FanDuel Daily Fantasy Baseball Helper: Saturday 4/8/23
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!
Let's check out the top options on today's main slate.
| Team | Opp SP | Opp | O/U | Moneyline | Implied Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SD | Charlie Morton | ATL | 8.5 | 136 | 3.85 |
| MIL | Jordan Montgomery | STL | 8.5 | 120 | 3.98 |
| BAL | Jhony Brito | NYY | 8.5 | 114 | 4.03 |
| ARI | Noah Syndergaard | LAD | 9.5 | 130 | 4.36 |
| TOR | Tyler Anderson | LAA | 9 | 100 | 4.41 |
| NYY | Cole Irvin | BAL | 8.5 | -134 | 4.47 |
| STL | Eric Lauer | MIL | 8.5 | -142 | 4.52 |
| LAA | Jose Berrios | TOR | 9 | -118 | 4.59 |
| ATL | Michael Wacha | SD | 8.5 | -162 | 4.65 |
| LAD | Zach Davies | ARI | 9.5 | -154 | 5.14 |
| WSH | Austin Gomber | COL | 11 | 120 | 5.15 |
| COL | Trevor Williams | WSH | 11 | -142 | 5.85 |
Pitchers
Jordan Montgomery ($9,200)
After producing a stellar 3.09 expected Fielding Independent Pitching rating (xFIP) and a 23.9% strikeout rate in 11 starts with St. Louis last season, the Cardinals' left-hander will challenge a Milwaukee Brewers' offense with a .294 weighted on-base average (wOBA) and a 29.3% K-rate in this split.
With a 10.5% swinging strike percentage during his time as a Cardinal, Montgomery has a ceiling spot for strikeouts against six Brewers with K-rates over 25.6% and contact percentages ranging from 57.0% to 73.4%.
Charlie Morton ($8,800)
In a matchup against a San Diego Padres' lineup with a 20.6% K-rate and a .320 wOBA versus right-handers, Morton is ranked first among pitchers with a 34.3 fantasy projection and second in value with a 3.89 rating despite recording a 6.14 xFIP in his first start this season.
While Morton's current expected metrics are somewhat worrisome, Atlanta's veteran should have a favorable opportunity to reach his slate-high 6.57 strikeout expectation versus five San Diego hitters with strikeout percentages between 21.3% and 30.1% and contact rates lower than 78.4%.
Jhony Brito ($7,100)
After an impressive Major League debut last week, New York's 25-year old right-hander will take the mound versus a Baltimore Orioles' team with a 23.3% K-rate and a .306 wOBA.
When considering his current 2.75 xFIP, 19.7% swinging strike percentage, and 24.1 fantasy projection, Brito is a viable value option to consider especially with expensive Coors Field bats on today's slate.
Stacks
Despite averaging just three runs at home during this series, the Rockies remain Saturday's top projected offense with a 5.85 run expectation against Trevor Williams.
Through his last 94.2 innings, the veteran has accounted for mediocre metrics in ten starts, accounting for a 4.03 xFIP, a 10.1% swinging strike rate, and an opposing 8.2% barrel percentage.
Due to his trouble with left-handed batters (5.05 career xFIP, .337 wOBA), Charlie Blackmon (8.0% barrel rate, .306 expected average this season), Ryan McMahon (29.4% barrel rate, .370 expected wOBA this season), and Mike Moustakas (8.2% career barrel rate, .252 career expected average) rate best while C.J. Cron (.326 expected average, 25.0% barrel rate this season) and Kris Bryant (career 9.8% barrel rate) can also be utilized with their power from the right side.
Ranking second among today's offenses with 5.15 expected runs, the Nationals are another elite option to stack versus Colorado's lefty Austin Gomber.
In his most recent 130.2 innings, the 29-year old has struggled to a 4.24 xFIP mostly due to his inability to produce outs versus right-handed bats (4.36 xFIP, .338 wOBA).
When considering his main weakness and high ground-ball rate (career 42.5%), Stone Garrett (9.6% career barrel rate, 45.5% fly-ball percentage), Joey Meneses (10.3% career barrel rate), Jeimer Candelario (7.5% career barrel rate, 40.8% fly-ball percentage), and Lane Thomas (6.8% barrel rate, 37.7% fly-ball percentage) all deserve consideration with their power and ability to lift the ball in the air.
Outside of Coors Field, the Dodgers also rate as an underrated offense versus Arizona's veteran right-hander Zach Davies.
Despite giving up just one earned run in his first encounter against the Dodgers in his first start, Davies' expected metrics suggest serious regression when comparing his 4.48 xFIP to his 1.80 Earned Run Average while his 4.57 xFIP in his last 139.1 innings support a similar viewpoint.
With most of his struggles against the opposing side of the plate (5.22 xFIP against left-handed bats last season), Freddie Freeman (11.5% career barrel rate), Max Muncy (13.3% barrel rate, 51.4% fly-ball percentage), and James Outman (23.5% barrel rate) are top targets from the left side while Will Smith (47.1% fly-ball rate, 10.8% career barrel rate), J.D. Martinez (14.4% career barrel rate) and Mookie Betts (45.5% barrel rate, 7.9% career barrel rate) can also be mixed in.
