FanDuel Daily Fantasy Baseball Helper: Saturday 6/18/22
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!
Pitchers
Justin Verlander ($10,900)
After three straight quality starts, Verlander's FanDuel salary remains at his highest point against a Chicago White Sox lineup with a projected 22.1% K-rate and a 72.1% contact percentage versus right-handers the last two seasons.
While Verlander's 1.94 Earned Run Average (ERA) is due to regress, Houston's veteran has performed on par with his seasonal form (3.45 expected Fielding Independent Pitching rating, 26.3% K-rate) in his last eight starts with a 3.61 xFIP and a 24.6% strikeout percentage.
As Saturday's top ranked pitcher, numberFire's models currently project Verlander to record 35.1 FanDuel points and 6.37 strikeouts.
Aaron Nola ($10,200)
At his third highest salary point this season, Philadelphia's right-hander will take the mound in an ideal spot on Saturday afternoon versus a Washington Nationals' team with a low .291 weighted on-base average (wOBA) and a 21.8% strikeout percentage.
While his hard contact is somewhat concerning at a 7.6% barrel rate, Nola checks off several key requirements for an elite fantasy pitcher, accounting for an impressive 2.90 xFIP, a 11.1% swinging strike rate, and a 28.7% K-percentage through 82.1 innings.
Among Saturday's 18 pitchers, the 29-year old currently ranks second among his position with a 33.8 fantasy expectation and first in strikeouts with a 6.48 projected mark.
Alex Wood ($8,600)
San Francisco's left-hander is a lower salary option to consider with a 23.3% strikeout percentage against a weak Pittsburgh Pirates' lineup with a projected .220 wOBA and an eye-popping 27.3% K-rate in this particular split.
In his second year with the Giants despite an unlucky start to his season (4.81 ERA / 3.14 xFIP in first nine appearances) , Wood was been in overall promising form with a 3.03 xFIP and a 3.36 Skilled Interactive Earned Run Average (SIERA) through 61.1 innings.
With an ideal matchup and pitching profile, the 31-year old currently rates as Saturday's third ranked pitcher with a 29.6 FanDuel point expectation and 5.25 strikeouts.
Stacks
In a matchup against Braxton Garrett, MLB's top ranked offense offers several enticing ways to attack his weakness versus batters from the opposing side of the plate (4.78 xFIP in 37.2 career innings).
If seeking value options, several hitters in the lower part of New York's order are intriguing stack candidates including J.D. Davis (12.6% barrel rate, .395 expected wOBA), Eduardo Escobar (7.1% barrel percentage), and Mark Canha (.259 expected average) while Pete Alonso (14.6% barrel rate, .401 expected wOBA), Starling Marte (.261 expected average), and Francisco Lindor (.341 expected wOBA) have all historically performed well versus left-handed pitching.
After a 22-run outburst in their last two games, the Astros are in another opportune spot with a 4.9 expected run total versus a regressing Johnny Cueto with a mediocre 4.04 xFIP and a 19.0% K-rate.
Houston fly-ball hitters with power including Yordan Alvarez (39.5% fly-ball rate, 16.8% barrel percentage), Kyle Tucker (10.7% barrel rate, 43.0% fly-ball percentage), and Alex Bregman (41.7% fly-ball rate, 7.4% barrel rate) should start any potential Astros' correlations against Cueto's tendency to keep the ball on the ground (career 45.0% percentage) while Martin Maldonado (10% barrel rate, 39.6% fly-ball percentage) provides some value.
Josiah Gray will make his 26th Major League start against a Philadelphia Phillies' lineup projected for an undervalued 5.1 runs.
While the 24-year old has somewhat improved in his second MLB season when comparing his 4.40 xFIP to his career 4.75 mark, Washington's right-hander continues to give up a concerning amount of hard contact (13.4% barrel rate) and home runs (17.3% home run to fly-ball percentage) while also allowing too many free baserunners (10.9% walk percentage).
To best counter Gray's pitching profile, hitters from the left side (5.74 career xFIP in 55.2 career innings) should be the priority in Phillies' stacks, starting with Kyle Schwarber (20.7% barrel percentage, .410 expected wOBA), Didi Gregorius (.305 expected wOBA), and Odubel Herrera (5.9% barrel rate) while Alec Bohm (8.6% barrel rate, .304 expected average) or Nick Castellanos (8.6% barrel percentage, .350 expected wOBA) can round out Philadelphia combinations.
