FanDuel Daily Fantasy Baseball Helper: Sunday 5/30/21
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 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
There is a clear top three at pitcher in my eyes -- Max Scherzer ($12,000 on FanDuel), Lucas Giolito ($10,000) and Brandon Woodruff ($11,200).
I think you can make a pretty good case for any of them as the slate's top arm, and our projections have Giolito out front. I rank them in the order they're listed, with Scherzer's matchup against the Milwaukee Brewers being the reason I will be heavy on him.
Scherzer's 35.6% strikeout rate and 16.3% swinging-strike rate are elite numbers, and the Brewers are 27th in wOBA (.291) with the 5th-highest strikeout rate (26.6%). We could see Scherzer go nuts. He's posted at least 55 FanDuel points in four of his 10 starts, going for fewer than 33 just once.
Giolito seems to have emerged from his brief rough patch, and his season-long numbers (28.6% strikeout rate and 15.0% swinging-strike rate) aren't far off from his 2019 and 2020 marks. He went for 64 FanDuel points two starts ago and could produce another huge outing at home versus a Baltimore Orioles offense that is fairly meh (20th in wOBA).
Woodruff has plenty of appeal, as well. His 30.8% strikeout rate and 13.0% swinging-strike rate are stellar clips, and the Washington Nationals are just an average offense (14th in wOBA). He's got outings of 55.0, 54.1 and 54.1 in three of his last four starts.
Outside of those three, Eduardo Rodriguez ($7,500) is worth a look as the best low-salary arm on the board. He's at home against the Miami Marlins, who sit 26th in wOBA (.292) with the 4th-highest strikeout rate (26.7%). E-Rod just doesn't have the floor or ceiling of the top options -- with a 46.0-FanDuel-point game being his lone output of more than 40 this season.
Stacks to Target
Chicago White Sox
The Chicago White Sox are in a nice spot at home against lefty Keegan Akin, who has given up a 36.3% hard-hit rate and 41.6% fly-ball rate across 36 career innings. Akin does have a 28.3% strikeout rate for his career, so that's cause for concern. But Chicago flat out rakes against southpaws, racking up a league-best .359 wOBA in the split.
The White Sox put out a lineup of all right-sided hitters against a lefty yesterday, and I'd expect much of the same today. Tim Anderson ($3,700), Yasmani Grandal ($3,200), Yoan Moncada ($3,500) and Jose Abreu ($4,000) hit 1-4 in the lineup. All are outstanding options, but it's not easy to jam them in alongside a high-salary arm.
That's where Yermin Mercedes ($2,800), Nick Madrigal ($2,700), Andrew Vaughn ($2,500) and Leury Garcia ($2,000) come in. Vaughn is one of my favorite point-per-dollar plays on the slate.
Minnesota Twins
As of early Sunday, the Minnesota Twins have the slate's top implied total (5.05) for their home matchup with Brad Keller. Keller owns just a 17.0% strikeout rate for his career, including an 18.5% mark this season.
Lefties Max Kepler ($3,500) and Alex Kirilloff ($3,500) are mouth-watering options who hit first and third, respectively, yesterday against a righty. Trevor Larnach ($2,200) is a way to get low-salary access to this lineup, and the rookie has three jacks and a 45.9% hard-hit rate in just 68 plate appearances.
We don't need to limit ourselves to left-handed hitters, though. Nelson Cruz ($3,700) and Josh Donaldson ($2,900) are firmly in play, too. Our model projects Donaldson as the top Twins bat, making him a smashing play when you factor in his salary.
Cincinnati Reds
I wanted to go off the grid a bit with one stack. I like the Cincinnati Reds today versus Jake Arrieta, and with an implied total of only 4.17, the Reds shouldn't be too popular. Arrieta has a 4.65 SIERA with an 18.9% strikeout rate, and lefties have a .341 wOBA against him.
Jesse Winker ($4,100) and Nick Castellanos ($4,200) are the only Cincy bats above $3,100. Given Arrieta's struggles versus lefties, Winker shapes up as a great play if you can get to him. Winker has been unreal with the platoon advantage in 2021, mashing his way to a .477 wOBA in the split.
Tyler Naquin ($2,800) will hit from the left side and is projected to be in the cleanup spot. Naquin has a .355 wOBA, 47.4% hard-hit rate and 40.4% fly-ball rate in the split. He and Winker are a fun two-man stack if you don't want to go with a foursome of Reds.
Switch-hitting backstop Tucker Barnhart ($2,100) is a decent dart throw, and while Eugenio Suarez ($3,100) is struggling this season, he has a 47.0% fly-ball rate in righty-righty matchups.
