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.

Jacob deGrom (R) Vs. Atlanta Braves

Splits (2017-2018)

wOBA Allowed

K%

BB%

GB%

Hard% Allowed

ISO Allowed

Vs. LHB

.29226%8.2%45.3%30.5%.137
Vs. RHB.27532%6.1%47.7%31.1%.138
Opposing Team Splits Vs. Pitcher Handedness

wOBA

ISO

wRC+

K%

BB%

Hard%

Implied Run Total

.332.15810819.8%8.9%30%3.3

Generally I am not a fan of picking on the Braves, due to a handful of lefties and high contact bats in the lineup. Adding in Ronald Acuna from the right side gives them a decent power bat, which they were missing. While he isn't a contact bat, it is still another solid bat in this very good Braves lineup. Now you have Stephen Strasburg in a similar situation, but deGrom has been in better form. Luis Severino is a fine GPP option tonight at his lower price tags, but it is tough to look at him in cash games against the Astros, even if they are struggling to start the year. Severino at $9,200 is a bargain for the upside, as Houston continues to strikeout quite a bit against right-handed pitching (22.7%). The Braves and Pirates are under 20%, but as we have seen, guys with elite strikeout stuff can still rack up strikeouts. deGrom had a ten strikeout performance against Atlanta earlier this season, and is getting them at home where he has performed slightly better in his career. This current Atlanta roster has a .230 average off deGrom, with a 26.8% strikeout rate.

2017 was a very solid year for deGrom, but 2018 has seen a few increases in some key stats. His strikeout rate is 31% this year, and up over 30% against lefties. He is allowing a .013 ISO to right-handers, and a .127 ISO to lefties. His soft-contact rate sits over 30% on both sides of the plate. deGrom's slider has been insane this season, allowing a zero ISO and .137 wOBA with a 39% whiff rate. Ozzie Albies and Kurt Suzuki were the only two hitters to standout against the slider dating back to 2016. Against deGrom's average velocity fastball, Freddie Freeman and Dansby Swanson standout some, but nothing that is going to steer me off.

I don't believe any of the aces are must plays tonight, given we have an abundance of cheap pitching options that have some safe floors below. deGrom, Severino, Strasburg is how I would go tonight grading out the top arms. deGrom is playable in cash games and tournaments, while I would lean on the other two more so in tourneys.

Upgrade to Premium

Comments
No comments.