FanDuel Daily Fantasy Baseball Helper: Tuesday 8/22/23

We have some talented arms taking the mound on Tuesday, but even the best options have notable flaws for one reason or another. On the other hand, there are some elite offenses in tantalizing matchups, and fading the chalk might be difficult tonight.

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.

Pitching Breakdown

Blake Snell ($10,300) recording just five punchouts against the Baltimore Orioles in his last appearance, but he still earned a quality start, and his two walks were his fewest since he logged a pair way back on June 28th.

Despite that disappointing strikeout total, we know what kind of upside Snell can have when he keeps those free passes in check -- his 31.0% strikeout rate leads the slate -- so that result could be a positive sign for someone who's really struggled with his control lately.

Luckily, the Miami Marlins might be the ideal opponent to assist Snell in dialing back the walks. While Miami is an above-average offense versus lefties, their active roster also has the league's fifth-worst walk rate in the split.

Adding in a park factor boost at home at pitcher-friendly Petco Park, and we see the Marlins getting a slate-low 3.31 implied team total.

When factoring in salary, Lucas Giolito ($9,100) was going to be an intriguing play on Monday prior to his game getting postponed, but we instead have the opportunity to roster him tonight. While Giolito struggles with the long ball, his 24.8% strikeout rate is one of the night's better marks and gives him just enough upside to keep him viable in tournaments.

On paper, this is a boom-or-bust matchup for Giolito versus the Cincinnati Reds. Against right-handers, the Reds' active roster owns a .181 ISO while simultaneously showing the league's second-worst strikeout rate (25.6%).

But what could tip the scales in Giolito's favor is that Cincinnati projects to start just four guys hitting left-handed. This is notable because even though the righty still generates Ks versus lefties, he's otherwise significantly worse in xFIP (5.07), walk rate (11.2%), and ground-ball rate (27.1%). He's also given up 1.99 dingers per nine innings in the split.

If Giolito can keep the handful of lefties in check -- and most of them have high strikeout rates -- he could emerge with a ceiling game.

Zac Gallen ($10,500) has a rough matchup versus the Texas Rangers, but he could end up being much less popular than Snell or Giolito, and it's not like those two are without red flags.

Gallen's 26.1% strikeout rate isn't elite, and both his 3.65 SIERA and 4.07 xERA are higher than his 3.17 ERA, so perhaps he's been a smidge lucky despite all his success in 2023.

Still, his 5.1% walk rate is a top-10 mark among qualified starters, and few pitchers can match his innings output. He's gone six or more innings in 20 of 26 starts and reached seven or more frames 10 times.

There's no doubt that the Rangers will be a difficult test, but Gallen has been fantastic at home in 2023, and Texas' modest 4.09 implied team total is a credit to the season he's had.

Given that Carlos Rodon ($6,700) has one of the lowest pitching salaries, he has to be mentioned -- but it's hard to have much confidence in him.

Rodon has poor numbers across the board, and this will be his first start following a two-week stint on the injured list. While the Washington Nationals might seem like a soft landing spot, they load up on righties against left-handed pitching and remain one of the hardest opponents to strike out.

Ultimately, rostering the lefty continues to be just a roll of the dice that something resembling his 2021-22 form emerges someday. For what it's worth, the Nationals have the slate's second-worst implied team total (3.48).

You can also make the case for all of Bailey Ober ($10,000), Yusei Kikuchi ($9,800), Justin Verlander ($9,600), Jesus Luzardo ($9,400), and Grayson Rodriguez ($8,200). Verlander is actually tied for the third-shortest odds in the daily strikeout leader market, per FanDuel Sportsbook, despite a mediocre matchup against the Boston Red Sox.

Hitting Breakdown

The Atlanta Braves have an implied team total cracking six yet again (6.15), and this time they'll be opposite right-hander Tylor Megill. While there were at least a few reasons to give us pause against last night's opposing pitcher, David Peterson, it's hard to say the same for Megill this season.

Over 18 starts, Megill has put up a 17.4% strikeout rate and 11.1% walk rate, and both a 5.32 SIERA and 6.35 xERA suggest that his 5.52 ERA is well-deserved. Even a six-start stint in Triple-A this summer did little to improve his stock; he produced a 6.26 xFIP and 11.4% strikeout rate over that span.

Unsurprisingly, the 28-year-old has performed poorly versus both lefties and righties, so we can stack up these Braves any which way. Outside of the star sluggers, we have Michael Harris II ($3,000), Marcell Ozuna ($3,000), and Eddie Rosario ($2,800) as top value plays.

The Braves and Los Angeles Dodgers might as well be the 1A and 1B of tonight's stacks because the Dodgers are also in a plum spot. They'll face former teammate Noah Syndergaard, who isn't really befitting of the "Thor" moniker much these days.

Reduced velocity has left Syndergaard a shell of his former self, as both his 5.00 SIERA and 14.3% strikeout rate would easily be career worsts if his campaign ended today. That low strikeout rate combined with a 37.5% ground-ball rate has led to opposing batters teeing off on him for 2.11 home runs per nine innings.

Much like the prior matchup, we should freely choose between batters on both sides of the plate. We can actually stack the middle of the order at fairly reasonable salaries between Will Smith ($3,500), Max Muncy ($3,500), and J.D. Martinez ($3,400), and then we get our usual value outfielders in the bottom half, too.

The Pittsburgh Pirates aren't nearly the caliber of offense as the Braves or Dodgers, so they come in a step behind. But on some other slates, they might be the very best stack against Adam Wainwright.

Consider this: Wainwright hasn't generated a single swinging strike in either of his last two starts. Frankly, it's a small miracle he somehow earned a quality start his last time out.

Among pitchers with at least 70 innings this year, his 5.76 SIERA and 11.5% strikeout rate rank dead last. As noted last week, his Baseball Savant page is a sight to behold -- for all the wrong reasons.

Stacking the Pirates is generally less straightforward, but that isn't the case here. While Bryan Reynolds ($3,600) and Jack Suwinski ($3,000) are the top power bats, this might be more about taking advantage of the value salaries and seeing where the positional puzzle pieces fit. Reynolds is the only Pittsburgh hitter with a salary north of $3,000.

While those first three teams stand out above the rest, we shouldn't overlook the Seattle Mariners, Los Angeles Angels, New York Yankees, and St. Louis Cardinals as possible alternatives.

Mike Clevinger may have a 1.57 ERA in four starts since returning from the injured list, but a 4.98 xFIP and 20.9% strikeout rate don't inspire much confidence, and he's allowed just one dinger over this span despite a 54.1% fly-ball rate. The Mariners' lefties should be in an especially enticing spot, as Clevinger has a 6.21 xFIP in the split this year.

The Angels will face Graham Ashcraft, who has a solid 48.9% ground-ball rate but a lackluster 16.4% strikeout rate. If nothing else, it's a nice excuse to roster Shohei Ohtani ($4,600).

Josiah Gray has failed to go five innings in three straight starts as regression continues to finally bite him (5.03 SIERA). Perhaps this is the matchup the Yankees need to break their losing streak.

Johan Oviedo has a pedestrian 20.2% strikeout rate and 10.0% walk rate this season, putting St. Louis' bats in a good position.

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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.