DFS MLB Pitching Coach: September 7

Having fun with some of these “random” pitchers we’re seeing here in September? As a baseball guy and a seasonal fantasy player, I love it. Nothing better than seeing some youngster get his shot to face big-league hitters and see how he not only helps his MLB team, but yours as well. As a DFS player, it’s much different. While some of the youngsters are highly touted prospects whom you can expect to do good things for you, many are mid-level guys the club just wants to get a look at, see what they need to work on and if there’s a future. Very few of them are good choices for daily play and none of them should be trusted in cash games. It’s GPP city or bust, so be careful.

We’ve got a split-slate as usual here on Wednesday, but the early slate is much shorter than usual. With just four early games, you can expect a strong overlap with regard to players. People will always try to be a little contrarian in a GPP with a short slate, but even then, the options are so limited, you almost can’t help but see high ownership percentages. That’s why I tend to just stay with the cash games on the short slates. Maybe a single-entry GPP, but only if there’s a pitching dart I really like.

Here’s a look at the numbers for today:

EARLY

Noah Syndergaard, NYM – After a mid-August stumble, Syndergaard has gotten back on track and has posted a 1.23 ERA with a 17:5 K:BB over 22 innings in his last three starts. Now he faces the Reds who have a .307 wOBA with a 22.7-percent strikeout rate and a dismal .093 ISO over the last seven days. On top of that, the Reds have the lowest hard-contact rate in the league over that span and haven’t had a strong rate against righties all year.

Drew Smyly, TB – The Orioles crushed Smyly when he faced them in late June, but they’ve posted just a .310 wOBA since the All Star break and have struggled mightily against southpaws over these last two months. In fact, their .296 team wOBA against lefties for the season ranks just 26^th in the league and most, if not all of their overall totals have been average to slightly-below.

Alex Meyer, LAA – How about a GPP dart for the early slate for all of you? There’s nothing too exciting about his numbers, but the opportunity is there for a “random” strong start. The A’s have averaged fewer than three runs per game over their last 10 now and they’ve posted just a .244 wOBA with a .101 ISO and a 20-percent strikeout rate over the past week.

LATE

David Price, BOS – Yeah, baby! Let’s pick on the Padres for our cash games in the night slate, shall we? We’ve mentioned, almost daily, that the Padres numbers against southpaws have been terrible since the trade deadline and when you look at their .257 wOBA and 29.5-percent strikeout rate over the last seven days, you can’t help but get a little giddy.

Stephen Strasburg, WAS – High risk/high reward here as I never really like to use a guy just coming off the DL, especially due to an elbow issue. But given his strikeout potential, his wOBA splits and the fact that the Braves have just a .302 wOBA against all righties this year, I’m willing to take a little chance here.

Robbie Ray, ARI – Big shout-out to my man Paulie Walnuts (@PaulinBoats) for asking me the other day if we could trust Ray this week. I’ll give you exactly the answer I gave him: The Dodgers suck at home, they suck even more against lefties and in two starts against them, Ray has looked strong. That should be enough for a decent second pitcher in a GPP.

Marcus Stroman, TOR – He’s got three quality starts in his last four outings, held the Yankees to two runs over eight innings earlier this season and the Yankees 48.7-percent ground ball rate looks awfully tasty next to Stroman’s 3.53 GB/FB this season.

Jeremy Hellickson, PHI – Those poor little Marlins. A .262 wOBA with a 24.3-percent K-rate and a way below-average .122 ISO over this past week make me look more closely at Hell Boy, so his one run allowed over two late-July starts (14 innings) with a 9:1 K:BB against these Fish cinches it up for me.

Jorge De La Rosa, COL – How about this dart? Yeah…in Colorado, no less. You like contrarian? Using JDLR at Coors Field is probably one of the more contrarian moves out there. But I just can’t help it with him facing the Giants right now. Not only do the Giants have a 26^th-ranked .312 wOBA against lefties, they’ve been the worst-hitting club in the majors over the past week. We’re talking about a completely atrocious .203 wOBA, a .240 slugging percentage and a sad-sack .093 ISO. I can’t expect De La Rosa to blank the Giants, but I have a feeling I’m going to really love my Rockies stack against Albert Suarez.