There’s a reason gambling lines list starting pitchers next to the odds and totals for baseball games, and books take games off the board when starting pitchers get scratched. Pitchers dictate the context of the matchup and have a larger impact on each possible individual event (ball, strike, foul ball, ball in play) than any hitter ever could. They generally can’t win games single-handedly (Shohei Ohtani the notable exception of course), but they sure can lose them.

 

While other team sports can adjust strategy based on personnel, there’s nothing the rest of the defense can do if the pitcher allows too many walks or home runs. Suffice it to say, making the right decisions in DFS starts with pitching.

Main Slate (7:05 p.m. ET)

TeamPDK

This feature is only available to FTN Daily Premium Members

Already a member? Log In
Vlad is the head of fantasy baseball content at FTN Fantasy as well as a contributor to seasonal football and DFS analysis for FTN Daily . He is one of the world's top high-stakes players with over 50 league championships in NFBC/NFFC. Vlad is a DFS live finalist, Tout Wars expert league champ, CDM Hall of Famer and a two-time nominee for FSWA's Football Writer of the Year award. A die-hard L.A. Kings and Dodgers fan, he has been playing fantasy sports competitively since 1995. Some, though not all, call him the FAAB Whiiiisperer.