FanDuel Daily Fantasy Baseball World Series Helper: Diamondbacks at Rangers, Game 1

It might not be the World Series matchup many expected entering the season -- or even the postseason -- but if the last round was any indication, we could have a good one on our hands between the Arizona Diamondbacks and Texas Rangers. Game 1 is set for Friday at 8:03 p.m. ET.

For those unfamiliar with the single-game daily fantasy baseball format, scoring is identical to its full roster cousin, except you only roster hitters, and lineups consist of five flex spots. The one twist? One of the five roster spots is your designated "MVP," who receives twice his total fantasy points, along with a "STAR" slot that gets 1.5 times the points. Naturally, it's crucial that you choose your MVP and STAR carefully if you want to be at the top of the leaderboards when it's all said and done.

On that note, let's highlight some of the top options for today's FanDuel single-game slate.

Pitching Breakdown

Were we strictly going off their regular season numbers, Zac Gallen would have to be regarded as the better of tonight's starters, but it's been the reverse thus far this postseason -- and it's not particularly close.

Nathan Eovaldi entered these playoffs as a major question mark but has been nothing short of brilliant. Eovaldi's posted a squeaky-clean 2.92 SIERA, 26.9% strikeout rate, and 3.8% walk rate over four starts, and he's gone at least six innings in each of them. Most importantly for the Rangers, they've won all four games, as well.

On the other hand, Gallen has been much more shaky, recording a 5.28 SIERA, 13.5% strikeout rate, and 9.4% walk rate over his four outings. He's coughed up six dingers already, and five of those came in the NLCS, so it's not like he's been trending in a positive direction.

Yet it's worth remembering that this is the same Gallen who started the All-Star Game and was at one point the favorite to win the National League Cy Young. He was a rock for Arizona in the regular season, ranking amongst the league's best in innings (second), strikeouts (sixth), and quality starts (tied-fifth).

Slate Strategy

When considering Gallen's recent form and the way Texas' bats clobbered the Houston Astros to seal the ALCS, the conventional way to play this is to lean on the Rangers.

There's probably no Texas hitter who comes in with more confidence than Adolis Garcia ($9,500). He's the postseason leader in home runs (seven), and five of those have come in the last four games. He's the obvious MVP/STAR play, but it likely comes at the cost of a slate-high roster percentage, which is something to keep in mind.

Corey Seager ($8,500) should also be popular in the multiplier slots. Seager and Garcia lead the team in postseason barrel rate by a wide margin (23.7% and 22.2%, respectively), and they're both rocking hard-hit rates above 52%, too.

As the leadoff hitter, Marcus Semien ($7,000) won't exactly fly under the radar, and he'll surely be a popular flex play at this salary. But his quiet postseason should leave him far behind the roster percentages of Garcia and Seager as a multiplier option.

Semien's postseason quality of contact numbers don't bring much optimism, but his .217 BABIP does suggest he's been unlucky. While he doesn't possess the pure power of the previous two, Semien produced a rock-solid .201 ISO this season, and his 124 wRC+ was equal to Garcia's.

Perhaps Semien's struggles continue, but we know he's a much better hitter than he's shown. Things can shift quickly in this high-variance sport, so this could very well be a buying opportunity.

Evan Carter ($7,500) and Mitch Garver ($7,000) -- assuming he plays after suffering a rib injury -- should continue to bat third and fifth, respectively, and they have the team's best home run odds behind Garcia and Seager. Josh Jung ($6,000) could be sneaky despite batting low in the order, as he has the Rangers' third-best hard-hit rate (50.0%). All three can be considered contrarian MVP/STAR plays, as well.

Jonah Heim ($5,500) is arguably the top value on Texas as the projected number-six hitter. He showed solid pop in the regular season (.179 ISO) and has a 41.9% hard-hit rate in the playoffs.

Switching to the D-Backs, this is a tough spot against Eovaldi, but they've proven the naysayers wrong all postseason. In the regular season, Eovaldi's strikeout rate dipped to 19.7% against lefties, so this does put Corbin Carroll ($9,000) and Ketel Marte ($8,000) in a better spot to succeed. While I expect Garcia and Seager to be the most popular MVP/STARs, these two shouldn't be far behind.

Carroll finally got back on track in Game 7 of the NLCS with three hits and two swiped bags. After all the success Arizona had on the basepaths to end that series, we should expect Carroll to be aggressive after stealing the league's second-most bases this year (54). Marte's historic postseason hit streak is well-documented, so his inclusion is straightforward.

Similar to Semien, Christian Walker ($7,500) might not draw as much MVP/STAR attention as he normally would after a fairly quiet NLCS. He's stuck on one home run in the playoffs, yet he leads the team in barrel rate (23.1%) ahead of Marte (21.6%). He has the third-shortest odds to hit a home run in the game, as well.

We should see a fair number of low-salaried bats in this lineup, too. Gabriel Moreno ($5,500) could end up as the highest-rostered player if he's batting third. He's likely played over his head in these playoffs, but it's hard to pass up such obvious value. Alek Thomas ($5,500) will have the platoon advantage versus Eovaldi and actually leads the team in home runs (four). Evan Longoria ($5,000) has a 71.4% hard-hit rate despite little to show for it.

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

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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.