Heading into Thursday afternoon's game against the New York Yankees, Detroit Tigers' future Hall of Famer Miguel Cabrera needed just one more hit to reach 3,000 in his career.
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Instead of getting a chance to hit with two on and two out in the bottom of the eighth inning, Yankees manager Aaron Boone made the decision to intentionally walk Cabrera to load the bases and set up a lefty on lefty matchup.
Following the game, Tigers manager A.J. Hinch spoke to reporters and he said he understands why Boone decided to intentionally walk Cabrera with two on and two out in the bottom of the eighth inning.
“Boonie's obligation is to his own team and their chances of winning. He had the matchup behind Miggy that he wanted. So you could see it coming. I know our fans responded accordingly, but I totally get it.”
A.J. Hinch said he had "zero doubt" Cabrera was getting walked.
"Boonie's obligation is to his own team and their chances of winning. He had the matchup behind Miggy that he wanted. So you could see it coming. I know our fans responded accordingly, but I totally get it."
— Jason Beck (@beckjason) April 21, 2022
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FanDuel Pitching Primer: Thursday 4/21/22
In daily fantasy baseball, success starts with nailing the starting pitcher spot in your lineup.
When compared to hitters, pitching performance tends to be much more predictable and stable throughout the course of the season. You know what you're getting from a top-level ace when you roster him: probably a dominant effort with only one or two implosions per season. In contrast, even the game's best hitters have days at the plate when they go 0-for-4.
As a result, lineup construction should begin with the starting pitcher. Which pitchers should you consider on today's main slate?
High-Salaried Play
Carlos Carrasco, New York Mets
vs. San Francisco Giants
FanDuel Salary: $10,100
On today's main slate, we have three options on FanDuel salaried at $9,500 or higher — Dylan Cease ($10,300), Carlos Carrasco ($10,100), and Kevin Gausman ($9,900).
Cease faces an AL Central foe in the Cleveland Guardians — who we all predicted would be second-best in wOBA, eighth in ISO, and one of the hardest teams in baseball to strike out, right?
Gausman takes on the Red Sox, and while they haven't been firing on all cylinders yet, they are still clearly a lineup that's more than capable. They do still rank 13th in isolated power (ISO).
So, Cookie Carrasco stands out to me. It's early, but he's struck out a third of all batters this season, and he has by far the best matchup of the bunch. The San Francisco Giants rank 15th in team weighted on-base average (wOBA), but they strike out the fifth-most in baseball (25.6%) thus far.
He makes the most sense to me on a very tough slate to choose today.