If you play daily fantasy, you know how important choosing the correct pitchers on any given day is. Paying up for an ace who bombs or missing out on the value pitcher who throws a gem can crush your lineup. Here are a few stats to consider when looking for a starting pitcher on your daily fantasy team:
WHIP: Walks plus hits per inning pitched. While WHIP shouldn’t be considered by itself, it is a good starting point if used as a quick reference statistic.
xFIP: Expected Field Independent Pitching. This stat calculates what a pitcher’s ERA would look like if he had normal results on balls that were put in play. It also calculates how many home runs a pitcher should have allowed based on his fly ball rate. Basically, it is what a pitcher’s ERA should look like based on how he’s pitched, attempting to account for the randomness of batted balls. A pitcher with a good ERA and a high xFIP is probably due for regression and could be avoided.
SIERA: Skill-Interactive ERA: Another statistic that attempts to quantify what a pitcher’s ERA should be. The main difference between SIERA and xFIP is SIERA accounts for differences in balls put in play. Some consider SIERA to be more predictive than xFIP but using one or both will help find a value with pitchers.
K/9: The number of strikeouts a pitcher records per 9 innings. Obviously, targeting high-strikeout pitchers is a key to scoring big numbers in daily fantasy. This stat doesn’t tell the whole story but when used as part of the process, it helps to find value.
These are just a few of the basic building block stats to consider when looking for a pitcher for DFS. Not only will these stats help choose a pitcher with a potential for a high ceiling, the process of doing the research will help when handicapping money line or total plays on the wagering side.
A final filter to use is ZCode’s Daily Fantasy Lineup Generator:
http://zcodesystem.com/vipclub/fantasy.php
Running the lineup generator is a great way to confirm your research or to find a potential player that you missed.
P.S. Upgrade to Zcode VIP Club and Unlock All Winning Picks. Instant Access.
