Daily Fantasy Baseball 2015: Top DFS MLB SP Picks for May 1 – Bleacher Report

The Dark Knight of Gotham, aka Matt Harvey, has been on fire all season, and he should be your top choice for a pitcher in DraftKings lineups Friday. Harvey and the surprising New York Mets host the Washington Nationals in what figures to be a pitchers’ duel.

Opposing Harvey for the Nats will be Max Scherzer. We’re likely looking at two candidates for the National League Cy Young Award if they maintain their current pace. Harvey is 4-0 with an ERA of 3.04 and an 0.94 WHIP. Scherzer has been even better, though his record doesn’t show it.

He’s 1-2 with a 1.26 ERA and an 0.84 WHIP. 

Even beyond the season-long numbers Harvey has enjoyed, he has had sustained success against some of the Nats’ biggest offensive threats. Bryce Harper, Jayson Werth, Ryan Zimmerman and Denard Span are hitting a combined .190 against Harvey in their careers.

Harvey has rebounded from last year’s injury and has shown no ill effects. ESPN.com’s Adam Rubin noted Harvey’s velocity in the ninth inning of his last start against the New York Yankees:

Matt Harvey still throwing 98 mph in the 9th.

— Adam Rubin (@AdamRubinESPN) April 25, 2015

Harvey should continue to shine against Washington and overall. 

The same goes for Scherzer. He’s had solid success against the Mets lineup as well. The current Mets roster is hitting just .200 against him. Because you know both men cannot get the win, and because Harvey ($11,200) and Scherzer ($12,000) represent the largest salaries for any pitcher starting Friday, you’ll need some other alternatives.

Scott Kazmir ($7,400) at Texas Rangers

The Oakland Athletics’ Scott Kazmir is another red-hot pitcher. He’s 2-0 with an ERA of 0.99 and a WHIP of 0.88. Kazmir faces the Texas Rangers Friday, and he catches a break with newly re-acquired Josh Hamilton still out rehabbing his injured shoulder, per Gerry Fraley of The Dallas Morning News.

Hamilton is hitting .368 against Kazmir in his career with two home runs. 

Kazmir has had the strikeout pitch working in his four starts leading up to Friday’s outing. He’s recorded 30 strikeouts in just 27.1 innings pitched. What’s more, Kazmir hasn’t generated less than 17.7 fantasy points in any of his starts this season. He’s a solid second choice if you don’t want to splurge on Harvey and Scherzer.

Alex Colome ($5,500) at Baltimore Orioles

According to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times, 26-year-old Dominican Alex Colome will make his 2015 debut Friday against the Baltimore Orioles. The game was originally supposed to be played in Baltimore, but because of the unrest in the city due to the riots, it has been moved to Tropicana Field.

Colome had pneumonia earlier in the season that kept him off the mound.

When he’s right, he can be dominant. While it’s a small sample size, Colome’s success against the Orioles must be noted. Of the seven Baltimore players to face Colome, only Manny Machado and Chris Davis have been able to reach base. Machado is the only one of the two to reach base via a base hit.

Collectively, the aforementioned Orioles group is hitting .071 against Colome. He likely won’t pitch longer than five innings, but for $5,500, Colome is a huge potential value.

Roenis Elias ($6,800) at Houston Astros

In his first start of the season, the Seattle Mariners’ Roenis Elias went 5.2 innings, striking out six, but he had to settle for a no-decision against the Minnesota Twins on April 26. He’ll get his second start Friday on the road against the Houston Astros.

Elias has had an opportunity to face several of the Astros dating back to last season. He’s held the current lineup of Astros to a batting average of .211. If you look at the pitching matchup, the Mariners seemingly have the edge there as well.

Samuel Deduno is scheduled to be on the bump for Houston. He’s a reliever getting a spot start. He hasn’t pitched more than 2.1 innings in any outing this year. Look for Elias to outlast him and to put up decent fantasy numbers considering his relatively low salary.

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