It's Friday night lights for most MLB teams, with the exception of a 2:20 p.m. start time for the Blue Jays and Cubs. Other than the top two aces in our rankings, the slate of games for tonight has a wide range of pitchers who could score a ton of points or not score much at all in daily fantasy baseball contests.
After three straight poor starts since his DL return, Dallas Keuchel finally looked like his old self, pitching 6.1 innings, one earned and seven strikeouts in his last start. He should pick up where he left off with a great matchup against the strikeout-prone A's. Zack Godley has a favorable matchup against the Twins, and on paper, Drew Pomeranz should do well in strikeouts against the Yankees, but his track record against them so far this year has been mixed.
Multiple pitchers have a chance to go deep without giving up much runs, but they're pretty limited with their strikeouts. Those include Ervinc Santana, J.A. Happ, Austin Pruitt, and Andrew Cashner.
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Daily Fantasy Baseball Rankings: Pitchers
| Rank | Pitcher | Team | Opp |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Corey Kluber, RHP | CLE | @KC |
| 2 | Max Scherzer, RHP | WSH | @SD |
| 3 | Dallas Keuchel, LHP | HOU | vs OAK |
| 4 | Zack Godley, RHP | ARI | @MIN |
| 5 | Carlos Martinez, RHP | STL | @PIT |
| 6 | Drew Pomeranz, LHP | BOS | vs NYY |
| 7 | Jake Arrieta, RHP | CHC | @TOR |
| 8 | Ervin Santana, RHP | MIN | vs ARI |
| 9 | Rich Hill, LHP | LAD | @DET |
| 10 | J.A. Happ, LHP | TOR | @CHC |
| 11 | Austin Pruitt, RHP | TB | vs SEA |
| 12 | Andrew Cashner, RHP | TEX | vs CWS |
| 13 | R.A. Dickey, RHP | ATL | vs CIN |
| 14 | German Marquez, RHP | COL | vs MIL |
| 15 | Trevor Williams, RHP | PIT | vs STL |
| 16 | Luis Perdomo, RHP | SD | vs WSH |
| 17 | Jordan Montgomery, LHP | NYY | @BOS |
| 18 | Erasmo Ramirez, RHP | SEA | @TB |
| 19 | Jordan Zimmermann, RHP | DET | vs LAD |
| 20 | Sean Manaea, LHP | OAK | @HOU |
| 21 | Sal Romano, RHP | CIN | @ATL |
| 22 | Ian Kennedy, RHP | KC | vs CLE |
| 23 | Matt Moore, LHP | SF | vs PHI |
| 24 | Justin Nicolino, RHP | MIA | @NYM |
| 25 | Matt Garza, RHP | MIL | @COL |
| 26 | Zach Eflin, RHP | PHI | @SF |
| 27 | Chris Flexen, RHP | NYM | vs MIA |
| 28 | Jeremy Hellickson, RHP | BAL | vs LAA |
| 29 | James Shields, RHP | CWS | @TEX |
| 30 | Andrew Heaney, LHP | LAA | @BAL |
Daily Fantasy Baseball Picks: Friday, August 18
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We have a large 14-game slate tonight that consists of some great matchups, as well as teams battling one another in the playoff race. The biggest factor tonight could be the weather out East. The games in New York and Baltimore will have rain throughout the day, but the Yankees-Red Sox game is the big one to watch. It's not looking great there currently and should be monitored leading up to roster lock.
The Rockies, Rangers, and Dodgers lead the field tonight with the highest projected run totals, with the Padres, A's, Phillies, and Royals checking in with the lowest projected run totals.
Please note: I've been off on the projected starting catchers more than I would like to. If the catcher listed is not starting, that team's starting catcher is still in play most of the time, especially if the play is due to targeting the pitcher. For instance, last night, both catchers I had from the Rangers and Phillies were out, and each of their team's catchers went deep. Wanted to put that out there. You will see this more on a Sunday, but it seems to be happening too often for me. -- Ben Scherr
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