With DraftKings having two roster spots for pitchers, it creates an opportunity to take a stand in a limited player pool. To play it safe, most users like to roster the chalkiest pitchers in hopes of their bats being the main focal point of their lineup. While in theory it is a great strategy, it limits a lineup’s ability to stand out from the rest and ultimately land in the top 5 of a large-field GPP. That’s why we need MLB DFS pivots.
The goal in this breakdown is to find which pitchers can give lineups the opportunity to return massive ROI while being undrowned across the field. Using Stokastic’s Top Pitchers Tool, we are able to determine the pitchers that are expected to be chalk, along with the pitchers that are projected for high leverage in contests. The correlation of high leverage but low ownership is a crucial piece to unlocking a lineup’s potential.
Let’s dive into which pitchers stand out in both of these categories to find the best MLB DFS pivots for today.
Best MLB DFS Pivots Today: Sonny Gray and More (May 14)
Ronel Blanco ($9,500)
Blanco faces off against the Athletics, who are projected for 4.2 runs, fifth lowest on tonight’s 12-game slate. Blanco is currently pulling 9% ownership, making him the lowest-owned pitcher in the $9,000 range. His low ownership makes for a great large-field GPP pivot given his high 15% chance at being a top-2 arm while being the third-highest-leveraged pitcher at 6.1%. The A’s aren’t the dumpster fire of a team they were before, but they still have some strikeout potential, having the fifth-highest strikeout rate in the last seven days (24.2%). With ownership being dominated by aces like Dylan Cease ($11,000) and Chris Sale ($10,000) both projected for over 25% ownership, Blanco can offer some salary relief, along with positive leverage to give our lineups an advantage over the majority of the field.
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Sonny Gray ($10,500)
Gray got absolutely sonned in his last start against the Brewers, allowing six runs on seven hits with three of those hits leaving the yard. I’m a “glass half full” kind of guy, though, so I will point out that he still managed to fan six in five innings, giving him a five-game streak of striking out at least six batters. Gray gets a matchup against the Angels tonight, who have the ninth-highest strikeout rate against righties at 24%, which factors in great with the fact that Gray has a 31% strikeout rate on the season, as well as a 2.48 xFIP. Looking at Gray through Stokastic’s Top Pitchers Tool, he has the third-highest chance at being a top-2 pitcher at 15.7% while only pulling 13% ownership, giving him a 2.7% leverage boost. Again, this slate is going to be determined by the performances of Cease and Sale. If either one of those guys were to fail, Gray could have an easy path to becoming the highest-scoring pitcher on the slate.
Get started finding the best MLB DFS pivots by using Stokastic tools today! Check out all we have to offer here!
