Cure the Hump Day blues with a daily fantasy baseball league over at Draftstreet. And let one, or several, of these pitchers help carry you victory.
Best Bet
Yordano Ventura – $10,138
The 22-year-old is off to an excellent start. He has quality starts in three of his four outings. In the one that wasn’t, he allowed four runs in four innings. In those other three, he has thrown 21 innings, allowing a grand total of one earned run. That is an ERA of 0.43. That is not a misprint. Even with his one subpar start, his season ERA is still 1.80, good for sixth in the American League. He’s also picking up strikeouts along the way, averaging more than one an inning. Even when facing a top-10 offense in the Blue Jays, it’s hard to fathom a pitcher who has been as good as Ventura at this price. Use him.
Double Down
Drew Hutchison – $11,853
Like Ventura, one start has also skewed what has otherwise been a stellar start to the season for Hutchison. In five starts, he has allowed fewer than three runs four times, including two scoreless outings. The one time he struggled, when he allowed six runs in just 3.1 innings, has been the real reason his ERA of 3.46 is as high as it is. Outside of that, it’s all been impressive, including his strikeout totals. He has struck out 33 batters in 26 inning, including nine in each of his last two starts. So, tonight, in facing a team in the Royals that has scored more runs than only two A.L. teams, he is in a position to turn in another nice performance.
Roll the Dice
Jordan Lyles – $9,889
Lyles costs under $10,000 on this day, and he should be able to outperform many of the five-digit starters tonight. He is 3-0 and owns a 2.93 ERA after a stretch of very nice outings. In each of his last two starts , he went seven innings, and allowed a total of 11 hits and two earned runs. And his most recent game came against a good Dodgers team. The only thing to prepare for with Lyles is the fact that he leaves a lot to be desired in the area of strikeouts. His season-high is just five and that came in his first start. Still, he is undefeated so far with a sub-3.00 ERA. But a start against the Diamondbacks, who rank in the top third of baseball in strikeouts, is appetizing, especially when considering how well he’s been pitching in general.
