Pitching is the lifeblood of a DFS lineup, and an important part of keeping those tabs open deep into the night. For those new with us, the Pitching Pulse is focused on providing information on four to five pitchers that are viable in various formats. This is a premium article that will give away one free preview pitcher, while the rest will be for premium members. We take a deep dive into pitchers across all salaries, looking for exploitable matchups, game theory plays, and identify the nightly chalk. Our information comes from our optimizer, FanGraphs, and other various MLB sites listed below. Feel free to comment below, or find us on Twitter at @BrentHeiden1, @JGuilbault11, and @dfcafe. We focus on Main Slates across all content, but will feature blurbs about other slates at times, and can be reached via Twitter or comments.
Gerrit Cole (R) Vs. Seattle Mariners | ||||||
Splits (2017-2018) | wOBA Allowed | K% | BB% | GB% | Hard% Allowed | FIP |
Vs. LHB | .325 | 26.2% | 6.3% | 40.5% | 37.5% | 4.22 |
Vs. RHB | .292 | 24% | 6.5% | 48.1% | 25.2% | 3.63 |
Opposing Team Splits Vs. Pitcher Handedness | ||||||
wOBA | ISO | wRC+ | K% | BB% | Hard% | Implied Run Total |
| .328 | .169 | 114 | 19.8% | 7.6% | 27.4% | 3.5 |
While this is not an ideal matchup, it is hard to ignore what Gerrit Cole has done this season. The 36 strikeouts over three starts is insane, and his new process in Houston is clearly working. Cole is throwing his fastball 7% less than 2017, and has dialed up the curveball and slider a bit more. The fastball has been very solid this season, positing a 19% whiff rate, and he is allowing just a 25% hard-contact rate. The curveball has been the moneymaker here, with a 37% whiff rate and he is holding to opponents to a .110 wOBA. Against Seattle, there is some worry with a tough matchup. Cole has a 52% strikeout rate against lefties so far this season, which is notable, given they should have five lefties in the lineup. While this is not a spot I usually like to target pitchers against, this slate doesn't send us a clear cut option.
Login or Register to join the conversation.