FanDuel Daily Fantasy Baseball Helper: Sunday 9/27/20
The beauty of daily fantasy baseball is that the top targets are different each and every day. Whether it's the right-handed catcher who destroys left-handed pitching or the mid-range hurler facing a depleted lineup, you're not going to find yourself using the same assets time after time.
While this breaks up the monotony, it can make it hard to decide which players are primed to succeed on a given day. We can help bridge that gap.
In addition to our custom optimal lineups, you can check out our batting and pitching heat maps, which show the pieces in the best spot to succeed on that slate. Put on the finishing touches with our games and lineups page to see who's hitting where and what the weather looks like, and you'll have yourself a snazzy-looking team to put up some big point totals.
If you need help getting started on that trek, here are some of the top options on the board today. We'll be focusing exclusively on the main slate, which starts at 1:05 p.m. EST.
Pitchers to Target
It's the final day of the regular season. It should be a crazy one. We have a 15-game main slate, and there is so much we don't know going in as the level of motivation for each team will be different, which could lead to some value bats and short leashes for pitchers.
One thing we know for sure is that the Philadelphia Phillies, San Francisco Giants, Milwaukee Brewers and St. Louis Cardinals will be selling out for a win as the four of them battle for the final two playoff spots in the NL.
That makes Aaron Nola ($10,900 on FanDuel) appealing as we know he'll pitch deep into this game if he's throwing well. Nola is taking on a solid offense in the Tampa Bay Rays, but the Rays offer strikeout upside as they hold the third-highest strikeout rate (26.3%). Nola is the lone pitcher with a five-figure salary, but we should be able to find value hitters pretty easily on this slate. Our model has Nola as the clear top hurler, projecting him for 34.1 FanDuel points.
After Nola, it's one big shrug emoji.
Sonny Gray ($9,900) jumps out based on his skill level, but the Cincinnati Reds have clinched a playoff spot and are facing a stout Minnesota Twins lineup. How long will Gray pitch, and do you want to use him against the Twins? I'd rather fork over the extra grand for Nola.
In lineups in which I pass on Nola, I'll land on Frankie Montas ($7,300). He is also pitching for a team that has clinched, but his salary is a lot more friendly as is the matchup against the Seattle Mariners. The Mariners' .313 wOBA and 23.6% strikeout rate are numbers we can attack. While Montas hasn't matched the output from his 2019 breakout, he hasn't been anywhere close to as bad as his 6.32 ERA suggests. His SIERA is 4.78 while his 11.1% swinging-strike rate and 22.2% strikeout rate are solid marks.
Brady Singer ($9,400) is another pitcher I can stomach today. With a 23.3% strikeout rate and 9.7% swinging-strike rate, Singer probably shouldn't have a salary this high. But it's hard to argue with the matchup as he gets the Detroit Tigers, an offense with the third-worst wOBA (.288) and the highest strikeout rate (28.1%).
I'm sure there will be a couple other arms who post a big number today, but my pitcher pool is capped at these three.
Stacks to Target
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees have a slate-best 5.62 implied total for their home clash with Jose Urena, though we're still missing a lot of implied totals as of early Sunday morning. Urena sports a 6.02 SIERA, 13.8% strikeout rate and 11.7% walk rate. In a larger sample last season, left-handed hitters destroyed him to the tune of a .376 wOBA and 44.5% hard-hit rate.
The Yanks' normal lineup is righty-heavy outside of Brett Gardner ($2,700) and Aaron Hicks ($3,200). Hicks hit third the last time New York saw a righty, and he's got a .371 wOBA as a left-handed hitter in 2020. He's a fantastic point-per-dollar play.
Righties Gary Sanchez ($2,900) and Gleyber Torres ($3,200) offer good pop at a modest salary. All of the Yankees' high-salary bats are in play, too, if you can get to them. Lefties Mike Tauchman ($2,200), Mike Ford ($2,100) and Tyler Wade ($2,100) would be worth a look if they get in the lineup.
Toronto Blue Jays
The Toronto Blue Jays get a date with lefty Keegan Akin, and Toronto has plenty of righties we can zero in on. Akin has been solid this season in a small sample of 22 2/3 frames, but the Jays have been handed a gaudy 5.46 implied total.
If you use Nola, you'll be in need of some savings, and the Jays can help.
Randal Grichuk ($2,900), Jonathan Villar ($2,500) and Danny Jansen ($2,500) are low-salary ways to get righty exposure to Toronto. Lourdes Gurriel ($2,900) also fits that mold, although he may not play after exiting early on Saturday.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. ($3,400), Teoscar Hernandez ($3,600) and Bo Bichette ($2,700) are right-handed and should be in meaty spots in the lineup.
Colorado Rockies
Normally we stay away from the Colorado Rockies when they're on the road, but a matchup with Madison Bumgarner means the Rox are on the stacking radar.
Bumgarner has posted career-worst numbers -- by a big margin -- across the board in 2020, including a 15.2% strikeout rate, 44.9% hard-hit rate and 5.54 SIERA. He's been brutal. Righties have a .428 wOBA, 46.5% hard-hit rate and 44.6% fly-ball rate against him.
Trevor Story ($4,100) is the belle of the ball here as he's mashed his way to a .455 wOBA and 55.1% fly-ball rate versus southpaws this season. We can look to the left-handed Charlie Blackmon ($3,600), too, as Blackmon has a .412 wOBA this year in lefty-lefty matchups.
No other Rockies carry a salary above $3,000. Kevin Pillar ($3,000) and Matt Kemp ($2,600) will have the platoon advantage and should be in the heart of the order. Garrett Hampson ($2,600) will also hit right-handed but could be in the nine hole.
