DFS MLB Pitching Coach: June 7

It’s another one of those days where I just don’t like a whole lot of the pitching match-ups. You sift through the data, you look at how offenses are performing, both recently and against individual handedness, and sometimes you just shake your head in disappointment. But you can certainly find a silver lining in there somewhere, right? You won’t be paying up for pitching too badly today, so you can invest in some pretty sweet bats. How about that?

Again, that’s not to say we can’t find some quality options for your cash games, but you just don’t have the comfort of relying on your Kershaws or your Arrietas. Here’s what the data for today’s games looks like and, of course, some highlighted options I’ll be using.

UPDATE: The early game for the Mets/Pirates is not in play which means neither Steven Matz nor Jon Niese is available. That bums me out on the slate even more as I'm not trusting Juan Nicasio and I'm actually less bullish on Jacob deGrom than I was Matz, primarily because of how much better the Pirates lineup is against right-handers. Oh well. I'll use deGrom in a lineup or two, just like Greinke, which you'll read below, but I don't love it.

Zack Greinke, ARI – I don’t love this match-up as the Rays have really been swinging the sticks well, both recently and against right-handers. However, Greinke’s solid wOBA splits, particularly against right-handed hitting, give me a reason to at least put together a GPP lineup with him and some bargain-basement bats. I don’t think he’ll have too high an ownership percentage given the Rays’ .368 wOBA over the last seven days, but there is some optimism with their 24.3-percent strikeout rate.

Kyle Hendricks, CHC – After some struggles to go deep into games, Hendricks has turned around and gone at least eight innings in each of his last two starts and has a 1.59 ERA and 13:1 K:BB in those two outings (17 innings). His ground ball rates have been tight and he should have little trouble with a Phillies squad that has a .292 wOBA against righties this season and a .298 wOBA with a 22-percent strikeout rate over the last seven days. Oh yeah, and a 47.3-percent ground ball rate as well.

Joe Ross, WAS – Even with the White Sox fanning at a 22.1-percent rate over the last seven days, you can’t expect a world of strikeouts out of Ross. But considering the South Siders are also sporting a .279 wOBA over the past week and Ross has allowed just two runs in his last two starts combined (14 innings), he’s likely to be a hot play in cash games.

Adam Conley, MIA – The run support is going to be weak as the Marlins bats are like cold fish right now, but the Twins are sitting on a .294 wOBA against southpaws and have a 24.5-percent strikeout rate against them this year.

Rick Porcello, BOS – Here’s a name I hate to recommend, but if you’re looking at the numbers, you’ll see the Giants are, offensively speaking, not only sitting at league average at home, but have just a .272 wOBA over the last seven days. This one is tricky because his wOBA splits against right-handed hitters sucks, but the Giants are ice cold right now. Stick to low-cost GPPs here.

Colin Rea, SD – Time to pick on the Braves again, right? Absolutely. Rea does a great job of stifling left-handed bats and those would be the only worrisome ones off the Braves roster. They rank dead-last with a .275 wOBA against righties this season, but even tastier is their .231 wOBA and 23.9-percent strikeout rate over the last seven days. Rea is going to see some higher-than-usual ownership percentages today, but that doesn’t mean you can’t use him. Just load up on the right power bats.