rule on FanDuel
| Pitcher | Opp | FD Salary | ERA | WHIP | K% | BB% | FD PPG |
| Gerrit Cole | vs. DET | $10,800 | 3.12 | 1.04 | 30.8 | 6.4 | 37.7 |
| Corbin Burnes | vs. SD | $10,500 | 1.95 | 0.82 | 31.8 | 4.5 | 43.6 |
| José Urquidy | at KC | $7,700 | 4.80 | 1.58 | 16.6 | 3.4 | 21.9 |
On paper, Gerrit Cole has the best matchup among the big five arms (Cole, Burnes, Musgrove, Bieber, McClanahan) as the Detroit Tigers visit Yankee Stadium. I like Cole more on FanDuel than DraftKings tonight because he’s among the top-two most likely candidates to get a win, a quality start, and bag double-digit strikeouts in the process. Over his last seven starts, Cole is 4-1 with a 2.33 ERA and 0.94 WHIP while tallying 60 strikeouts over 46.1 innings. Detroit goes down via strikeout 24.3 percent of the time to righties, and I expect that number to rise after they meet with Cole on Friday evening.
I said Gerrit Cole is one of the two most likely candidates to get a win, quality start, and double-digit strikeouts. Well, Corbin Burnes is the other man who gets that designation. Sometimes DFS can come down to taking advantage of the public’s laziness. For example, I believe many people regard the Padres as some high-flying, run-producing, home-run-slamming offense. However, that’s really not true. Since May 1, San Diego musters a meager .611 OPS versus RHPs, and their 76 wRC+ shows they are a well below-average offense right now. Earlier this week, I found success with this strategy touting Adam Wainwright against the Padres, and I feel a lot more confident about it now with Corbin Burnes (and his 31.8 percent strikeout rate) standing behind it.
It’s been a bit boring and predictable on the pitching side in this article, so I’ll shake things up with my final recommendation and recommend the intriguing José Urquidy. The 4.80 ERA and 1.58 WHIP do not look good. A 4.43 xFIP and 4.27 SIERA back up the ERA. However, a 3.4 percent walk rate and .364 BABIP give me some pause, and I think Urquidy could win us a slate on the night where everything goes right. Heck, he just did it two starts ago against another miserable offense, Texas, when he struck out 10 Rangers over 6.2 innings to garner 57 FanDuel points. Kansas City is the opposite of a terrifying offense. If Urquidy can avoid that untimely hit on Friday, he has the chance to be a brilliant contrarian play in tournaments.
Tasty Stacks
Los Angeles Dodgers vs. New York Mets (Chris Bassitt, RHP)
- The results are beginning to trend a bit down for Chris Bassitt, and the Dodgers are coming off a three-game sweep at the hands of the Pirates. I think their offense is ready to put some runs on the board and take out their frustration on the Met’s righty.
Colorado Rockies vs. Atlanta Braves (Max Fried, LHP)
- Friday could be a night we get some lighter roster rates in Coors because Max Fried takes the mound. However, that’s precisely when I want to strike. Colorado boasts a .859 OPS versus southpaws since May 1, and playing at home should only boost that number.
Milwaukee Brewers vs. San Diego Padres (Joe Musgrove, RHP)
- An excellent leverage play against a high-rostered pitcher in Musgrove. Milwaukee sports a .212 ISO and .348 wOBA against righties over the last five weeks. Rowdy Tellez, Christian Yelich, and Kolten Wong should all be on your radar.
Value Bats
| Player | Position | Opponent | DK Salary | FD Salary |
| Daulton Varsho | C/OF | at PIT (Brubaker) | $4,600 | $3,300 |
| Luke Voit | 1B | vs. MIL (Burnes) | $2,600 | $2,700 |
| Josh VanMeter | 1B/2B | vs. ARI (Kelly) | $2,700 | $2,400 |
| Matt Carpenter | 1B/3B | vs. DET (Rodriguez) | $3,300 | $2,500 |
| Amed Rosario | SS/OF | at BAL (Zimmermann) | $4,200 | $2,400 |
| Brandon Marsh | OF | at PHI (Eflin) | $3,500 | $3,000 |
| Andrew Benintendi | OF | vs. HOU (Urquidy) | $3,600 | $2,900 |
| Willi Castro | OF/3B/SS | at NYY (Cole) | $2,500 | $2,400 |