Welcome to the August 3rd Edition of Painting the Black, an MLB Pitching Breakdown for Fanduel, DraftKings, and Fantasydraft!

In case you all didn’t know, my name is Matt, mdellagnese14 on twitter. I am currently a student at Springfield College with a love and passion for sports, mainly baseball.

I was brought to the DFS Army to write pitching articles for all members of the DFSArmy! If you are not a member, join the DFSArmy and use promo code “DFSMATT” to get 10% off your subscription!

I am mostly a Fanduel player, so the content in my articles will be for geared mainly towards Fanduel. However, I will include pricing from all three sites (Fanduel, Draftkings, FantasyDraft). Some plays may be better off for the two pitcher sites and I will mention that when needed about a pitcher.

Pitching is one of the most, if not the most important position in your MLB lineups and selecting the right one will help you tremendously. Go check out the MLB Pitching Strategy article to get my thought process on picking these pitchers each slate!

NOTE: most of the stats I used are from a 14-game sample to the handiness of pitchers. If I reference season numbers, I will mention that!

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If you find yourself thinking, “what do some of these stats mean?” Check out my new definitions article HERE. I explain what each stat I use mean, and reasons why I use those stats in my articles!

BULLPEN REPORTS

Main Slate

Jacob deGrom (11.5k FD) (12.4k DK) vs ATL

The only guy that I like above 10k on FD today and the highest priced guy I like on DK today. Today we can live in the mid-range tier, and you’ll see who else I like later in this article. deGrom has been absolutely amazing all season, too bad he plays for the Mets and they can never get him wins. Even without getting wins, deGrom has constantly been above 40 fanduel points this season. This matchup with the Braves is not an easy one, but he has been VERY good against them all season. He has 4 starts against them this year (1 of which he got hurt in). In those starts, he has thrown 25 innings, racked up 31 strikeouts, and only given up 2 earned runs. He simply has owned them this year. If you are adding, that’s an average of 43.5 fanduel points (mind you, he scored 30 in 4 innings when he got hurt), and 25.11 DraftKings points. Those numbers I will gladly take from him. It just so happens that deGrom is our top-rated arm from the RS today as well. For the 2^nd day in a row, the original guys I like rank in the top of the RS. deGrom has found ways to dominate the Braves this year, and I don’t see it stopping now. If you have the salary, feel confident to throw in out in all formats.

Trevor Richards (7.4k FD) (7.3k DK) @ PHI

Love this play for tournaments tonight. Richards has been very good this year since being called up for the Marlins. His last 3 starts have been great where he has been able to go 6+ innings and rack up 39+ fanduel points in each start. His strikeouts have also been on the rise across his last 3. He just faced this Phillies team 3 starts ago where he scored 40 points. He only struck out 4 that game, but the Phillies have the 4^th highest K% in the L14 vs RHP at 27.4%. They are dangerous, but they also can strikeout a ton. Walks have been his kryptonite this year (4 BB/9) and he’ll need to reduce those to have more success at the big league level. He’s fairly split neutral with groundballs and fly balls, but I do think he makes for a nice tournament option at a low price. He does get hit rather hard, (42%), so I would not go crazy using him, but having a couple of shares could pay off in the end.

Chris Archer (9k FD) (8.2k DK) vs STL

Archer gets his first start as a Pirate and has a decent matchup with the Cardinals. He’s very cheap for his upside as well. Archer has seemed to love his transition to PIT and looks like he is getting along with his new teammates already. There have been ups and downs for Archer this season, but when he’s on, he has been very good and shown 40+ point upside. The Cards have about an average K% at 20.9% vs RHP in the last 14 but are hitting a horrible .201 and have a very low wRC+ at just 60. Archer just happens to be the 2^nd highest pitcher on the RS today and I absolutely love him. He comes into this start with a 24.7% strikeout rate and a 3.76 SIERA. Luckily for him, his home park will still be a pitcher-friendly park, and STL can favor pitchers too. Getting groundballs isn’t an issue for him (44.7%) and he usually keeps the ball in the yard. Chris has a career-high 13.6% SwStr% this season so far and is getting hitters to chase more this season. Archer is a great GPP option, and I almost consider him as a cash paly too for his price.

