FanDuel Daily Fantasy Baseball Helper: Saturday 4/22/23
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| STL | Luis Castillo | SEA | 7.5 | 140 | 3.37 |
| DET | Kyle Gibson | BAL | 8 | 150 | 3.53 |
| OAK | Andrew Heaney | TEX | 9 | 190 | 3.72 |
| BOS | Wade Miley | MIL | 8.5 | 110 | 4.07 |
| SEA | Miles Mikolas | STL | 7.5 | -166 | 4.13 |
| KC | Tyler Anderson | LAA | 9.5 | 150 | 4.19 |
| ATL | Framber Valdez | HOU | 8.5 | -104 | 4.21 |
| HOU | Kyle Wright | ATL | 8.5 | -112 | 4.29 |
| ARI | Joe Musgrove | SD | 9.5 | 124 | 4.41 |
| MIL | Garrett Whitlock | BOS | 8.5 | -130 | 4.43 |
| BAL | Joey Wentz | DET | 8 | -178 | 4.47 |
| SD | Merrill Kelly | ARI | 9.5 | -146 | 5.09 |
| TEX | Shintaro Fujinami | OAK | 9 | -230 | 5.28 |
| LAA | Zack Greinke | KC | 9.5 | -178 | 5.31 |
Pitchers
Luis Castillo ($11,000)
After a 4.7% salary increase to his highest salary this season, Seattle's right-hander will challenge a St. Louis Cardinals' lineup with a .343 weighted on-base average (wOBA) and a 20.4% K-rate in their last 411 plate appearances in this split.
In his last four starts, Castillo has been performed at a top level, accounting for a sparkling 2.86 expected Fielding Independent Pitching rating (xFIP), a 2.32 expected Earned Run Average, and a 29.5% strikeout percentage.
With an impressive 15.3% swinging strike rate, Castillo's slate-high 6.2 strikeout prediction will mostly depend on his matchup against five Cardinals' batters with K-rates between 20.9% and 31.3% and contact percentages ranging from 67.5% to 76.3%.
Framber Valdez ($10,000)
In a matchup versus an Atlanta Braves' offense with a .318 wOBA and a 24.6% K-rate against left-handers, Houston's Framber Valdez ranks second among Saturday's pitchers with a 32.9 fantasy projection.
Since March 30th, the 29-year old southpaw has replicated his career metrics (3.41 xFIP, 23.0% K-rate) with a 3.23 xFIP and a 24.5% strikeout percentage through 25.0 innings this season.
While Atlanta has displayed some patience (12.5% projected walk percentage) in this split, Valdez still has an opportunity to provide an efficient performance versus five hitters with K-rates higher than 23.2% and contact rates between 62.6% and 77.3%.
Andrew Heaney ($8,900)
Even at his highest salary this season, the Rangers' veteran is another option to consider with a 28.1% K-rate and a 28.8 fantasy projection versus an Oakland Athletics' team with an overall .304 wOBA and a 70.0% contact rate.
With today's second highest strikeout prediction at 5.7, Heaney has several opportunities to exceed his expected number versus five projected batters with K-rates over 25.0% and contact rates lower than 73.5%.
Stacks
Despite averaging a disappointing 2.33 runs in their last three games, the Angels are ranked as Saturday's top offense with a 5.31 expected run total against Kansas City's Zack Greinke.
In his most recent 137.0 innings, the 39-year old right-hander has accounted for below-average metrics, recording a 4.54 xFIP, a 12.5% strikeout percentage, and a 6.8% opposing barrel rate.
With overall neutral splits and a heavy reliance on ground-balls (41.3%), Los Angeles' ideal stacks should feature their best fly-ball power hitters including Taylor Ward (42.4% fly-ball percentage, 10.2% career barrel rate), Mike Trout (55.7% fly-ball percentage, 16.3% career barrel rate), Shohei Ohtani (16.7% career barrel rate), Hunter Renfroe (46.8% fly-ball percentage, 11.9% barrel rate), and Anthony Rendon (career 7.9% barrel rate, 42.9% fly-ball percentage).
After producing 41 runs in five games this week, the Rangers' red-hot bats will attempt to continue their momentum versus Oakland's rookie Shintaro Fujinami.
To best capture his trouble against right-handed power (6.08 xFIP, .381 wOBA), Adolis Garcia (10.7% barrel rate), Josh Jung (8.3% barrel rate), and Marcus Semien (6.2% barrel rate) should be included first while Nathaniel Lowe (.276 expected average), Travis Jankowski (.292 expected average), and Jonah Heim (,286 expected average, 13.5% barrel rate) can also be mixed in when observing their recent form.
Even after yesterday's underwhelming two run output, the Orioles' offense offers a rebound opportunity with a 4.47 expected run total against a below-average lefty in Joey Wentz.
Through his most recent 45.1 innings, the young left-hander has struggled in his past ten starts, recording a 4.86 xFIP, a 10.1% walk percentage, and a 9.2% swinging strike rate.
With his biggest weakness occurring versus right-handed bats (5.08 xFIP), the top and middle of Baltimore's batting order are ideal targets including Austin Hays (.318 current expected average, 21.6% barrel rate), Adley Rutschman (.288 current expected average, 8.6% barrel rate), Ryan Mountcastle (19.0% barrel rate, .303 expected average), and Anthony Santander (8.9% barrel rate) while Jorge Mateo (.298 expected average) is a viable option at shortstop if he is able to return to the Orioles' lineup.
