Tonight’s daily fantasy baseball value pitchers come in a variety of forms. There is one who is a young gun trying to keep his spot in the rotation after earning it for the first time in spring training. There is another who is entering his prime years and trying to put together his first strong season. And there is another major league veteran trying to get his year on track. A combination of these hurlers could help you win your Draftstreet league tonight.
Best Bet
Robbie Erlin – $13,135
Erlin had to work to just make the Padres’ roster out of the spring, but since he has, he has done all he can to prove that manager Bud Black made the right decision. He has made just one start so far this year, when he held the Indians to just one run on four hits in six innings and added six strikeouts in the second game of Wednesday’s doubleheader. That came on the heels of a perfect 0.2-inning relief performance. And, in the spring, he was just as good. He had a 1.43 ERA in the preseason that concluded with a five inning shutout performance against Kansas City. In 19 innings between spring training and the regular season, he has a 1.42 ERA and is averaging a strikeout per inning. He has a manageable matchup tonight with the Rockies. They have had one of the best offenses in baseball in the young season, but are coming off a rough series with the Giants. They lost two of the three games and scored only a single run in the one game they did win.
Double Down
Tom Koehler – $10,818
Koehler is getting another shot against the team he pitched well against last week. In his last start against Washington on Thursday, he went six innings, allowing five Nationals hits and two runs. It was the second consecutive quality start from the Miami righty to start the season. Including his preseason appearances, he has yet to surrender more than two runs in an outing in 2014. Going back to last season, he is riding a five-game streak of starts of more than five innings while allowing two or fewer runs. The second game of that stretch was another start against the Nationals. There is something to be said for consistency, and Koehler has shown it recently, not only in general, but also against the team he will be facing tonight.
Roll the Dice
Bronson Arroyo – $12,658
Arroyo is still trying to get his footing in Arizona after spending the last eight years in Cincinnati. In his first two starts of the year, he has yet to make it past the fifth inning. His ERA sits at 4.82, his walks are up, and his strikeouts are down. But that largely has to do with the fact that he is still getting into form. He missed nearly all of spring training dealing with back stiffness. He made one appearance at the end of February, then another at the end of March, for a total of 7.2 innings. For someone who has been consistently healthy throughout his career, this presents a different set of circumstances for the 37-year-old. He entered the regular season with less preparation than at any point in the last 10 years. It would be tough for anyone to have expected him to be much better with that amount of work. But now he has two starts and many more side sessions under his belt. And, even better, he’ll get a turn against the Mets, who are often a cure-all. Arroyo has had more success against them than almost any other team in his career. He is 8-3 against New York in 14 starts with a 3.63 ERA. Don’t be surprised to see Arroyo start to turn around his season here.
