FanDuel Daily Fantasy Baseball Helper: Wednesday 8/11/21

This isn't the deepest slate for pitching, but we can feel fairly confident in the handful of pitchers we do like. That does leave quite a few choices for stacks, as 14 different teams have implied totals exceeding 4.60 runs.

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 tonight's main slate.

Pitchers

Corbin Burnes ($11,000): While Burnes is the top pitcher on the slate against the Cubs, rain might require us to go in another direction. But if the forecast improves, this is a money spot for Burnes to cash in on an active roster sporting a lackluster 84 wRC+ and 25.8% strikeout rate. The star right-hander may not be getting whiffs at the same pace he did earlier in the year, but he still has a plenty good 3.09 SIERA, 30.3% strikeout rate, and 5.6% walk rate since the start of June.

Kevin Gausman ($10,300): Lucky for us, if we need to bail on Burnes, Gausman provides us with an easy pivot in a later contest on the West Coast. He shouldn't have too much trouble dispatching a weak Arizona lineup that checks in with an 80 wRC+ against right-handers. If we're looking at Gausman's underlying numbers from June onward, his 29.5% strikeout rate is right up there with Burnes, though the difference is a less stellar 9.2% walk rate. If he can avoid the free passes, Gausman should be able to fulfill the slate-low 3.16 implied total we're seeing from the D-backs tonight.

Frankie Montas ($9,100): Montas owns a 3.36 SIERA, 28.4% strikeout rate, and 5.9% walk rate dating back to the beginning of June, which puts him very close to Burnes in all three metrics. Despite the lower salary, Montas has been dealing of late, too, with 10, 7, 10, 10, and 8 strikeouts over his last five outings. Cleveland has a 92 wRC+ versus righties, so I'm on board with Montas as a mid-range value play.

Others to Consider: Adam Wainwright ($9,600), Alek Manoah ($9,400)

Stacks

Milwaukee Brewers: In addition to some storms, we're looking at possibly 16 mph winds blowing out at Wrigley Field, leading to Milwaukee getting a massive 6.04 implied total versus Jake Arrieta. If we can feel any level of confidence in this one playing, we're definitely going to want some exposure to the Brewers.

Arrieta doesn't seem to have much left in the tanke and has struggled all season. He checks a whole bunch of boxes with a 4.97 SIERA, 18.4% strikeout rate, 9.6% walk rate, and 42.2% ground-ball rate. It's all culminated in the veteran righty giving up 2.30 home runs per nine innings.

In terms of power, Eduardo Escobar ($3,700), Willy Adames ($3,200), Rowdy Tellez ($3,000), and Avisail Garcia ($3,300) are some of the best options.

Christian Yelich ($3,500) should be a popular choice despite his struggles this year. The power just hasn't been there, but he's still getting on base at a high clip, will have the platoon advantage, and continues to bat high in the order.

Toronto Blue Jays: Bundy's coughing up 1.90 home runs per nine innings this year, and that doesn't bode well for him against a deep Blue Jays lineup. Giving up dingers is nothing new for Bundy, and while he's always had problems with left-handed hitters, it sure hasn't helped that his typically strong strikeout rate versus righties has plummeted to just 22.8%.

We can happily build around the usual top four sluggers, but their salaries are really getting up there, so Teoscar Hernandez ($3,400), Lourdes Gurriel ($2,700), Randal Grichuk ($2,300), and especially Corey Dickerson ($2,000) are some viable, less restrictive options, as well.

Detroit Tigers: Amazingly, Matt Harvey has now allowed a total of two earned runs over his last four starts (22 1/3 innings). But has anything really changed? Over that stretch, he's posted a 4.93 xFIP and 14.6% strikeout rate while benefiting from an unsustainable .185 BABIP. I'm going to say, "No."

Harvey blanked the Tigers across 6 1/3 innings a couple of starts ago, so Detroit will have an opportunity to get their revenge tonight. We prefer to attack him with left-handed hitters (5.51 xFIP in the split), so with Akil Baddoo ruled out, that probably just leaves us with just Robbie Grossman ($3,200) and Jeimer Candelario ($2,800) in the top half of the order.

Of course, Harvey's hardly impressive in same-sided matchups (16.7% strikeout rate), so we can also hope for some power out of the likes of Eric Haase ($3,400), Jonathan Schoop ($3,400), and Miguel Cabrera ($2,900).

Others to Consider: Los Angeles Dodgers, Atlanta Braves, Boston Red Sox, St. Louis Cardinals, Seattle Mariners