Fantasy tiers of Friday's starting pitchers

Friday's full schedule has a plethora of quality pitching options for daily fantasy players, starting with a trio of elite aces in Gerrit Cole, Shane Bieber and Yu Darvish.

For those looking to be contrarian, however, there are also a couple of second-tier choices -- and plenty of high-risk, high-reward options.

Here's a full breakdown of Friday's top pitching options:

THE ACES

Gerrit Cole, Yankees (vs. Tigers)
Key stat(s): 14.2 K per 9 IP

Cole has been absolutely lights-out this season, leading the American League in WHIP (0.73), strikeouts per nine innings (14.2), walks per nine (0.9) and strikeout-to-walk ratio (16.7). He's struck out 50 and walked only three over 31 2/3 innings. It also helps that he'll be facing a Tigers team that ranks dead last in the Majors in strikeout percentage (28.9%), runs per game (3.0) and OBP (.269). It's a dream spot for Cole.

Shane Bieber, Indians (vs. White Sox)
Key stat(s): 57 K's (most in MLB)

Bieber has picked up right where he left off in his AL Cy Young Award-winning season, racking up 57 strikeouts over 36 1/3 innings. His best outing came against this same White Sox club on April 13, when Bieber struck out 11 over nine scoreless innings en route to a 2-0 win in 10 innings. Bieber is obviously matchup-proof at this point, but the question is always whether he'll get enough run support to earn the all-important win (for fantasy purposes). He's just 2-2 this season despite his 2.48 ERA through five starts.

Yu Darvish, Padres (vs. Giants)
Key stat(s): 1 ER in each of last four starts

Darvish got off to a rocky start in his Padres debut, allowing four runs off eight hits over just 4 2/3 innings on Opening Day against the D-backs. He's returned to his dominant self in four starts since, allowing just four runs over 27 innings (1.33 ERA) while striking out 31 batters. That includes back-to-back seven-inning outings against the reigning champion Dodgers in which Darvish allowed just one run while striking out nine batters in each.

NEXT TIER

John Means, Orioles (vs. Athletics)
Means has allowed one run or fewer in four of his five starts this season, and he just held this A's club to one run off two hits over 6 1/3 innings on Sunday. A couple concerns for Means are his walks -- he's issued multiple free passes in each of his last four starts -- and his run support. The O's rank 27th in the Majors in runs per game (3.6), while the A's are 15-3 in their last 18 games, during which they've averaged 5.0 runs per game. Means will need to bring his best in this one to come out with the win.

Marcus Stroman, Mets (vs. Phillies)
Stroman will be facing the Phillies for the third time in five starts this season. The first two went extremely well, with Stroman holding the Phils to just one run over 12 innings -- but Philadelphia's hitters will now be getting a third look at the right-hander. Stroman hasn't racked up many strikeouts this season (15 in 24 innings, including just six in 12 innings vs. the Phillies), but he could be facing a Phils lineup that doesn't include Bryce Harper, who missed Thursday's game after being hit in the face by a pitch on Wednesday.

ROLL THE DICE

Andrew Heaney, Angels (vs. Mariners)
Heaney's biggest issue has always been consistency. He has the swing-and-miss stuff to toss a gem on any given night, but he's also been known to have blow-up games -- like his 2021 debut when he served up seven runs over just three innings against the White Sox. But his potential has been on full display in his last three starts, during which Heaney has posted a 1.53 ERA while racking up 25 strikeouts over 17 2/3 innings.

Nate Eovaldi, Red Sox (vs. Rangers)
Eovaldi has scuffled a bit in his last two starts, posting a 6.35 ERA after coasting through his first three outings with a 2.08 ERA. He gets a solid matchup against a Texas offense that ranks in the bottom 10 in runs per game and OPS, but he's averaged only 4.3 strikeouts in his four starts outside of his 10-K performance against the White Sox.

Brady Singer, Royals (vs. Twins)
Singer has impressed in his last two starts, allowing just one run while striking out 14 batters over 13 innings. Those are the types of numbers that the Royals are hoping to get from their highly touted 24-year-old prospect, but he also allowed 10 runs (six earned) over just 8 1/3 frames in his first two outings this season. If he's really turned the corner, this could be a chance to capitalize before his value starts to jump.

Freddy Peralta, Brewers (vs. Dodgers)
No pitcher -- not Bieber, not Jacob deGrom, not Trevor Bauer -- has averaged more strikeouts per nine innings than Peralta since the start of last season. In fairness, the Brewers right-hander worked primarily out of the bullpen last season, but his strikeout numbers have actually jumped (15.5 K's per nine innings in 2021; 14.4 in '20) in his transition to the rotation this season. He has issued 13 walks in five starts, and those command issues have contributed to him pitching more than five innings just once in his five starts. It's also not an ideal matchup against a potent Dodgers lineup, but Peralta could certainly help you differentiate your lineup.

Madison Bumgarner, D-backs (vs. Rockies)
Bumgarner couldn't have pitched much worse in his first three starts this season (11.20 ERA), but he is coming off a no-hitter (of sorts) against the Braves. The veteran lefty held the Braves to no hits over a seven-inning complete game on Sunday, and that came after holding the Nats to just one run off two hits over five frames in his previous outing. Look, Bumgarner certainly isn't back to his four-time All-Star form, but the matchup isn't terrible, considering the Rockies are averaging just 2.3 runs per game away from Coors Field.