Friday's pitching slate provides a wide variety of options, leaving fantasy players with plenty of difficult decisions.
Do you want to pay up for a top-tier ace? Maybe save a little bit and go with a value option? Or just throw caution to the wind and roll with a high-risk, high-reward option that will allow you to focus your salary on better hitters?
Regardless of your preference, here's a closer look at the best options at each price point:
TOP TIER
The options: Ian Anderson, Freddy Peralta, Hyun Jin Ryu, Max Scherzer, Julio Urías, Zack Wheeler
The pick: Scherzer vs. Phillies
The reason: If you're going to spend on a starting pitcher on Friday, it's hard to find a better option than Scherzer. He's been absolutely dominant this season, posting a 36.5% strikeout rate that would be the best of his 14-year career (previous best: 35.15 in 2019). Scherzer was nearly untouchable in May, putting up a 1.83 ERA while racking up 57 strikeouts in 39 1/3 innings. Now, he'll face a Phillies team that not only has the third-highest strikeout rate in the Majors, but also could be without Bryce Harper, who's been sidelined since May 23 with a left wrist injury.
As for Ryu, though he's allowed two runs or fewer in eight of his 10 outings this season, he's also yet to strike out more than seven batters. That seems unlikely to change with Ryu facing an Astros club that strikes out less than any team in the big leagues. Urías, meanwhile, has double-digit strikeout potential, but he also served up a season-high 11 hits his last time out and he gets a tough Braves lineup in this one.
SECOND TIER
The options: Nathan Eovaldi, Kyle Gibson, Zack Greinke, Frankie Montas, Blake Snell, Spencer Turnbull
The pick: Gibson vs. Rays
The reason: Gibson may not have the name recognition of some of the others on this list, but he's been the model of consistency this season. After a disastrous Opening Day performance in which he allowed five runs and recorded only one out, Gibson has posted a 1.50 ERA in nine starts since. He's pitched at least six innings in each of those nine outings and he's allowed two runs or fewer in seven (he allowed three runs over eight frames in the other). His upside is limited by his strikeout potential -- his season high is eight and he has just 48 over 60 1/3 innings -- but the Rays might help him in that regard; they've struck out 616 times this season, easily the most in the Majors.
Greinke is still capable of spinning a gem on any given night -- he's pitched eight innings of one-run ball in two of his last three starts -- but his strikeout totals limit his upside and he, too, has a difficult matchup, not only against the Blue Jays, but starting opposite Ryu. As for Snell, he's completed six innings just once this season -- and he's followed up that 11-strikeout performance on May 18 by allowing 12 earned runs in just 6 2/3 innings in his two starts since.
ROLL THE DICE
The options: Keegan Akin, Joey Lucchesi, Shohei Ohtani, Cody Poteet
The pick: Ohtani vs. Mariners
The reason: After seeing a dip in velocity two starts ago, Ohtani seemed to be back to his usual hard-throwing self in his last outing against the A's. That said, he still has struck out just five batters apiece in each of his last two starts after striking out at least seven in each of his first five starts. Assuming he's fully healthy -- as all signs indicated in his last start -- Ohtani is in a prime spot in this one. The Mariners rank last in the Majors in batting average, on-base percentage and OPS, and they have the sixth-highest strikeout rate. Ohtani can be a bit wild at times -- he has 26 walks in 36 1/3 innings -- but he also has 50 strikeouts and has allowed only 19 hits. If he's locked in, this could be a special performance.
As for the others, Akin looked solid in his first start -- holding a potent White Sox lineup to one run over 4 2/3 innings -- and he gets a quality matchup here against a Cleveland team that has already been no-hit twice this season. Meanwhile, Poteet put up a 1.06 ERA in his first three career starts before struggling a bit his last time out (five runs in 4 1/3 innings vs. the Red Sox). He'll be in a good spot to get back on track against a Pirates team that ranks last in the Majors in runs per game.