Welcome back, RotoBallers. For all you beginners out there working your way into MLB DFS: Welcome! Same to those of you who just needed a refresher. You've wandered into an article will specifically analyze how to go about choosing a starting pitcher for your MLB FanDuel teams (or sites with one SP spot). There may be other sites out there that ask for just one starting pitcher, but they're few and far between. So, let's figure out what the uniqueness of needing just one pitcher means for your lineup construction.

FanDuel Starting Pitcher Scoring

Kudos to FanDuel for sticking to the simple approach to DFS. Their scoring system for pitchers remains one of the simplest.

The asterisk  in the IP box is a reminder that the scoring for that category is fractional. So, if Clayton Kershaw pitches 7 1/3 innings, he gets 7.33 points. The other stats are simple and self-explanatory. A great pitching performance from your expensive starting pitcher (7 IP, 10 K, 1 ER, 1 W) will get you around 20 points. There will be occasions where a dominant complete game/shutout performance results in a near 30-point output, but 20 is what we usually want to aim for.

Sometimes we're fine with settling for less depending on how much we paid for our pitcher. Let's move on and get specific about that kind of thing. (Note: Scoring varies from site to site. That analysis and the analysis coming up is FanDuel specific. Make sure to study the scoring of your site before constructing lineups!)

Choosing a Starting Pitcher for FanDuel Cash Games

I touched on this topic in my previous article that studied lineup construction for MLB DFS cash games, but I reiterate more specifically for FanDuel here. Here's the Golden Rule: When playing FanDuel MLB cash games, pay as much as needed for who you think will be the best pitcher of the night. That seems obvious, right? If you want to finish in the top half of your contest, you have to play it safe at pitcher. Pitchers have floors, and hitters do not. Mike Trout is going to go 0-for-4 many more times than Kershaw will go 3.2 IP with five ER. Don't be cute with your pitcher in cash games. Still, like most "Golden Rules," there are always exceptions.

The nights in which choosing a cash game pitcher on FanDuel becomes difficult is when you have multiple aces with good matchups. Let's say, for example. Kershaw, Max Scherzer, and Jake Arrieta all pitch today. Now, because the world of baseball loves to mess with you, of course the matchups are all decent. And to make it even more difficult to pick one, the matchups go from awesome (for Arrieta), slightly less awesome (for Scherzer), and still awesome but not as good as the former two (for Kershaw). Now what? Well, there's a couple of things you can do to figure out which pitcher to choose, but do not stray from that group in cash games. In fact, I'll tell you why I won't even stray from that group in tournaments later on, but in a broad sense of staying with one of the best pitchers, the Golden Rule still applies here.

But here is where you can kind of mend the Golden Rule. If you were to follow the Golden Rule without wavering, Kershaw is the pick. He's the best pitcher. However, he gets out-pitched once in a while. It's baseball, and tonight could be the night. So, here's what you can do. First, take note of the price difference. Arrieta will likely be cheapest, and Scherzer will be in the middle. If there is a certain hitter that you really like tonight and Arrieta's price allows you to fit him in, then go with Arrieta. You could also look at BvP (batter vs. pitcher) history in all three games. If (and I'm just making this up) Prince Fielder is hitting .325 against Kershaw for his career, you probably want to bump him down the tiniest of notches in your mental ranking of the three. Do note, however, that I don't put much faith in BvP. The only time I will use it is if there seems to be a legitimate reason behind it and if the sample size spans over the course of at least 2.5 years. Baseball can be a fluky game.

So the point here is that if it's a close call, do your own research to figure out who has the best chance of coming up with the highest score of the night. If all three are likely to get a win, who's going to strikeout the most batters? If all three have similar strikeout potential, who's likely to go deeper into the game? That kind of thing. Always keep the Golden Rule in mind, but if the decision is really tight it sometimes makes sense to use the non-Kershaw ace.

Choosing a Starting Pitcher for FanDuel Tournaments

The big difference between cash games and tournaments, as you'll find out very quickly, is that ownership matters in tournaments. If you take Kershaw in a tournament and he puts up a 20-point outing that's a good night, right? Well, maybe. If 75% of the other players in the tournament also took Kershaw you could be in trouble. Why? First of all, because most other lineups also have a nice 20-point start, and it's now your hitters against theirs. Second, because if someone took Dallas Keuchel at 4% and he put up a 24-point game, now you have some ground to make up if you want to finish in the big money. Even worse, you had less money to use on hitters than the Keuchel owners because you paid more for Kershaw. So, if you're going to use the cash game pitching strategy in a tournament (say using Kershaw), you better believe in three things: 1) He's going to far-and-away be the highest scoring pitcher on the night. 2) There are plenty of cheaper hitters who you believe have a good chance at compiling similar points to the stud hitters. 3) You firmly believe that without this pitcher, there is no way that you can come in first in a tournament. In that case, I give you my blessing to use the best pitcher on the board regardless of price.

So when should we use cheaper pitchers? Well, for starters, they should have a pretty good chance of getting a win. Those four points are huge. So, if the Pirates are playing the Phillies at home and Maikel Franco is hurt (knock, knock), that's a good start towards using Juan Nicasio in a tournament lineup. I'm not sold yet, because baseball is fluky (are you seeing a theme?), but it's looking good. Price can be important in this decision too. If Nicasio costs half of what Kershaw does and you believe that Nicasio will put up 15 points while Kershaw puts up 20, that adds to the Nicasio logic. Odds are you can make up those five points and more by using your starting pitcher savings for stud hitters. Remember, this is very risky (thus why it's a tournament strategy) because stud hitters go 0-for-4 all the time. Even in great matchups. But in order to pay down at pitcher you have to feel really good about a few stud hitters compared to the cheaper alternatives. It makes no sense to pay down for a pitcher if there are plenty of cheap hitters who are in good spots. Use your best judgement. Lastly, I don't recommend using a cheap pitcher in a tournament unless you feel that the ownership will be low. Obviously the matchup and the strikeout potential and all of that are important factors to consider, but if everyone and their mothers are talking about Nicasio as a sneaky tournament option today, it's not going to be sneaky.

The last situation I want to touch on is one I mentioned earlier: "... but do not stray from that group in cash games. In fact, I'll tell you why I won't even stray from that group in tournaments later on." Here's the completion of that thought. When dealing with the Kershaw, Scherzer, and Arrieta situation in tournaments, your viewpoint should shift slightly due to ownership consideration. With that being said, I'm still not going to stray from this group in favor of a cheap pitcher. My reasoning? What are the odds that the best pitcher of the night is someone other than these three studs? Exactly, the odds are very very small. So go with one of these guys. If you feel that all three will score around the same amount of points then go with the pitcher who sports the best combination of cheap price and low ownership. If Arrieta is going to be highly owned in your mind, then go with Scherzer. If no one is going to be on Kershaw in your mind because Scherzer and Arrieta provide the same ceiling for a cheaper price, then go with Kershaw. If no one agrees with you that Arrieta has the same floor/ceiling as Kershaw and Scherzer, then Arrieta at low ownership makes a lot of sense.

Tournament lineup construction involves a lot of trial and error. You're going to have some rough stretches, but stick with it. Have a game plan for how much you want to spend nightly, and stick with that too. MLB DFS is a very very entertaining hobby that can also win you some cash, but remember it's a game. Best of luck to all of you this season, and be on the lookout for our premium daily research and picks.

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