Salary Exploitation: Daily Fantasy Baseball 4-11-15

Each day during 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. Listed below are five of today's top pitchers, each with their salary listed as well as a ratio that takes into account both the total salary cap on the site and the number of roster positions that need filling. We've also provided some betting info for your reference. The higher the ratio, the more you'll be able to spend elsewhere.

Clayton Kershaw

The elephant in the room -- as he always is when he starts -- is Kershaw. He's far and away the most expensive pitcher on DraftKings and he's the priciest pitcher on FanDuel, too. That's to be expected. Glance at his FD and DK ratios compared to the other arms listed, and it's apparent how difficult it is to construct a solid offensive lineup around him. Interestingly, while his DK ratio is worse than his FD ratio, the two pitcher lineup structure at DraftKings is helpful when picking hitters. Furthermore, the sky high prices in the Coors Field slugfest between the Cubs and Rockies actually promote usage of Kershaw. It's basically impossible to stack Rockies or Cubs at DraftKings if you're going to use anything but the worst pitchers throwing tonight. Kershaw is my preferred cash games pick at DraftKings, but I won't be rostering him heavily at FanDuel. He's also in play in GPPs, where you'll need to hit on bargain picks anyway to finish near the top of the standings. You might as well leadoff with the most bankable pitching peformance.

FanDuel: Solid Cash Game Pick and Solid GPP Option

DraftKings: Elite Cash Game Pick and Strong GPP Option

Madison Bumgarner

Bumgarner is the second best pitcher on the hill tonight, but a pitcher's duel with James Shields could make it tough to earn a win. He is, however, a betting favorite. With a tiny opponent Vegas run total projection of three for the Padres, the floor is very high for this southpaw. Petco Park's park factors of 84 and 81 for runs to lefties and righties, respectively, per StatCorner, make it a great place to a pitcher to take the ball. In addition to having a high floor that will appeal to cash gamers, his ceiling is high as well. Last year, Bumgarner ranked 15th in FIP (3.05), 11th in strikeout rate (25.1% K) and eighth in K-BB% (20.2%) among qualified pitchers, according to FanGraphs. I love the idea discussed on the podcast with Justin, and that's a pairing of Bumgarner and Shields in cash games and tournaments. That's going to be one of my favorite cash game and tournament pitcher duos at DraftKings. He's a good cash game pick at FanDuel, but where wins carry so much weight, I'll pivot to one of the cheaper arms who is favored to win.

FanDuel: Solid Cash Game Pick and Solid GPP Option

DraftKings: Strong Cash Game Pick and Strong GPP Option

Julio Teheran

The Braves are a small betting favorite tonight, and that's due in large part to Teheran being the starter. The offense is unlikely to provide him much run support in a game with a tiny betting total of 6.5 runs, but Teheran shouldn't need much support. The Mets lineup doesn't have many hitters who should pose a problem for Teheran. He's not a big enough betting favorite at his price to consider a top option in cash games at FanDuel, but his ability to strikeout batters, pitch deep into the game and possibility of a win makes him a really good GPP picks. Furthermore, the gap in pricing between him and Kershaw and Bumgarner will allow for more spending on some of the top hitting options. I fully expect to see some of the top scoring teams in GPPs at FanDuel and DraftKings featuring Teheran. Cycling back to Teheran's ability to miss bats, according to FanGraphs, he ranked 15th in swinging strike percentage in 2014. His already good strikeout rate of 21.0% should move upward this year if he maintains his high swinging strike rate this year. The Mets aren't a group who strike out a lot as a whole, but Teheran has the goods to strike out a batter an inning if his pitches are working.

FanDuel: Secondary Cash Game Pick and Strong GPP Option

DraftKings: Solid Cash Game Pick and Strong GPP Option

Doug Fister

Fister is my preferred pitcher pick in cash games and GPPs at both FanDuel and DraftKings. He's a betting favorite with an affordable price tag. He isn't a big strikeout pitcher, but the salary relief he provides at FanDuel will allow for stacking at Coors Field in GPPs. In cash games, it will award gamers the chance to spend on the top hitter who aren't facing the Kershaws, Bumgarners and Teherans of the world. Fister will be my most rostered player at DraftKings, but he'll be the SP2 there. His price is great whether you're looking to pair him with Kershaw's cathedral high ceiling or with a bargain bin hurler to get maximum exposure to hitter-friendly betting lines. As for Fister's skill-set, he's a control pitcher who ranked in the top five last year in walk rate and one who induced groundballs more than 48% of the time last year, per FanGraphs. The right-handed pitcher is facing a bad Phillies lineup who needed Gio Gonzalez to lose control in order to get to him yesterday. Fister won't lose his control, and the Phillies don't have the type of talent capable of punishing his pitch to contact ways. Expect Fister to pile up innings and pick up a win.

FanDuel: Strong Cash Game Pick and Strong GPP Option

DraftKings: Secondary Cash Game Pick and Secondary GPP Option

Jered Weaver

Weaver is kind of Fister-lite today. He actually strikes out more batters than the Nationals' starter and walks more of them, but their pitch to contact approach is where the similarity arises. Where Fister keeps the ball on the ground to induce outs, Weaver takes the sometimes dangerous flyball route to out getting. The veteran righty should get away with allowing flyballs tonight facing a Royals' lineup light on power at home, where left-handed homers are suppressed by 18% and right-handed homers are docked 5% from a neutral park, according to StatCorner. He's not a headliner in DraftKings pitching spots, but he's a damn good SP2. On FanDuel, I'd rather use Fister primarily in cash games and GPPs, but if you're looking to swerve elsewhere, Weaver is a bigger betting favorite who could give you a similar performance.

FanDuel: Secondary Cash Game Pick and Solid GPP Option

DraftKings: Secondary Cash Game Pick and Secondary GPP Option