This article is part of our DraftKings MLB series.
Starting Pitchers
Stephen Strasburg ($9,400) made easy work of a powerful Dodgers lineup in his first postseason start, allowing one run and striking out 10 batters in Dodger Stadium. The one trouble spot Strasburg could potentially run into in a lineup like this is the home run ball, as the Dodgers will take the fifth-highest flyball rate in the league into the matchup against the heavy groundballer. This has been much less of a problem for Strasburg on the road, however, where he allowed just 13 homers in 113.1 frames during the regular season.
Walker Buehler ($9,000) will once again toe the rubber at Dodger stadium, making him a nearly unavoidable fixture in our lineups. The 25-year-old kept a 2.86 ERA in 91 innings at home this year and pitched six innings of scoreless baseball with eight strikeouts in his postseason matchup with the Nationals last week. Washington was unquestionably one of the best offenses in the league against right-handed pitching during the 2019 regular season, but Buehler's strikeout prowess combined with the domination in his home ballpark makes him an easy sell for the price.
Jack Flaherty ($7,400) will take the ball for the decider in Atlanta. Flaherty went through a complete transformation after the All-Star break this season, when he logged an ERA under 1.00 while striking out 124 batters in 99.1 innings. He kept that dominance going in his first start of this series, when he allowed three runs with eight strikeouts over seven innings. Prospective owners may have a hard time finding many weaknesses in Flaherty's game, but it should be noted that he kept a 4.14 xFIP and a 42 percent hard contact rate against lefty hitters.
Mike Foltynewicz ($6,000) would appear to be the odd man out in this group of otherwise elite hurlers, as he allowed 23 homers in 117 innings over his 21 starts this year, contributing to a 4.54 ERA over that span. Aside from that, Foltynewicz doesn't have a high groundball rate or a pitch he throws that yields a high success rate, relegating him to little more than a GPP differentiator on this slate. Those looking to take a shot can perhaps draw some confidence in the fact that Foltynewicz threw seven scoreless innings with seven strikeouts against the Cardinals earlier in this series.
Correlations
Some combination of Strasburg, Buehler and Flaherty will likely be the standard play Wednesday, with the offense centered around exploiting Foltynewicz against the Cardinals lineup. Foltynewicz gave up too many homers to both sides of the platoon this season, meaning that DFS players have a number of choices regarding which bats to select. To that end, Marcell Ozuna ($4,900), Matt Carpenter ($4,100) and Yadier Molina ($3,900) are a nice mix of heavy hitters and money savers that should allow us to fit elite pitching on our roster.
Those looking to mix things up somewhat could try going after Flaherty, and some of the warning signs against lefty hitters we discussed earlier. Freddie Freeman ($4,600) and Ozzie Albies ($4,700) are rightly thought of as the reliable lefty bats in the lineup, but don't forget about Nick Markakis ($3,600), who notched a solid .347 wOBA against righty pitchers this year.
One-offs
Michael Taylor ($3,400) has replaced the injured Victor Robles in each of the last two games, and the expectation is he will do so again Wednesday. Taylor went 6-for-12 with a home run during his cup of coffee in September, making him an interesting punt for those trying to fit in elite pitchers.
Matt Beaty ($3,300) entered the Game 4 lineup against Max Scherzer in place of the struggling A.J. Pollock who has yet to collect a hit in 11 at-bats during the postseason. Beaty notched one hit in three at-bats in the contest. Don't be surprised if manager Dave Roberts goes back to Beaty for the decider, as he logged a .217 ISO against right-handed pitching in 217 regular-season at-bats.