Patrick Corbin (9.8k FD) (10.4k DK) vs SF

Another pitcher on the slate who has faced his opponent a ton this year. Corbin has 4 starts against the Giants already this season and has done very well in every single one of them. 3 of those starts he struck out 7 or more Giants. They have plenty of history against him (228 at-bats) and have just a .250 average with a .315 wOBA. They do have a 23.2% strikeout rate against him though which is good. Corbin has a 30.6% strikeout rate this year and a low 6.8% walk rate. His WHIP is just 1.06 and he has been a much-improved pitcher this season. With one of the best SIERA’s on the slate and his ability to generate groundballs, he makes for a great play. Corbin has been very good at home as well allowing just a .206 batting average and .258 wOBA. He does rank out as our 3^rd highest graded pitcher on the research station which makes me like him more than I did before. I expect Corbin to be a bit lower owned today with people going above him or right below him. His success against the Giants makes him a great play tonight.

Marco Gonzales (9.2k FD) (9.7k DK) vs TOR

Outside of last night, Toronto has not been all that hot. Gonzales on the other hand, he’s been AMAZING this year. Once a touted prospect, Gonzales is finally showing the league what he was drafted 19^th for in 2013. He ranks just under the other 3 we have in the article tonight. When I first saw his price I was astonished, then say his game logs. First off, he’s been able to absolutely CRUSH the Angels of late, which is great for him. His last 5 starts have been all over 40+ fanduel points and he has been able to go over 6 innings in all but 5 of his starts this whole entire season. We can expect him to get between 5-7 strikeouts almost every time he goes out there for Seattle. They will need to keep winning to keep the A’s off their back in the wild-card race this season. He does have a decent 22% strikeout rate this year but doesn’t walk many hitters at all. His WHIP is good for a DK pitcher at just over 1. His groundball ability makes him a great choice tonight, and he is still able to get some strikeouts. People don’t really like to play Marco, and that is a mistake. I almost consider him cash viable on this slate tonight and he will be low owned too.

Anibal Sanchez (8.5k FD) (8k DK) @ NYM

Going to keep picking on the Mets with almost every starter that I can. They simply are not a good baseball team right now. Before his last start against the Dodgers, he has been very good this season. He’s a solid price, but on DK I am just playing Archer for $200 more. When Sanchez is on, he can rack up points. He has shown multiple 40+ point fanduel games this year and the Mets can easily struggle. They have 92 at-bats against him in their career, but just 3 have more than 10 against him. As a team, they are hitting .228 with a .297 wOBA and low .109 ISO. For a big slate, Sanchez grades out fairly well, and I think we can take a shot at him in tournaments. He has a solid 23.4% strikeout rate and is walking about 2.7 per 9, which is not horrible. One thing that makes him appealing on DK especially, is his WHIP is just 1.09. Baserunners lose points on DK, so we want pitchers who don’t allow many runners per inning. Sanchez doesn’t get hit that hard either, allowing just a 28% hard contact rate while getting 41.6% groundballs. Hitters are swinging and missing at pitches outside of the zone as he has a 31% O-Swing%. Any pitcher facing the Mets is usually in play, and I think this could be a solid pitchers’ duel between Sanchez and deGrom.

Mike Clevinger (9.5k FD) (9.3k DK) vs LAA

Normally I don’t like to pick on the Angels, but if they don’t have Trout in the lineup, it makes them a bit less scary. They still have good hitters, but they also have some that can strikeout. They have a 23% strikeout rate vs RHP in the L14 which is in the top 10. Clevinger has been able to generate 24.3% strikeouts this season and has lowered his walks tremendously from last season. I wish he would get more points at his price, but he hasn’t won a decision in 4 straight and still has put up 30 fanduel points in each of them. I like that he can go 6+ innings and has the ability to rack up 10+ strikeouts. Clevinger is a GPP option only, but he does have that 60 points upside. If MME’ing, I definitely would want a few shares of Clevinger tonight. If Trout is out again, I will like him a bit more.

MAIN SLATE RANKINGS

Chris Archer (all formats)
Jacob deGrom (all formats)
Patrick Corbin (all formats)
Marco Gonzales (lean GPP, but I think he’s cash viable too)
Anibal Sanchez (GPP)
Trevor Richards (GPP)
Mike Clevinger (GPP)

NOTE: the GPP options can all be flip-flopped in rankings! Same goes for deGrom and Archer. I like Archer more because of the savings we can get from deGrom. I also love the pair of Archer and Gonzales on DraftKings for all formats!!!

QUICK PICK ON FANDUEL PITCHING TIER RANKS

TIER 1: deGrom, Corbin, Verlander

2: Archer, Gonzales, Clevinger

3: Richards, Sanchez, Velasquez, Marquez

4: Borucki, Stratton, Jurado (this tier is BAD, all have high risks)

Good Luck Everyone!