Friday’s slate of games offers no shortage of great daily fantasy baseball picks with many can’t-miss starters, including Max Scherzer and Chris Sale, both just racking up strikeouts and consistently going deep into games.
Carlos Martinez would also be a great option, but he plays the lone day game at 2:20 ET. In two starts against the Cubs, he’s 1-0 with two quality starts and 17 strikeouts. Alex Wood, as always, is a high-quality option at home against the Braves.
But if you want to stand out from the crowd, you could go in a number of different directions. Aaron Nola has been on fire as of late with five straight quality starts and faces a struggling Brewers team with the second most strikeouts against righties. Nola just brushed them off in his last start with seven strikeouts over six innings of two-run ball. The Rangers-Rays game featuring Yu Darvish and Alex Cobb should also be low scoring with a bunch of strikeouts.
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If you really really want to differentiate, Paul Blackburn, Jeff Samardzija and Trevor Cahill are boom-or-bust options. In his three career outings, Blackburn posted quality starts all three times, and Samardzjia and Cahill go to battle against each other for the second time in six days. Both went six innings and had eight strikeouts in that, with Cahill picking up the win and Samardzjia getting the loss.
Daily Fantasy Baseball Rankings: Pitchers
| Rank | Pitcher | Team | Opp |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Max Scherzer, RHP | WSH | @ARI |
| 2 | Chris Sale, LHP | BOS | @LAA |
| 3 | Carlos Martinez, RHP | STL | @CHC |
| 4 | Alex Wood, LHP | LAD | vs ATL |
| 5 | Yu Darvish, RHP | TEX | @TB |
| 6 | Aaron Nola, RHP | PHI | vs MIL |
| 7 | Ervin Santana, RHP | MIN | vs DET |
| 8 | Alex Cobb, RHP | TB | vs TEX |
| 9 | Jake Arrieta, RHP | CHC | vs STL |
| 10 | Zack Godley, RHP | ARI | vs. WSH |
| 11 | Jeff Samardzija, RHP | SF | vs. SD |
| 12 | Paul Blackburn, RHP | OAK | @NYM |
| 13 | Ricky Nolasco, RHP | LAA | vs BOS |
| 14 | Trevor Cahill, RHP | SD | @SF |
| 15 | Ian Kennedy, RHP | KC | vs CWS |
| 16 | Mike Fiers, RHP | HOU | @BAL |
| 17 | CC Sabathia, LHP | NYY | @SEA |
| 18 | Matt Garza, RHP | MIL | @PHI |
| 19 | Trevor Bauer, RHP | CLE | vs. TOR |
| 20 | Marco Estrada, RHP | TOR | @CLE |
| 21 | Jaime Garcia, LHP | ATL | @LAD |
| 22 | Anibal Sanchez, RHP | DET | @MIN |
| 23 | James Shields, RHP | CHW | @KC |
| 24 | Jeff Hoffman, RHP | COL | vs. PIT |
| 25 | Steven Matz, LHP | NYM | vs. OAK |
| 26 | Homer Bailey, RHP | CIN | vs MIA |
| 27 | Andrew Moore, RHP | SEA | vs NYY |
| 28 | Trevor Williams, RHP | PIT | @COL |
| 29 | Ubaldo Jimenez, RHP | BAL | vs HOU |
| 30 | Jose Urena, RHP | MIA | @CIN |
Daily Fantasy Baseball Picks: Friday, July 21
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Today might be one of the toughest slates of the season. We have 14 games on the main slate with some of the best pitching options taking the mound tonight and iffy weather expected in Colorado. If you are not trying to take down a large GPP tonight, it's best to split the slate up tonight over trying to figure out the right roster contruction for the ful slate.
Make sure to keep an eye on the weather in Colorado (and possibly a few other places) where rain may play a role tongiht. Also, with the large slate tonight and some top pitchers going, the Playbook is a mix between the elite hitting options, as well as potentital salary relief options. There are still players very much in play who did not make the Playbbok. Good luck! -- Ben Scherr
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