Another four-game slate awaits us on Wednesday at 2:08pm ET, but with Oakland on the brink of elimination, it could also be our last one of this size in 2020. Get in these larger playoff slates while you still can!
Our daily 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 our great tools into your research process. Whether you're looking for daily projections, the latest starting lineups and weather, or batting and pitching heat maps to find the best matchups -- we've got you covered!
On that note, let's highlight some of the top options for today's FanDuel main slate. Below are tonight's projected starters with their 2020 stats. Opposing team strikeout rate and wRC+ date now show this year's splits against a given pitcher's handedness using up-to-date active rosters, per FanGraphs.
| Pitcher | Salary | L/R | Opp. | SIERA | K% | BB% | Opp. K% | Opp. wRC+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clayton Kershaw | $10,300 | L | SDP | 3.22 | 28.1% | 3.6% | 23.7% | 104 |
| Ian Anderson | $9,500 | R | MIA | 3.82 | 29.7% | 10.1% | 24.2% | 91 |
| Pablo Lopez | $8,400 | R | @ATL | 3.98 | 24.6% | 7.5% | 23.1% | 125 |
| Jose Urquidy | $8,100 | R | OAK | 5.41 | 14.7% | 6.9% | 23.2% | 104 |
| Charlie Morton | $7,800 | R | @NYY | 3.97 | 24.7% | 5.9% | 21.5% | 123 |
| Masahiro Tanaka | $7,500 | R | TAM | 4.07 | 22.3% | 4.1% | 26.4% | 104 |
| Jesus Luzardo | $6,600 | L | @HOU | 4.05 | 23.8% | 6.9% | 19.7% | 94 |
Let's check out the top spots on today's slate.
Pitchers
Today's top pitchers are Ian Anderson ($9,500) and Clayton Kershaw ($10,300), with Anderson getting the edge due to his matchup against the Marlins.
The pesky Marlins didn't make life easy for left-hander Max Fried yesterday, but as a righty-heavy lineup, they haven't performed as well versus right-handed pitchers this season and are the least imposing matchup on the board. That's certainly reflected in their implied total, which sits at just 3.53.
Anderson occasionally struggles with walks, but that's about the only thing we can complain about. He gets strikeouts (29.7%) and ground balls (52.5%), and he doesn't allow hard contact (25.9% hard-hit rate). His Statcast numbers are also fantastic, which includes allowing just 1 barrel across 81 batted balls (1.2%).
His workload also shouldn't be an issue, too, as Anderson went 99 pitches in the wild-card round on his way to 55 FanDuel points.
Kershaw obviously has a tough draw versus the Padres, and despite his postseason reputation -- whether it's actually deserved or not -- he performed admirably against Milwaukee in his last start, recording season-highs in strikeouts (13), innings (8.0), and FanDuel points (73).
While it's hard to expect that output facing San Diego, Kershaw did put up stellar numbers this season, so we shouldn't hesitate to get him in our lineups. It's worth noting that the Padres' active roster oddly has middle-of-the-road numbers against lefties, and the same holds true dating back to 2019.
It's difficult to trust any of the lower-salaried hurlers, particularly with teams quick to pull starters at the earliest sign of trouble, but Masahiro Tanaka ($7,500) does face a whiff-happy Rays lineup. I wouldn't expect a huge score from Tanaka, but he'll allow you to roster more superstar bats, and in the event Anderson and Kershaw falter, he won't need a ceiling performance to pay off. For what it's worth, his season-best FanDuel score came against Tampa Bay in September (43 points).
Along the same lines, Charlie Morton ($7,800) is in the same salary range. Despite underwhelming in 2020, you could argue he's the third-best hurler on the board in terms of talent, but his spot against the Yankees is brutal.
Hitters
The Atlanta Braves put on a show yesterday and have one of the slate's highest implied totals (4.97), so they ought to be a popular stack.
Pablo Lopez posted a solid 2020 regular season, but he had middling numbers against left-handed batters, including a 14.7% strikeout rate and 4.46 xFIP. Give a bump to the lefty sticks, with Freddie Freeman ($4,200) naturally being the top priority. Ronald Acuna ($4,500) and Marcell Ozuna ($4,000) are always threats to knock one out, so they're still excellent inclusions despite the same-sided matchup. As Tuesday's outburst reminded us, you can stack this team from top to bottom.
The Oakland Athletics have perhaps the easiest path to a big day at the plate. Jose Urquidy demonstrated encouraging strikeout numbers in 2019, but it hasn't materialized this season, and he owns easily the worst SIERA (5.41) and strikeout rate (14.7%) of the slate. Last round, Urquidy gave up one earned run in 4.1 innings against Minnesota but showed middling peripherals.
Outside of lefty power hitter Matt Olson ($3,000), this lineup doesn't necessarily jump off the page, but they're inexpensive across the board, making them easy to pair with today's top pitchers. I'd say there isn't a total zero anywhere in the order, with number nine hitter Sean Murphy ($2,300) boasting great power potential and even Khris Davis ($2,600) suddenly waking up this postseason and slugging three bombs in four games.
Following those two spots, you can continue to roll with stacks from a revitalized Houston Astros team and the always dangerous New York Yankees, but keep an eye on who the Padres roll out against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
(UPDATE: Zach Davies is starting Game 2 for the Padres. Davies posted a 4.71 xFIP and 16.5% strikeout rate versus lefties but also allowed 7 of 9 home runs to right-handed batters.)
The Dodgers are in play regardless, but they're especially enticing if Chris Paddack starts. Paddack didn't have terrible regular season marks (3.91 SIERA, 23.7% strikeout rate, and 4.9% walk rate), but he got lit up by the Cardinals in his wild-card start and also struggled in his final regular season outing. San Diego opting for a hobbled Mike Clevinger over Paddack last night is perhaps telling. Paddack only posted a 19.7% strikeout rate versus left-handed batters this season, which especially gives a boost to Los Angeles' top lefty sticks.