FanDuel Daily Fantasy Baseball Helper: Tuesday 7/25/23

We've got a dozen games to sift through on Tuesday's main slate, and choosing your favorite pitcher could be tricky. On offense, just one team has an implied team total above five runs.

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

Pitching Breakdown

To kick things off, three names immediately stand out at the top of tonight's pitching pool between Blake Snell ($11,000), Corbin Burnes ($10,300), and Pablo Lopez ($10,000).

Snell is coming off a seven-walk start against the Toronto Blue Jays, which isn't exactly what we want to see at his slate-high salary, and it's a reminder that for all of his recent success, this is still a guy with a 13.0% walk rate for the season.

And yet, he allowed just one earned run in that outing, and he's given up five earned runs total over his last 11 starts. While he's probably had a little luck along the way, his 2.71 xFIP and 37.8% strikeout rate over that span shows that it isn't entirely a fluke.

This is a great spot for Snell to bounce back, as well. The Pittsburgh Pirates may have come alive at the plate on Monday, but their active roster owns a middling 94 wRC+ and 24.0% strikeout rate against southpaws this year. The Pirates' are being credited with a 3.14 implied team total, one of the slate's worst marks.

Despite the high cap hit, there's a strong case for making Snell your first option tonight.

Moving on to our next guy, is the old Corbin Burnes back?

While Burnes has shown flashes of his prior greatness at times, it's fair to say it's been an underwhelming year by his lofty standards. But we've now seen him log 10 and 13 Ks (45.1% rate) over 14 scoreless innings in his last two starts, the highest strikeout outputs he's had in all of 2023.

Burnes upped his curveball usage in those two starts, so it's possible he's finally found the proper pitch mix to excel moving forward.

This is a neutral matchup against the Cincinnati Reds, but that 13-strikeout rate game came against this same team. It's worth noting that Burnes has already faced the Reds twice this month (and three times overall), and that familiarity could be a potential negative.

Given his salary and matchup, Lopez is a strong choice, as well. Over his 20 starts, the 27-year-old has put together a 3.39 SIERA, 30.2% strikeout rate, and 7.0% walk rate, and he pitched a complete-game shutout just a few starts back.

He's up against the Seattle Mariners, a high-strikeout opponent that we've attacked often this season. The only problem is he just faced the Mariners last week, so the repeat matchup is a slight concern here.

Andrew Abbott ($10,800) and George Kirby ($9,900) are others to consider in this range, but they're definitely in a tier below the top three and are hardly musts.

Abbott's high salary is tougher to justify when it's just $200 below Snell and higher than both Burnes and Lopez, but he's popped for some big scores over nine starts. Kirby is facing the Minnesota Twins for the second straight start, but he did get up to 10 punchouts last week.

For a value play, Alex Cobb ($8,900) might be the way to go. While I have a hard time seeing Cobb contending for the top score of the slate, if there's a team to do it against, it's the Oakland Athletics. The A's active roster has an 89 wRC+ versus right-handed pitching, and their 3.14 implied team total is at the bottom of the board.

Cobb's 21.1% strikeout rate won't move the needle, but the combination of a 57.0% ground-ball rate and 6.3% walk rate could help him pitch deep into the game and nab the quality start bonus.

Hitting Breakdown

The San Diego Padres lead the way in this space again, this time with the opportunity to take their hacks against left-hander Rich Hill.

Long past his prime, Hill has a lackluster 4.82 SIERA and 19.3% strikeout rate, and other than inducing grounders against lefties, he hasn't been terribly effective against either side of the plate. Right-handed batters are still the primary way to go here, though, as all 13 home runs he's allowed have come from that side of the plate.

That's particularly convenient because this Padres lineup should lean heavily on righty sticks. Fernando Tatis Jr. ($4,100) and Manny Machado ($3,800) are the standouts, but we also have plenty of appealing low-salaried options to choose from between Xander Bogaerts ($3,000), Ha-Seong Kim ($2,900), and Gary Sanchez ($2,700). Juan Soto ($4,000) is less of a priority as a lefty, but he also shouldn't see a very high roster percentage.

Similar to yesterday, the Los Angeles Dodgers don't have an amazing matchup tonight -- it's just that they're the Dodgers. Chris Bassitt is having another solid campaign, but Los Angeles still boasts a 4.79 implied team total.

In looking at Bassitt's splits, the right-hander has struggled to contain left-handed batters, allowing 2.30 home runs per 9 innings off a 46.5% fly-ball rate. And while he's had more success in same-sided matchups through a 49.2% ground-ball rate, his strikeout rate is an uninspiring 19.9% in that split.

Among lefties, Freddie Freeman ($4,500) and Max Muncy ($3,900) are the headliners, followed by a trio of low-salaries bats in James Outman ($2,800), David Peralta ($2,600), and Jason Heyward ($2,500). Of course, we shouldn't hesitate to also roster Mookie Betts ($4,300) and J.D. Martinez ($4,000) in a low-strikeout matchup.

Although the Boston Red Sox haven't officially announced a starter, they're expected to go with a bullpen game that figures to feature Nick Pivetta as the bulk reliever, a role he's thrived in. Despite the uncertainty, the Atlanta Braves are showing a massive 5.58 implied team total in what should be a warm and humid evening in Boston.

Pivetta pitched an inning over the weekend, so it's unclear if his workload will look any different after he went 87 pitches in his previous appearance on July 17th. Pivetta tore it up with 13 strikeouts in that game, but it's worth noting it came against the lowly A's. That being said, he's logged a 38.1% strikeout rate in this bullpen role, though, so there's some risk here.

But Pivetta's still showing a double-digit walk rate, and he has a long history of allowing dingers -- something Atlanta can definitely capitalize on.

Even if this turns into a more traditional bullpen game, the hitter-friendly conditions should benefit the Braves, as well. Roster the usual stars in the top half of Atlanta's lineup, and then Marcell Ozuna ($2,900) and Eddie Rosario ($2,700) can help as salary savers.

The Chicago Cubs and Washington Nationals are two more stacks to keep in mind, and they may not draw as much attention. Michael Kopech continues to struggle with walks and home runs, and we could see the Cubs take advantage tonight. The Nats are actually above-average against lefties, and they face a weak one in Austin Gomber (5.05 SIERA; 15.3% strikeout rate).

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.