Each day of the MLB season will bring us some major price differences among starting pitchers on all sites. These price discrepancies and the site's roster differences can alter the way we use pitchers on each site, as well as how the field of opponents will use them. Listed below are five of today's top pitchers, each with their salary listed as well as the cafe value that takes into account both the total salary cap on the site and points-per-dollar. We've also provided some betting info for you reference. The higher the cafe value, the better the points-per-dollar play is.

Name Opponent FanDuel Salary DraftKings Salary Yahoo! Salary FD Cafe Value DK Cafe Value Y! Cafe Value Opp Vegas Run Total Money Line
Alex Wood @Pirates $9,700 $12,100 $49 12.93 7.28 6.48 3.5 -172
Gerrit Cole Dodgers $9,300 $8,700 $47 12.09 8.51 5.57 5 +147
Taijuan Walker @Mets $7,100 $7,800 $38 16.22 9.75 7.25 3.75 -133
Chris Stratton Brewers $6,000 $6,800 $29 11.78 6.85 5.69 5 +105

Alex Wood

After a dominant first few months of the season, Wood has come back down to Earth over the last 30 days (16.2% K, 4.29 SIERA, 31.8% HardHit). With all that said, he should still be atop your list for tonight's slate. He draws the top ballpark on the board in PNC Park, and faces a Pirates offense that is below average against LHP (.316 wOBA, 93 wRC+). The Pirates are a team that doesn't strike out much (19.8% vs LHP this season, 17.1% overall over the last 7 days), but one that also doesn't have much upside (only five teams have scored less runs, and only the Giants have hit less home runs. Back to Wood. After struggling across a pair of starts at the end of July, he has now allowed just four ER over 19 innings of work in his last three starts with a 12/3 K/BB. While the K upside may not be there, his floor is second to none on this slate, especially when you factor in ballpark and matchup.

FanDuel

GPP Ownership: 30-35%

Cash Game Ownership: 65-70%

Verdict: Cash/GPP Option

DraftKings

GPP Ownership: 40-45%

Cash Game Ownership: 75-80%

Verdict: Cash/GPP Option

Yahoo!

GPP Ownership: 40-45%

Cash Game Ownership: 75-80%

Verdict: Cash/GPP Option

Gerrit Cole

While I don't like the matchup, Cole has plenty of factors working in his favor tonight (most notably Cody Bellinger being very unlikely to play tonight) at PNC Park. He is a big underdog to Alex Wood, but Cole has been fairly consistent of late, although some longball issues (1.64/9 over the last 30 days) have me concerned against this lineup. Cole has significant Home/Road splits, as he has allowed just a .304 wOBA at PNC Park with a 60/15 K/BB over 68 innings this season. His split against LHB is a concern, however, as he has allowed a .345 wOBA and 15 HR to opposite-handed hitters this season. A lefty-heavy Dodgers lineup is less than ideal for him, but missing Bellinger certainly lowers their ceiling a bit. Cole is better reserved for GPP action in my book tonight (although there is some appeal as an SP2) , but he certainly needs to be considered.

FanDuel

GPP Ownership: 20-25%

Cash Game Ownership: 10-15%

Verdict: GPP Option

DraftKings

GPP Ownership: 20-25%

Cash Game Ownership: 15-20%

Verdict: Cash/GPP Option

Yahoo!

GPP Ownership: 20-25%

Cash Game Ownership: 15-20%

Verdict: Cash/GPP Option

Taijuan Walker

First, let's get the bad news out of the way. Walker has allowed at least one home run in seven consecutive starts, including a pair of starts where he allowed two. Here's the good: this Mets offense is a shell of what it was even a month ago, as Jay Bruce, Neil Walker, and Curtis Granderson have all been ripped out of the lineup and shipped out of town. Walker owns a decent K rate of 22.3% over the last 30 days, and while the home runs are a concern, this is an offense that has very limited power outside of Michael Conforto and Yoenis Cespedes. Walker has done a solid job of limiting blowups, as he has allowed three earned runs or less in 16 of his 20 starts this season. The Mets have struck out at a 25.5% clip with a 73 wRC+ and .281 wOBA over the last seven days, which seems like a fairly accurate prediction of what we can expect moving forward for this depleted lineup. Walker is a fine option in all formats tonight in this matchup, and will likely be a popular SP2 on multi-pitcher sites.

FanDuel

GPP Ownership: 20-25%

Cash Game Ownership: 10-15%

Verdict: Cash/GPP Option

DraftKings

GPP Ownership: 25-30%

Cash Game Ownership: 30-35%

Verdict: Cash/GPP Option

Yahoo!

GPP Ownership: 25-30%

Cash Game Ownership: 30-35%

Verdict: Cash/GPP Option

Chris Stratton

Stratton is coming off of one of the most surprising starts of the 2017 season, as he struck out 10 Nationals (sans Bryce Harper and Daniel Murphy) across 6.2 innings without allowing a single XBH. I read a great piece by @ThePitcherList this morning about Stratton's outing, and there was plenty to be encouraged about, including Stratton's impressive command of his fastball. His curveball is filthy, and could lead to plenty of swings and misses tonight against a Brewers team that owns the highest K rate against RHP in MLB at 25.6%. Pitching at the friendly confines of AT&T Park will certainly help alleviate the concern of Stratton making too many mistakes tonight, but this play still doesn't come without risk. Stratton makes for a GPP-only option in a high-upside matchup against the Brew Crew.

FanDuel

GPP Ownership: 0-5%

Cash Game Ownership: 0-5%

Verdict: GPP Option

DraftKings

GPP Ownership: 5-10%

Cash Game Ownership: 0-5%

Verdict: GPP Option

Yahoo!

GPP Ownership: 5-10%

Cash Game Ownership: 0-5%

Verdict: GPP Option



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