If you haven’t started your daily fantasy baseball season yet, now is as good a time as any. You’ve seen the players for a couple of games, and entering a team will help you get through the middle of the work week. So as you look to fill your daily Draftstreet lineup with some bargain pitching buys, here are a few options you should consider.
Henderson Alvarez $9,821 – As odd as it may seem, the Marlins do have some good, young pitching, and Alvarez is in that group. He was part of the massive deal with the Blue Jays following the 2012 season that saw several big names leave South Florida. His first season in the National League treated him well. He made 17 starts throughout the year for the Marlins and managed a 5-6 record, which isn’t terrible considering the quality of the team. He went at least six innings in 12 of those games, and he finished the year with a 3.59 ERA and 1.14 WHIP. The 23-year-old then spent his March proving that he’s ready to take the next step forward. He allowed only two earned runs in 14.2 spring innings. He has never been a big strikeout guy, so you may have to temper your expectations there, but he did increase his K/9 rate to 7.4 this spring from 4.5 for his career. He has a date with the Rockies at home tonight.
Trevor Cahill $12,611 – It can only get better for Cahill. Unlike most pitchers we’ve seen this week, he already has a start under his belt this year. He got the ball in one of the Diamondbacks’ games against the Dodgers during MLB’s opening series in Australia. It didn’t go well. He couldn’t get past four innings, and allowed five runs on eight hits. But that one can be chalked up to playing on a cricket ground in a country with deadly animals running free and toilets that flush backwards (or so they say). Back in the States, where there are fewer wildlife threats and more normalized toilet water, things should go better. This is a bit of a gut call, but he should be able to handle San Francisco at home.
Jarred Cosart $10,425 – Among all the value options in play tonight, Cosart is the best bet. In his short Major League career, he has been very good. He made 10 starts for the Astros last year and batters only hit .233 against him. In 60 innings, he posted a 1.95 ERA. The big thing that seemed to be missing for him were the strikeouts. In the minors, he struck out nearly eight batters per nine innings, and had one per inning in Triple-A Oklahoma City last year. But in the Majors that fell to five per nine. This spring, he more than doubled that with a 12.0 K/9 rate. Opponents managed just a .159 average against him and he also had a 1.00 WHIP. Now he’ll make his season debut with a team ripe for being stymied. The Yankees lost their opener to Houston 6-2, and picked up just six hits along the way. Coming off one of their worst offensive seasons in decades, the Yankees have a lot of work to do before they can be seen as a real threat with the bats.
