FanDuel Daily Fantasy Baseball Helper: Saturday 9/25/21

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 projections and 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.

Pitching Breakdown

Our projections put Corbin Burnes ($11,100 on FanDuel) in his own tier, pegging him to score 43.4 FanDuel points -- 7.9 more than anyone else (as of Saturday morning) -- and with four other hurlers salaried within $1,100 of Burnes, we're not really having to pay a premium to roster him.

Burnes is facing the New York Mets. The Mets hover around the league average in most stats, and they're getting a slate-low 3.13 implied total. Burnes' 2.61 SIERA, 35.5% strikeout rate and 16.6% swinging-strike rate are all out of this world. He's gone for 101 and 115 pitches in his last two starts, so there are no workload concerns.

After Burnes, Lance Lynn ($10,000) and Robbie Ray ($10,800) stand out as high-ceilng options.

Lynn is up against the Cleveland Indians, an offense that sits 22nd in wOBA (.306) for the year with the 12th-highest strikeout rate (23.7%). Lynn owns a 3.73 SIERA and 27.8% strikeout rate, and he's permitted one earned run across his last two starts (10 1/3 innings) while fanning 14. The Indians' 3.65 implied total is a mark we can attack, and we have Lynn totaling 35.5 FanDuel points, the second-most on the slate.

Ray takes on the Minnesota Twins. While Minnesota has some dudes who bash lefties, Ray can deal against anyone, and with Lynn in a nice spot at a lower salary, Ray might go a bit overlooked. For the season, Ray sports a 3.09 SIERA, 32.8% strikeout rate and 15.8% swinging-strike rate. He's tossed at least 97 pitches in seven straight starts, including outings of 107 and 111 in that span, and we forecast him to score 34.9 FanDuel points.

Even with Coors on the slate, I don't see much of a reason to go outside of those three when you're trying to nail down a pitcher. But if you just have to have more salary for bats, Tyler Anderson ($8,500) is a decent value target.

The matchup is a good one as he gets the Los Angeles Angels, who hold the 11th-highest strikeout rate (23.2%) over the past 30 days while checking in next to last in wOBA (.278) in that time. Anderson is rolling, surrendering two earned runs and punching out 12 over his last two starts (11 1/3 innings). The Angels' 3.98 implied total is the slate's fifth-lowest.

Stacks to Target

San Francisco Giants and Colorado Rockies

The slate's two biggest implied totals come from the Coors game. The San Francisco Giants lead the charge with a 6.14 clip versus Jon Gray while the Colorado Rockies are showing a 5.36 mark against Anthony DeSclafani.

You know how it goes with Coors -- every starter is in play. I'm not going to break down all the options.

I will say this: I'm much more into the Giants than the Rox. With that said, DeSclafani has faced Colorado four times already this season, something that usually leads to an advantage for the offense.

Baltimore Orioles

We have three studs arms and Coors bats, so it's imperative to find a lower-salary stack. That's where the Baltimore Orioles can be useful.

Baltimore has a so-so 4.56 implied total against Jordan Lyles, so I'll probably stick to a lot of two-man stacks. Lyles is giving up 2.00 homers per nine and has allowed 1.82 jacks per nine since the start of 2019. And this one is in Camden Yards.

Trey Mancini ($2,900) should be a core piece of any Orioles exposure you get. He's tapered off since his good start, but he's still got a .371 wOBA at home and 14 of his 21 dongs have come at Camden Yards.

Pedro Severino ($2,300) is a value stick worth having on your radar while Austin Hays ($3,500), Cedric Mullins ($3,500), Ryan Mountcastle ($3,400) and Anthony Santander ($3,300) are superb options if you have the coin.

Seattle Mariners

There are better stacking options out there than the Seattle Mariners and O's -- namely the Los Angeles Dodgers, Cincinnati Reds and Chicago White Sox -- but I'm once again looking for a more modest-salaried stack to pair with my high-salary arm and Coors exposure. Seattle fits that mold.

The matchup with Jaime Barria is one we can pick on. In his brief MLB career, Barria has been tagged for a .348 wOBA by lefties and a .367 wOBA by right-handers. Righties have a 40.2% hard-hit rate against him while lefties are striking out just 10.5% of the time. We have a lot of flexibility.

I will mix and max J.P. Crawford ($3,000), Jarred Kelenic ($3,100), Ty France ($3,000), Abraham Toro ($2,400) and Jake Fraley ($2,000). Fraley obviously offers valuable cap relief and is projected to hit sixth. Kelenic has a .360 wOBA in September and is finally flashing what made him a highly rated prospect. France has been on fire in the second half, recording a .384 wOBA.

Kyle Seager ($3,500) and Mitch Haniger ($3,600) work, too, if you have the salary for them.