Daily Fantasy Baseball 2015: Best DraftKings MLB Pitcher Picks for June 5
Pickings are rather slim when it comes to pitchers for Friday's DraftKings contests. The aces will be in the dugouts, but you still have two pitcher spots to fill in your lineup.
The best of the bunch is St. Louis Cardinals starter Carlos Martinez. He's been solid as a rock most of the season and especially lately. He hasn't allowed an earned run in his last three starts, and he also has 64 strikeouts in 60 innings pitched.
Martinez and the Cards face the Los Angeles Dodgers in what has to be considered the premier game of the evening. On May 31, Martinez led the Cards to a 3-1 win as he struck out eight over seven innings and allowed just one hit against Los Angeles.
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Martinez will cost you $9,100 in DK salary, but he's the one pitcher in action on Friday who is capable of putting up a 30-fantasy point performance.
Jered Weaver, $7,900 at New York Yankees
The drop-off from Martinez to the next best pitching option is a big one. Jered Weaver is the logical choice, but not one that figures to make DK owners ecstatic. Weaver and the Los Angeles Angels will face the New York Yankees on Friday. Weaver has been inconsistent this season, to say the least. In fact, over his last four starts, he has alternated games with one and three earned runs.
If the pattern remains the same, he'll hold the Yankees to one earned run. Perhaps things won't stay that formulaic for Weaver, but he is in line for another string outing. Even in the games in which he's allowed three earned runs, he seems to have more command of his pitches.
If nothing else, you know Weaver is going to compete. That's usually good for six innings, which might be enough for the second-best pitching performance on Friday.
Tsuyoshi Wada, $7,400 at Washington Nationals
The Chicago Cubs have loosened the leash on Tsuyoshi Wada in each of his three starts this season, and he's done well every time he's taken the ball for manager Joe Maddon.
In his last start against the Kansas City Royals, Wada threw 96 pitches over 5.2 innings. After missing his last start, the rested Wada is set up for his strongest outing yet. He faced the Washington Nationals in his second start.
The Cubs lost the game, but Wada did his job. The 34-year-old Japanese left-hander held the Nationals to one earned run, and he struck out six. He may not go eight or nine innings, but Wada should deliver another solid outing for the Cubs.
Charlie Morton, $7,200 at Atlanta Braves
Gerrit Cole, A.J. Burnett and Francisco Liriano get all of the attention on the Pittsburgh Pirates pitching staff, but Charlie Morton has been excellent in his two starts. He has a 1.93 ERA and has lasted seven innings in both appearances. After his most recent start, the Pirates' official Twitter account thinks Morton has been a nice addition to an already strong rotation:
The 31-year-old right-hander is not a strikeout pitcher. He's accumulated just five punchouts in 14 innings pitched, but he has proven to be an innings eater early this season.
I like his chances to produce another quality start and decent fantasy performance.
Shaun Marcum, $4,300 vs. Baltimore Orioles
The bargain pick of the day is the Cleveland Indians' Shaun Marcum. At under $5,000 in DK salary, Marcum could pay major dividends. His ERA is an astronomical 5.49, but that's primarily the product of one really bad start on May 25 against the Texas Rangers.
Marcum allowed seven runs in just 2.1 innings in that outing. Aside from that disastrous start, Marcum has been serviceable. Each of his other three starts lasted at least five innings, and he didn't allow more than two runs.
If you're wanting to grab a few high-priced hitters on what is set up to be an offensive evening, Marcum's low salary will help facilitate that strategy.
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