FanDuel Daily Fantasy Baseball Helper: Saturday 7/8/23
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OAK | James Paxton | BOS | 9 | 190 | 3.72 |
| MIA | Ranger Suarez | PHI | 7.5 | -106 | 3.73 |
| KC | Gavin Williams | CLE | 8.5 | 150 | 3.75 |
| PHI | Braxton Garrett | MIA | 7.5 | -110 | 3.77 |
| COL | Alex Wood | SF | 9 | 172 | 4 |
| PIT | Zac Gallen | ARI | 8.5 | 114 | 4 |
| ARI | Mitch Keller | PIT | 8.5 | -134 | 4.5 |
| CIN | Colin Rea | MIL | 9.5 | 114 | 4.51 |
| WSH | Andrew Heaney | TEX | 10.5 | 156 | 4.58 |
| CLE | Brady Singer | KC | 8.5 | -178 | 4.75 |
| MIL | Luke Weaver | CIN | 9.5 | -134 | 4.99 |
| SF | Connor Seabold | COL | 9 | -205 | 5 |
| BOS | Paul Blackburn | OAK | 9 | -230 | 5.28 |
| TEX | Jake Irvin | WSH | 10.5 | -186 | 5.92 |
Pitchers
James Paxton ($10,600)
At his highest salary this season after Boston's left-hander produced 54 FanDuel points in his most recent start, Paxton will face an Oakland Athletics' lineup with a 26.8% K-rate and a .286 weighted on-base average (wOBA) in their last 246 plate appearances in this split.
While some may hesitate at the veteran's increased salary, the 34-year old has provided ace level production in his last five starts, accounting for an impressive 3.11 xFIP, a 15.8% swinging strike rate, and seven or more strikeouts in 80% of his appearances.
In a favorable spot against four Oakland' hitters with K-rates ranging from 28.2% to 32.6%, Paxton ranks fifth among Saturday's pitchers with 29.8 expected FanDuel points and 5.68 projected strikeouts.
Braxton Garrett ($9,800)
After a 6.6% decrease to his lowest salary during July, Miami's southpaw offers underrated upside with a 27.5% K-rate, a 12.8% swinging strike percentage, and a 2.90 xFIP against a Philadelphia Phillies' team with a .319 wOBA and a 28.7% K-rate versus left-handed pitching.
With six or more strikeouts in 75% of his last 12 starts, Garrett is a high-ceiling option with his recent form and today's second highest fantasy projection at 33.1 FanDuel points and 5.89 punch-outs in 5.31 expected innings.
Ranger Suarez ($9,600)
Philadelphia's left-hander is another solid option to consider with a 3.71 xFIP and a 23.4% K-rate at his second highest salary point this season.
Although Suarez struggled in his most recent start, the 27-year old has been an anchor for the Phillies' rotation in his last six appearances, accounting for a quality start and seven or more strikeouts in 83% of his outings.
Stacks
In a mouth-watering opportunity against Jake Irvin, the Rangers' 5.92 run total ranks first on Saturday versus a well-below average right-hander with a horrific 5.61 xFIP and a 10.9% walk percentage.
To ideally attack Irvin's trouble against the opposing side of the plate (5.55 xFIP, .348 wOBA), Texas combinations can include any of their top left-handed batters including Corey Seager (.436 expected wOBA, 18.9% barrel rate), Nathaniel Lowe (.341 expected wOBA, .268 expected average), and Jonah Heim (8.6% barrel rate, .345 expected wOBA) while Adolis Garcia (.376 expected wOBA, 16.3% barrel rate), Josh Jung (12.3% barrel rate, .357 expected wOBA), and Ezequiel Duran (.357 expected wOBA, 12.1% barrel rate) still rate well enough to be mixed in with their power and batted ball form.
Connor Seabold will make his 12th start this season versus a San Francisco Giants lineup with an underrated 5.0 expected run total.
Since June 1st, Seabold has been batted around consistently in his last six appearances, accounting for a 5.60 xFIP, a 12.2% opposing barrel rate, and a 14.8% home run to fly-ball ratio.
With left-handed bats doing the most damage versus the journeyman (.415 wOBA, 6.27 xFIP), LaMonte Wade Jr (.382 expected wOBA, 10.4% barrel rate, Joc Pederson (.388 expected wOBA, 14.2% barrel rate), Michael Conforto (.329 expected wOBA, 8.8% barrel rate), Mike Yastrzemski (.330 expected wOBA, 10.7% barrel rate), and Brandon Crawford (9.1% barrel rate) are all viable options at salaries under $3,200.
After scoring seven runs in the first of the series versus Cincinnati, the Brewers' 4.99 expected run total appears undervalued against Luke Weaver and his extreme struggles versus left-handed bats this season (5.51 xFIP, 13.6% K-rate / 8.8% walk percentage).
With this main weakness in mind, Milwaukee stacks can feature their top lefty bats including Christian Yelich (.384 expected wOBA, 10.5% barrel rate), Jesse Winker (7.7% career barrel rate), Blake Perkins (32.2% hard hit rate), and Brice Turang (30.3% hard hit rate).
