Week two of the MLB season comes to a close with Sunday baseball. And just because the Astros are already eliminated from winning anything significant doesn’t mean you need to be in the same group. So a Draftstreet daily league team built around a couple of these value pitchers can help you pick up a weekend ‘W’.
Best Bet
Kyle Kendrick – $11,314
Kendrick isn’t the most consistent of starters, but he’s still worth a look today. On Tuesday, he was knocked around by the Brewers, allowing nine hits and six runs in five innings. That comes, though, on the heels of a strong month leading up to that. In his first start of the season, he went seven innings against the Rangers and only gave up one run. That was preceded by a March during which he had a 1.29 ERA over 14 innings to go along with 10 strikeouts. So he’s really had just the one poor outing in the last month-and-a-half. And he’ll have a matchup that should help him get back on track. The Marlins have lost six in a row, and have averaged fewer than three runs a game in that stretch.
Double Down
Brett Oberholtzer – $10,322
In two starts this season, Oberholtzer is a combined three outs shy of two quality starts. In each outing, he gave up three runs, and went 5.2 innings one time and 5.1 in the other. Any time you can start a pitching who turns in a quality start, you’re not in bad shape. Oberholtzer was nearly there each time. All he needs are those couple extra outs. And there are plenty of reasons to think he can get it. During his debut season last year, he had seven quality starts out of his 13 appearances. He also has a career ERA of 3.05. He may not end up with a ton of strikeouts, but if he keeps the Rangers’ offense, which has had a sporadic offense this season, in check, then this will be money well spent.
Roll the Dice
Felix Doubront – $9,859
Doubront might be the best pitcher on the bottom part of the Draftstreet salary scale, but he hasn’t been pitching like it. He performed well enough in his first start, with three runs allowed in 5.1 innings in Baltimore. Then he followed that up by getting shelled against Texas. He gave up five runs and couldn’t get out of the third inning. And it’s a problem that extended back into spring training as well. In consecutive starts, he gave up seven and eight runs, respectively. So why consider him a viable option for a daily fantasy lineup? Because he has more potential than anyone at this cost. Doubront can be a very streaky pitcher and can go from night to day one start to the next. Immediately after giving up 15 runs in two spring starts, he bounced back to scatter seven hits over five shutout innings while picking up seven strikeouts. You will want him in your lineup when he does snap back into form. A national Sunday night game against the Yankees would be a nice place for him to do it.
