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 2-times 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
Framber Valdez, a lefty, is expected to start for the Astros. In Game 1, Valdez allowed five runs in two innings, and he probably won't be long for this one unless he's throwing really well.
In the regular season, Valdez finished with a 3.79 SIERA, 21.9% strikeout rate and 10.1% walk rate. He makes a living on getting grounders as he generated a massive 70.3% ground-ball rate.
After Valdez, it will likely be an all-hands-on-deck situation, and with an off day Monday, everyone should be available out of the bullpen. If Valdez struggles early, we could see Jake Odorizzi -- who hasn't thrown since coming in for Valdez in Game 1.
On the Atlanta side, it's another bullpen game. As of Sunday morning, the Braves haven't yet named an opener, but there's a decent chance it will be A.J. Minter, who didn't pitch last night. Everyone except Game 4 hero Kyle Wright should be available.
Slate Strategy
Our model projects the Houston Astros to win 4.41-3.92.
When picking Houston bats, we can't really consider matchups too much outside of maybe the first inning once Atlanta announces an opener. I could see Houston switching up their lineup a little bit today, so be on the lookout for a new order.
Our projections are pretty high on the Astros' bats as Houston accounts for four of the top five hitters via Kyle Tucker ($7,500), Yordan Alvarez ($9,500), Jose Altuve ($8,000) and Carlos Correa ($7,500). Projecting well and at modest salaries, Tucker and Correa make for great options. Alex Bregman ($7,000) has just one hit in the World Series, but we know what kind of hitter he is.
With a lefty starting for Houston, Jorge Soler ($5,500) should be back in the lineup for the Braves, and there's a chance he's near the top of the order. He's very easy to like at his salary. The slate's top bat, per our numbers, is Ozzie Albies ($8,500). We project him with the most homers (0.30) and steals (0.16).
Adam Duvall ($5,000) and Dansby Swanson ($5,500) are the slate's best point-per-dollar options. Duvall really interests me as a low-salary guy who will have the platoon advantage versus Valdez, but he might get just one plate appearance against the Houston starter.