When considering pitchers for DFS it's tough to determine if a newly acquired pitcher through trade is going to come through the first start for their new team when they take the mound. Here's a list of pitchers this season and how they've fared.
Kevin Gausman - 5 IPs, 6 hits, 3 ERs and 2Ks (L)
Nathan Eovaldi - 7 IPs, 4 hits, 0 ERs and 5 Ks (W)
Chris Archer - 4.1 IPs, 7 hits, 3 ERs and 6Ks (ND)
Cole Hamels - 5 IPs, 3 hits, 0 ERs and 9Ks (W)
J.A. Happ - 6 IPs, 3 hits, 1 ER and 2Ks (W)
Mike Fiers - 5.1 IPs, 4 hits, 1 ER and 8Ks (ND)
Lance Lynn - 7.1 IPs, 2 hits, 0 ERs and 9Ks (W) *His first start, not his first appearance
The totals from these seven starts are 40 innings, eight earned runs and 41 strikeouts. Or put in another way, a 1.80 ERA with a 9.2Ks/9IP. That's pretty good.
While this isn't a big sample to say definitively that pitchers do good in their first start for a new team after being traded, it is an interesting dynamic to look into. It's worth noting too that Lynn, Eovaldi, Hamels, Archer (especially for Coors) and Gausman all had excellent second starts as well.