FanDuel Daily Fantasy Baseball Helper: Tuesday 8/29/23

We have another 12-game main slate on our hands tonight, and while it's a deep one for pitching, it's actually a low-salaried hurler who may stand out the most. There's a little rain in the forecast for a few spots but nothing that should be a significant factor.

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

While George Kirby has a rather pedestrian 23.0% strikeout rate that doesn't lend itself to DFS, he should have a high floor in a soft matchup against the Oakland Athletics tonight. It's no secret that the A's have been one of the league's worst offenses all season, and their implied team total is a bottom-of-the-barrel 2.82 runs tonight.

Despite Kirby's strikeout limitations, it's not like he completely lacks upside. He leads all qualified starters in walk rate (2.3%), which often helps him pitch deep into games. He's tied for the league's third-most quality starts (17) and has gone seven or more innings 10 times. Kirby even logged nine scoreless innings versus the Baltimore Orioles just a few starts back.

I'm always reluctant to ever call a pitcher "safe," but this spot is about as close as we can come to saying that.

Unlike Kirby, Pablo Lopez ($11,300) is near the top of the league's leaderboard in strikeout rate (29.3%), and few can match him on this slate.

While that puts him in play just about every start, tonight's date with the Cleveland Guardians will be a major hurdle. Cleveland may have a below-average offense, but their active roster also has MLB's lowest strikeout rate versus righties (19.0%).

Particularly at his slate-high salary, that makes Lopez much less of a must, but he shouldn't be counted out, either. Prior to crashing down to earth in a tough spot against the Texas Rangers, the right-hander had a streak of five straight quality starts that included three outings in a row without allowing an earned run.

If you're hoping to stack the high-salaried bats at Coors Field, Cole Ragans ($6,600) and Alex Cobb ($7,900) are a pair of value plays to keep in mind.

Ragans has the fifth-lowest salary among pitchers, and when factoring that in, there's a case for making him the slate's top overall play.

Since getting called back up at the beginning of the month, the southpaw has put up a ridiculous 2.28 xFIP, 36.4% strikeout rate, and 6.6% walk rate. It's not like he's had pitch count restrictions, either, logging 94, 104, 93, 106, and 99 pitches.

Sure, it's just five starts, but it's hard not to get excited by his recent play, and the Pittsburgh Pirates aren't the type of opponent to scare us off. On a night where seven Atlanta Braves hitters have salaries of at least $3,700 at Coors, Ragans could be a total game-changer.

As for Cobb, his 20.6% strikeout rate is underwhelming, but that should get a significant boost against the Cincinnati Reds, as the Reds' active roster has the fourth-highest strikeout rate against right-handers (24.9%). Additionally, Cobb is significantly more effective against righty sticks (27.6% strikeout rate), and he's projected to face five Cincinnati righties tonight.

Although his recent results have left a lot to be desired, he's proven he can get the job done in the right matchups, which included scoring 49 FanDuel points twice last month. His 56.5% ground-ball rate ranks second among qualified starters, too.

If you're looking to be contrarian, Justin Steele ($10,600) and Corbin Burnes ($10,300) probably won't draw a ton of attention despite being aided by the wind blowing in at Wrigley Field. We should see 14 mph winds coming in from left field, and the result is a slate-low 7.0-run over/under.

Outside of the forecast, it's less exciting when it comes to the two opposing offenses, as neither matchup is a great one for generating punchouts. But both pitchers regularly crack 100 pitches and should be able to go six-plus innings with little to no damage, potentially opening the door for lucrative fantasy scores.

Hitting Breakdown

The Atlanta Braves scored 14 runs at Coors Field on Monday, which included an absurd 69.3-point performance from Ronald Acuna ($5,200), who cracked last night's perfect FanDuel lineup. Their implied team total is up at 7.19 tonight, and it wouldn't be surprising to see another outburst at the plate

The Braves will face right-hander Peter Lambert this time around, and it's the left-handed hitters who should especially flourish. When facing lefties, Lambert has recorded a 5.23 xFIP, 17.4% strikeout rate, and 10.9% walk rate this season.

While Lambert is a bit tougher on righties with a 23.3% strikeout rate, he's also given up a 49.1% fly-ball rate, which could get him in a whole lot of trouble against the Braves' plethora of right-handed power bats.

Much like yesterday, stack this lineup any way you want, and that's exactly what you'll be able to do if you take the savings at pitcher provided by Ragans. Given Lambert's splits, lefty Matt Olson ($4,700) is particularly appealing.

Unsurprisingly, the next-highest implied team total is nowhere close to Atlanta's, but the 5.56 total we're seeing for the Baltimore Orioles would lead a lot of other slates.

Between the rotation and bullpen, right-hander Jesse Scholtens has posted an uninspiring 4.91 SIERA, 16.8% strikeout rate, and 41.4% fly-ball rate. He's actually performed worse in same-sided matchups -- all 10 home runs he's allowed have come off righties -- but a 4.84 xFIP versus lefties suggests that we can freely stack both sides of the plate.

Anthony Santander ($3,400), Gunnar Henderson ($3,400), Ryan Mountcastle ($3,300), Cedric Mullins ($3,300), and Ryan O'Hearn ($2,600) all have an ISO above .200 this year.

The Boston Red Sox (5.38 implied team total) are also in a plus matchup against a pitcher that's due for regression.

J.P. France may have a 3.51 ERA, but his 4.76 SIERA is likely a better indicator of his performance. Sure enough, these same Red Sox gave him a dose of that regression just last week, crushing him for 10 earned runs, 11 hits, and a pair of dingers in just 2 1/3 innings. Facing the same team a second time in a row won't make things any easier for France, too.

In terms of splits, France has actually been worse facing righties (5.35 xFIP; 14.9% strikeout rate) compared to lefties (3.75 xFIP; 56.1% ground-ball rate). While that's less ideal for a lefty-heavy Boston lineup, France still has just a 21.2% strikeout rate against lefties, so it's not like he's overpowering -- much like we saw the last time.

Justin Turner ($3,300) and Adam Duvall ($3,000) are the best righties to target, and then Rafael Devers ($3,800) and Triston Casas ($2,900) give us some power amongst the lefties.

For some other stacks, the Houston Astros and Seattle Mariners should also be on your radar.

Brayan Bello has been a solid pitcher, but he's much worse against left-handed batters (4.94 xFIP; 14.6% strikeout rate), which could get him in trouble when facing Yordan Alvarez ($3,900) and Kyle Tucker ($3,800).

Seattle should be able to get to Ken Waldichuk, who's produced a 4.84 SIERA, 21.8% strikeout rate, 11.6% walk rate, and 39.1% ground-ball rate in 2023.

Looking to build some MLB DFS lineups? Check out FanDuel’s daily fantasy baseball lobby to see all the offerings for today’s slates.

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.