FanDuel Daily Fantasy Baseball Helper: Sunday 7/24/22
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.
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!
Let's check out the top options on today's main slate.
Pitchers
Sandy Alcantara ($11,000)
Since June 29th despite recording an impressive 2.84 expected Fielding Independent Pitching rating (xFIP) and a 25.0% K-rate in his last four starts, Alcantara's FanDuel salary has somehow remained stagnant at his third highest point this season.
Considering his bargain salary and ideal matchup versus a Pittsburgh Pirates' lineup with a .307 weighted on-base average (wOBA) including eight hitters with K-rates over 21.7%, Miami's ace is a top play in all formats with a 39.1 FanDuel point projection including 6.84 expected strikeouts.
Shane Bieber ($10,600)
After a 7.7% increase to his highest salary this season, Cleveland's 27-year old right-hander ranks ninth in value with a 3.2 rating and third overall with a 33.9 FanDuel point projection.
While Bieber potentially has a difficult matchup versus a Chicago White Sox unit with a projected .322 wOBA and a 20.2% K-rate, the Guardians' starter has been dealing in his last eight appearances, recording a 2.90 xFIP and a 27.0% strikeout percentage in 52.0 innings including a complete-game 55 fantasy point performance against the White Sox earlier this month.
Dylan Cease ($10,100)
Chicago's strikeout machine is another option over 10K to consider against a Cleveland Guardians' lineup with a .277 wOBA and a 20.4% K-rate in their last 506 plate appearances in this particular split.
In his largest sample size as a starting pitcher at the top level of baseball, the 26-year old has accounted for the best strikeout production among Sunday's four elite pitching options with a 34.4% K-rate and a 16.4% swinging strike rate.
At his lowest salary point this month, Cease offers the highest potential return at his discounted number, rating first among Sunday's 18 pitchers in value (3.89 rating) and strikeouts (7.54).
Nestor Cortes ($10,000)
Overall through 95.2 innings, the Yankees' southpaw is trending towards a career-best season, recording a 3.57 xFIP and a 26.1% K-rate.
With an improved 10.5% swinging strike percentage, Cortes will have various opportunities to acquire punch outs against six projected Baltimore Orioles' hitters with K-rates between 25.1%-to-33.0% and contact percentage ranges from 64.4% to 74.1%.
Stacks
Boston's right-hander Brayan Bello will make his third career start versus a Toronto lineup with an eye-popping 6.0 implied team total.
While Bello has displayed some strikeout production in the minors (34.2% in 54.1 AAA innings, 32.6% in 33.2 AA innings during 2022), the 23-year old has struggled with his control on every level (9.9% in AAA, 9.3% in AA) including a 14.3% walk percentage in eight Major League innings and with his overall performance in the Majors (4.92 xFIP).
Considering Bello's pitching profile and struggles, the most patient Toronto hitters with power in George Springer (.334 expected wOBA, 8.5% barrel rate), Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (.368 expected wOBA, 11.7% barrel rate), and Cavan Biggio (9.9% barrel percentage, 14.1% walk rate) create a core combination while Bo Bichette (9.3% barrel rate, .431 expected slugging), Matt Chapman (13.8% barrel rate, .458 expected slugging) and Teoscar Hernandez (13.2% barrel rate, .484 expected slugging) provide additional upside.
In a matchup against Reid Detmers, the Atlanta offense has a favorable opportunity to produce a big number against a below-average left-hander with a 9.0% swinging strike percentage, a 20.2% K-rate, and a 4.52 xFIP through 70.0 innings this season.
With his main weakness occurring versus right-handed bats (career 5.25 xFIP, 18.9% K-rate), Ronald Acuna (.496 expected slugging, 14.1% barrel rate), Dansby Swanson (11.8% barrel percentage, .490 expected slugging), Austin Riley (.572 expected slugging, 15.7% barrel rate), Marcell Ozuna (.502 expected slugging, 14% barrel rate) and William Contreras (15.7% barrel rate, .503 expected slugging) all profile well enough as plug-ins at multiple positions or stacking.
After a disappointing three-run performance last night, the Yankees will attempt to reach their 5.3 run total versus a regressing Dean Kremer with expected marks (4.62 xFIP, 5.21 expected ERA) almost two runs over his 2.59 Earned Run Average.
To best attack his reverse splits (5.54 xFIP, 15.9% K-rate), Aaron Judge (.678 expected slugging, 25.7% barrel rate), Gleyber Torres (9.5% barrel percentage, .440 expected slugging), and DJ LeMahieu (.365 expected wOBA, .428 expected slugging) stand out first while Anthony Rizzo (10.6% barrel rate, .350 expected wOBA) and Matt Carpenter (18.% barrel rate, .577 expected slugging) rate well as potential infield options.
