Top Tier
Jake Odorizzi, HOU
Sure the Yankees offense has been steadily improving, but Ozorizzi has been stellar recently. He’s allowed one earned run over his last 20 innings. Odorizzi has flashed nine strikeout upside this year despite only striking out two his last time out. Odorizzi has had 13.8-plus DKP in each of his last five starts. Against right-handed pitching, the Yankees have a 25% K-rate and are 16th in OPS.
Charlie Morton, ATL
Since June 17th, Morton turned a corner. He’s pitched to a 2.42 ERA, has held opponents to a .159 BAA while posting a K-rate north of 31%. The Marlins are 24th in OPS and wOBA against right-handed pitching this year and they’re striking out 25.5% of the time too. On a slate in which there aren’t any elite arms, Morton stands out the most up top. He’s my favorite spend up for Friday.
Mid Tier
Taijuan Walker, NYM
Here’s what I said in the playbook yesterday and it all still applies. There’s not a lot of K upside against the Pirates, but they’re still not a great offense overall. He’s allowed more than 2 ER just twice over his last 10 starts and has a 2.17 ERA over that span. That’s helped him lower his season mark to 2.44. Walker has been absolutely filthy in his home park, notching a 1.52 ERA and .191 BAA. One of the best plays of the slate for cash.
Jordan Lyles, TEX
Lyles has slowly started to turn things around allowing two earned runs or fewer in three straight starts, including one against the Athletics. That actually makes four quality starts over his last five outings overall. He has a 3.38 ERA over that span and has held his opponents under a 30% hard-hit rate. Oakland’s team OPS over the last month is only .716, which is not stellar. It’s nothing more than a GPP play, but nobody is going to roster him here and tonight’s pitching slate is NOT good.
Value Tier
Alek Manoah, TOR
It’s criminal where he’s priced on DraftKings, but we have to take advantage of criminal pricing! Manoah has been great recently allowing one unearned run over his last 13 innings while notching a 16:3 K:BB ratio. Over the last month, Tampa Bay’s offense has been subpar as hell. They rank 20th in both OPS and wOBA with a 24.5% K-rate to boot. Manoah has tremendous upside at this price on DraftKings.
JT Brubaker, PIT
Here’s what I said in the playbook yesterday and it all still applies. I mean, the Mets offense has been horrible recently. Brubaker isn’t great, but the MEts rank 29th in wOBA over the last month and have shown really nothing that makes you believe they’ll break out anytime soon. Brubaker has been improving, especially on the strikeout side of things. He has a 23% K-rate and has struck out 6+ in 3-of-5 starts. It’s a GPP play and that’s all it is.