FanDuel Daily Fantasy Baseball Helper: Sunday 8/13/23

Our daily fantasy helper is available every day to analyze FanDuel's main slate and help give you a starting point when you're building lineups.

Be sure to also incorporate numberFire's great tools into your research process, including daily projections, the latest starting lineups and weather, and batting and pitching heat maps to find the best matchups.

Let's check out the top options on today's main slate.

Pitchers

Gerrit Cole ($10,900)

After a recent decline to his lowest salary in August, numberFire's top ranked pitcher has a great spot versus a Miami Marlins' team with a .310 weighted on- base average (wOBA), a 24.3% strikeout rate, and a 10.1% barrel percentage against right-handers in the past two seasons.

In his last five starts, Cole has warranted today's top ranking with his consistent form through 33.1 innings, accounting for a 3.00 expected Fielding Independent Pitching rating (xFIP), a 11.6% swinging strike rate, and eight more strikeouts in 66% of his recent appearances.

In a favorable matchup versus five Miami hitters with strikeout percentages ranging between 22.8% to 30.2%, the Yankees' ace has an easy path to clear today's slate-high expectations including a 36.4 FanDuel point projection with 6.39 strikeouts.

Freddy Peralta ($10,700)

At his second highest salary this season, Milwaukee's 27-year old right-hander offers exciting upside with an elite 29.2% K-rate, a 14.2% swinging strike rate, and a 3.72 xFIP against a Chicago White Sox' lineup averaging a poor 4.05 runs per game at home.

With seven or more strikeouts in six of his last nine appearances, Peralta offers just as much upside among today's top ranked options versus five White Sox batters with K-rates between 22.5% and 30.1%.

Zach Eflin ($10,400)

In an underrated spot versus a Cleveland Guardians' offense with a .315 wOBA and a 25.1% K-rate, Eflin is numberFire's second rated pitcher with a 34.7 fantasy projection.

Even at his highest salary point in August, Eflin offers plenty of value when examining his recent metrics including a solid 3.10 xFIP and 25.3% K-rate in his last 39.0 innings.

Stacks

Pittsburgh Pirates

Heading into Sunday with recent offensive momentum after producing 27 runs in their last five games, the Pirates have an interesting spot to produce runs against Cincinnati's lefty Brandon Williamson.

In his first season pitching at the highest level of baseball, the 25-year old has profiled as a below average starter, accounting for a weak 4.91 xFIP and a 9.3% walk rate while allowing troubling production to right-handed bats including a .338 wOBA and an eye-popping 16.0% home run to fly-ball ratio.

With his glaring weakness in mind, potential Pittsburgh stacks should feature several parts in the top and middle of their order including Ke'Bryan Hayes (.268 expected average, 7.1% barrel rate), Bryan Reynolds .367 expected wOBA, 11.5% barrel rate), Andrew McCutchen (.353 expected wOBA, 6.9% barrel rate), Connor Joe (9.0% barrel rate), and Henry Davis (8.3% barrel rate).

Washington Nationals

Despite Washington's underwhelming three run performance last night, the Nationals are ranked as today's top offense with a 5.2 run total against Ken Waldichuk.

Through his largest sample size in the Majors, Waldichuk has regressed in almost all of his metrics after a middling rookie season, recording a horrid 5.11 xFIP, a 12.5% walk percentage, and a troubling 1.53 home runs per nine innings.

To best attack Waldrichuk's struggles versus the long ball, ideal Washington combinations should prioritize their top power hitters including Lane Thomas (8.6% barrel rate), Stone Garrett (8.3% barrel rate) and Keibert Ruiz (.445 expected slugging percentage, 6.9% barrel rate) while C.J. Abrams (7.0% barrel rate) and Ildemaro Vargas (.278 expected average) rate well to be mixed in as potential value infield options with their recent batted ball form.

Toronto Blue Jays

In a matchup with a 4.67 expected run total against Jameson Taillon, the Blue Jays present plenty options against a struggling right-hander with a 4.66 xFIP and a 10.4% opposing barrel rate.

With most of his struggles occurring versus the opposing side of the plate (.371 wOBA, 5.82 xFIP), Brandon Belt (12.5% barrel rate), Daulton Varsho (6.8% barrel rate), and Cavan Biggio (11.9% barrel rate) create a sneaky stack while Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (12.4% barrel rate, .303 expected average), Matt Chapman (17.5% barrel rate, .350 expected wOBA), and George Springer (.334 expected wOBA, 8.2% barrel rate) are secondary options with their pop from the right side.

The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author’s advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.