FanDuel Daily Fantasy Baseball Helper: Sunday 5/7/23
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CHC | Sandy Alcantara | MIA | 7 | 100 | 3.43 |
| COL | Joey Lucchesi | NYM | 8.5 | 180 | 3.57 |
| MIA | Hayden Wesneski | CHC | 7 | -118 | 3.57 |
| TB | Gerrit Cole | NYY | 7.5 | -102 | 3.69 |
| NYY | Javy Guerra | TB | 7.5 | -116 | 3.81 |
| CLE | Joe Ryan | MIN | 8.5 | 116 | 4.02 |
| DET | Steven Matz | STL | 9.5 | 166 | 4.08 |
| PIT | Yusei Kikuchi | TOR | 9 | 112 | 4.29 |
| MIN | Cal Quantrill | CLE | 8.5 | -136 | 4.48 |
| BOS | Taijuan Walker | PHI | 9.5 | 110 | 4.55 |
| TOR | Roansy Contreras | PIT | 9 | -132 | 4.71 |
| OAK | Ryan Yarbrough | KC | 9.5 | -106 | 4.73 |
| KC | Mason Miller | OAK | 9.5 | -110 | 4.77 |
| NYM | Ryan Feltner | COL | 8.5 | -215 | 4.93 |
| PHI | Tanner Houck | BOS | 9.5 | -130 | 4.95 |
| STL | Alex Faedo | DET | 9.5 | -198 | 5.42 |
Pitchers
Gerrit Cole ($11,500)
Despite today's difficult matchup versus a Tampa Bay Rays' team with a .318 weighted on-base average (wOBA) and a 21.1% strikeout percentage versus right-handers in their last 440 plate appearances, Cole still ranks first overall with a 36.6 fantasy projection and 6.75 expected strikeouts.
Through seven starts this season, the 32-year old has pitched close to most of his career metrics (3.15 expected Fielding Independent Pitching rating, 29.0% K-rate), recording a 3.46 XFIP, a 11.1% swinging strike rate, and a 29.4% strikeout percentage in 46.2 innings.
While some may hesitate at Cole's intimidating matchup and his opponent's experience or familiarity against his pitching, the Yankees' right-hander has historically performed well versus his rivals' current roster, accounting for a 29.7% K-rate and an opposing .194 expected batting average in 185 plate appearances.
Joe Ryan ($11,000)
Minnesota's emerging 26-year old right-hander is another intriguing option to consider with a 3.16 xFIP and an eye-popping 30.1% strikeout percentage in 38.0 total innings this season.
In an underrated spot against a vulnerable Cleveland Guardians' lineup with a .265 wOBA and a 24.2% strikeout rate, Ryan currently stands as Sunday's third overall pitcher with a 30.5 fantasy expectation and 5.39 projected Ks.
Sandy Alcantara ($9,600)
Among Sunday's 16 pitching options, Miami's Cy Young Award winner ranks fifth in value at his position with a 3.25 rating versus a Chicago Cubs' offense with a .312 wOBA and five projected hitters with K-rates ranging from 25.2% to 33.3%.
Through 35,1 innings this season, the 27-year old has performed better his current 5.09 Earned Run Average when comparing this metric with his expected production (4.37 xFIP) while also recording an efficient 13.7% swinging strike rate and 45.2% ground-ball percentage.
With some positive regression heading his way after a rough start, Alcantara rates as a top play for today's main slate at his lowest salary point this season, ranking second overall with a 31.2 fantasy projection and 5.49 expected strikeouts.
Stacks
After losing their eighth straight game last night, the Cardinals will attempt to break their horrible steak against Detroit's former first round pick Alex Faedo.
In 53.2 career innings, the 27-year old currently profiles as a below average right-hander with an ugly 5.02 xFIP and a 10.2% walk percentage while his recent minor league production (4.18 xFIP in 18.0 AAA innings) supports this notion.
To best attack his top weakness versus left-handed bats (5.64 xFIP,.367 wOBA), St. Louis' combinations should first include Nolan Gorman (.380 current expected wOBA, 16.2% barrel rate), Lars Nootbaar (.336 expected wOBA), and Dylan Carlson (.261 expected average) while Paul Goldschmidt (15.5% barrel rate, .312 expected average) and Willson Contreras (.270 expected average, 9.2% barrel rate) still rate well enough to be included.
Philadelphia Taijuan Walker will make his seventh start on Sunday afternoon versus a Red Sox's offense with an underrated 4.55 expected run total.
Through 28.2 innings in a Philadelphia uniform, the veteran right-hander has overall performed poorly despite producing an efficient ground-ball percentage (54.2%), accounting for a 5.28 expected Earned Run Average, a 13.2% walk percentage, and an opposing 10.8% barrel rate.
To ideally counter Walker's ability to keep the ball on the ground while still presenting the ability to hit with power, fly-ball hitters are top candidates for stacking including Rafael Devers (39.7% fly-ball percentage, 14.7% barrel rate), Jarren Duran (34.6% fly-ball percentage, 11.8% barrel rate), and Triston Casas (43.2% fly-ball percent, 9.7% barrel rate) while Masataka Yoshida (10.2% barrel rate, .304 expected) and Alex Verdugo (.307 expected average) deserve to be mixed in when observing their hot recent form.
In a matchup versus Ryan Feltner, New York's veteran lineup offers several enticing options against a middling right-hander with a career 4.49 xFIP and a 20.2% K-rate.
With overall slight leans toward left-handed bats (4.94 xFIP), the top and middle of New York's batting order presents several core options including Brandon Nimmo (.291 current expected average, 7.0% barrel rate), Francisco Lindor (10.1% barrel rate), Brett Baty (.305 expected average, 13.2% barrel rate), and Dan Vogelbach (45.7% hard hit rate, .317 expected wOBA) while Pete Alonso (16.8% barrel rate, .285 expected average) always remains in play with his immense power.
