With Jose Fernandez on the hill, many of his peers will be overlooked, but I’m implore you to take a look at Felix Hernandez. His strikeout numbers have been down this season, but the rest of his metrics are still in line with being one of the better pitchers in the league. He’s coming off (arguably) his best game of the season, dealing nine strikeouts to the Angels in 7.1 IP. It’s likely he continues that good form tonight against the Reds who have the third-worst wOBA in the least seven days, combined with seventh-highest strikeout rate. It’s been a season long struggle for the Reds who rank 26th in wOBA this season. Felix gets a downgrade in ballpark tonight, but will benefit from facing a National League lineup.
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Speaking of ballpark boosts, Masahiro Tanaka will see a large benefit from pitching at the O.co Colicseum tonight which allows 23% fewer HRs than the league average, compared to Yankee Stadium which surrenders 25% more than the league average. Tanaka eats innings for theYankees and owns the second-best xFIP on the slate, behind only Jose Fernandez. The Athletics have struggled offensively this season, ranking 27th in wOBA.
The Royals are starting to get right. They’ve been rather mediocre this season, checking in with a 20-20 record and hovering in the bottom third of the league in offense. They have started to warm up in the last 14 days and continue to be one of the hardest teams in the league to strikeout. It’s going to be a tough task for Miguel Gonzalez to step in and try to shut them down tonight. In three starts this season, Gonzalez has pitched 15.2 innings while allowing nine ER and walking ten. He owns the worst xFIP on the slate and the fourth-highest FB rate.
That’s all folks! Be sure to follow me on Twitter for more player analysis and news as starting lineups are released! Commentary based on DraftKings strategy and scoring.