Spotlight Pitchers: MLB DFS Picks for DraftKings + FanDuel | Trevor Bauer or Lance Lynn?

This is the guy Cincinnati was hoping to acquire when they traded for Bauer last season. Bauer has been arguably the best pitcher in baseball to this point, striking out 14.01 batters per nine innings and posting a 2.58 xFIP. In his last four starts, he has been between 52 and 61 FanDuel points in each, going over 100 pitches in three of his starts. Bauer has done a phenomenal job of not just striking guys out, but getting ahead early in the count and avoiding long at-bats. He matches up with the Brewers tonight, who are an interesting matchup for any high-strikeout righty.

While the Brewers were one of the best hitting teams in baseball a season ago, it’s been the exact opposite thus far in 2020. Against right-handed pitching, the Brewers rank 29th with a .270 team wOBA while striking out at a ludicrous 27.2% rate. If Bauer is on his game once again, this is his best matchup to date by the numbers. With that being said, you do have to take the salary into consideration, and Bauer has to be about perfect to pay off. If he slips up at all, you won’t be optimal in tournaments, as there will surely be a cheaper guy that matches Bauer or gets at least close.

Lynn has been excellent this season, and it’s always impressive to see a guy throw a complete game shutout in Coors Field. It speaks more to his ability to outsmart batters than it does his stuff, as Lynn just throws variations of his fastball at differing speeds. He’s been over 100 pitches in every start and has been between 33 and 55 FanDuel Points in each of his six appearances. He’ll now host the Athletics, who strike out 25.5% of the time against righties and are a middling lineup at best. While Lynn doesn’t seem to fit best in tournaments, he’s a gem in cash games because you get huge savings from Bauer, and Lynn will likely be within 10-15 fantasy points of him.

Lynn struck out 10.61 batters per nine in 2019, so this dominance is nothing new. He surely had the occasional speed bump last season but still maintained a 3.85 xFIP and was one of the more consistent arms in baseball. He flies under the radar as one of the best pitchers in baseball since 2012, posting just one season with an xFIP over 4.00. The price has risen on both sites, but he’s still a decent value, and he doesn’t completely restrict the rest of your lineup. You can count Lynn in for 100-plus pitches and five-to-seven solid innings with at least a strikeout per.  You can’t go wrong with the consistency.

Luzardo is one of the biggest prospects in baseball, and there’s a good chance he will be a top-five starting pitcher by 2022. For now, he’s a ridiculously talented youngster that is being allowed to go deeper than ever before. He’s striking out a batter per inning and sporting a 3.79 xFIP through six appearances. The problem with Luzardo to this point has been his lack of a leash. There isn’t much upside to work with when you already know 70 pitches is a ceiling. That isn’t the case anymore, so we’re looking at a whole new ballgame.

Luzardo struck out seven Diamondbacks through 6.1 innings and got the win last time out, finishing with 50 FanDuel points. His price hasn’t caught up, and we should be able to grab another big performance before it does. The Rangers are quite terrible against lefties this year, ranking 24th with a .20 team wOBA while striking out 26% of the time. If Luzardo is able to get his strikeout stuff working, I wouldn’t be surprised to see double-digit strikeouts here. Awesemo has Luzardo as the top value pitcher on both sites, and I wholeheartedly agree. I currently have close to 60% on both sites and don’t plan to adjust much.