MLB DFS: Lance McCullers Jr., Chris Bassitt Top Leverage Pitchers for Friday
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HIGHEST LEVERAGE PITCHER: Lance McCullers Jr.
Lance McCullers Jr. is seated atop the pitcher leverage board as he battles it out with the Atlanta Braves. Tonight will only be McCullers second start in the majors this season, returning from the same injury that hampered him in last season’s ALDS. In his first start, McCullers was lights out, going six scoreless innings while only allowing two hits. That start was against the bottom-feeding Oakland Athletics, so it’ll be a rude awakening facing the high-flying Atlanta Braves, who have won nine of their past ten games.
Over the past two weeks, the Braves have ranked in the top four of ISO, wOBA, and wRC+, which they have called home for most of the season. Getting another excellent outing from McCullers seems far-fetched as they have not been shut out in a game since June 17, but McCullers is not a pushover. For his career, McCullers has respectable strikeout production with a career average of roughly 26.5% while doing a solid job in limiting power. He is priced fairly on DraftKings at $9,400, and we are expecting to see sub-5% ownership on him due to this matchup. Backing McCullers feels like an uphill battle, but at sub-5% ownership, we could convince ourselves that McCullers will put up a decent outing and rack up some strikeouts to compensate for the runs that he’ll likely surrender. Still, fading the Braves is playing with fire, so proceed with caution.
CHRIS BASSITT LOOKING TO EXTEND DOMINANCE
Chris Bassitt also finds himself on our leverage board as he faces the Philadelphia Phillies under the lights tonight. Bassitt has had an excellent August thus far, where he pitched 20 scoreless innings in a combined three starts. One of those three outings happened to be against the Phils, and he has a second strong performance against Philadelphia under his belt from a one-run effort back in May. Bassitt clearly shouldn’t be lacking confidence heading into tonight.
The Phillies are an interesting case offensively as they have had a season full of injuries and inconsistency. Obviously, they have been one of baseball’s best clubs under interim manager Rob Thomson. Still, offensively the inconsistency is becoming more of an issue as they have been shut out in four of their past seven games. At the same time, they have the offensive firepower to drop runs on opponents in a hurry. Over the past two weeks, the Phils still have ranked in the top five in ISO, wOBA, and wRC+ and need to make an offensive statement at some point this weekend. We also expect Bassitt to see sub-5% ownership at a $9,400 DK salary, so given Bassitt’s recent excellence and the Phillies’ inconsistency, Bassitt looks to be the safer of the sides. Worth noting as well is that the Phillies could receive a jolt as a post-game concert at Citizens Bank Park will fuel a nearly sold-out crowd.