FanDuel Daily Fantasy Baseball Helper: Sunday 8/14/22
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!
Pitchers
Zack Wheeler ($10,800)
In a revenge opportunity versus his former squad, Philadelphia's stud right-hander will take the mound against a New York Mets' lineup with a .331 weighted on-base average (wOBA) and a 74.5% contact rate in their last 577 plate appearances.
Even at his highest salary point this season, Wheeler still offers underrated upside when analyzing his solid 3.45 expected Independent Fielding Pitching rating (xFIP) and 24.7% K-rate in his last 45.2 innings and today's third highest strikeout expectation at 6.59.
Cristian Javier ($10,600)
numberFire's top ranked hurler has a great spot versus an Oakland Athletics' team with a vulnerable .265 wOBA and a 20.6% K-rate including five projected batters with strikeout percentages over 22.2%.
In his last seven starts despite occasional control issues (7.9% walk rate in 37.2 innings), Javier has still maintained his elite strikeout production, recording a 33.8% K-rate and an eye-popping 14.8% swinging strike percentage.
While Javier's FanDuel salary has spiked 6% to his highest point in 2022, the 25-year old still rates fourth in value and strikeouts with a 3.35 rating and 6.5 projected punch-outs.
Chris Bassitt ($10,300)
New York's reliable veteran is another viable option to consider over 10k with a 3.47 xFIP and a 24.2% K- rate in 130.0 total innings this season.
In an elevated spot against a weakened Philadelphia Phillies' lineup without Kyle Schwarber, Bassitt's 34.2 fantasy projection and 6.45 strikeout expectation will depend on how he succeeds versus seven hitters with contact rates under 76.5% and K-rates over 21.5%.
Lance Lynn ($9,000)
Despite a lofty 15.3% salary jump, Chicago's 35-year old starter still ranks third in value with a 3.5 rating versus a Detroit Tigers' lineup with a .291 wOBA and a juicy 30.8% strikeout percentage.
Through 59.2 innings this season, Lynn has experienced the bottom end of variance when comparing his current .310 batting average on balls in play (BABIP) and his bloated 5.88 Earned Run Average to his career and expected metrics (.298 BABIP and 3.56 xFIP).
With positive regression on the forefront, Lynn has a great opportunity to reduce his misleading ERA against five Detroit batters with K-rates over 25.9% and weighted on-base averages lower than .291.
Stacks
In baseball's top offensive environment, Tommy Henry will make his third Major League start versus a Colorado Rockies' unit with today's top run total at 6.4.
In his first experience in the Majors, Henry has profiled as a below-average starter when comparing his 3.75 ERA to his 5.84 xFIP while his Triple-A production tells a similar story with a 5.18 expected mark in 108.0 innings this season.
To best exploit his troubling command and overall struggles against either side of the plate, the heart of Colorado's lineup offers several infield options including Brendan Rodgers (7.7% barrel rate, .322 expected wOBA), C.J. Cron (11.5% barrel rate, .442 expected slugging), Elehuris Montero (10.2% barrel percentage, 42.9% hard hit rate), and Ryan McMahon (.333 expected wOBA, 9.7% barrel rate) while Randal Grichuk (44.4% hard hit rate) and Connor Joe (.314 expected wOBA) can be utilized in the outfield.
Despite recording nine total runs in their first two games at Coors Field, the Diamondbacks are projected at an undervalued 5.9 runs versus Ryan Feltner.
Although the 25-year old is due for positive regression when evaluating his 4.08 xFIP, Feltner clearly has difficulty pitching in Coors Field (5.15 xFIP in 21.2 career innings) and against left-handed bats (5.25 xFIP in 24.1 innings).
Ideal Arizona combinations should first start with Daulton Varsho (10% barrel rate, .420 expected slugging), Ketel Marte (.324 wOBA, 40.7% hard hit rate), Jake McCarthy (35.3% hard hit rate), Alek Thomas (35.2% hit rate) and Josh Rojas (39.4% hard hit rate) while Emmanuel Rivera (10.6% barrel rate, .458 expected slugging), Christian Walker (.492 expected slugging, 13.1% barrel rate) are too hot to ignore with their recent batted ball form.
In a matchup against Cole Irvin, the Astros will take on a regressing low-strikeout lefty with expected marks over one earned run higher than his 2.91 ERA.
To best attack his trouble against right-handed bats, Jose Altuve (7.7% barrel rate, .342 wOBA), Jeremy Pena (9.5% barrel rate, .405 expected slugging), Alex Bregman (.416 expected slugging, .349 expected wOBA), Trey Mancini (10% barrel rate, .441 expected slugging), and Chas McCormick (11.8% barrel rate, .428 expected slugging) all standout as potential stacking candidates.
