FanDuel Daily Fantasy Baseball Helper: Saturday 8/21/21

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

This is a mediocre pitching slate. The guy who checks the most boxes is Eduardo Rodriguez ($9,800 on FanDuel).

The matchup is 100% there as E-Rod is taking on a Texas Rangers team that sits last in wOBA (.258) over the last 30 days. Rodriguez is having a superb season, posting a 3.51 SIERA, 29.1% strikeout rate and 12.0% swinging-strike rate -- all of which are career-best marks. The blemishes with Rodriguez are his workload and inefficiency. He hasn't surpassed 100 pitches in any start since June 10th, and he has completed six innings only once in his last seven outings. Still, on this slate, he's my number-one arm. Texas' 3.53 implied total is the lowest of the slate, and we have Rodriguez projected for 33.3 FanDuel points.

Our model has Joe Musgrove ($9,400) as the top-ranked pitcher, pegging him to total 34.6 FanDuel points. But Musgrove is so hard to trust, and I won't have too much of him.

He's gone for 12 or fewer FanDuel points four times in his last nine starts, but he's also put up outputs of 49 and 64 FanDuel points in that time. He's a good fit for GPPs, and that applies on this slate as I assume Rodriguez will be the most popular pitcher. Musgrove is up against the Philadelphia Phillies. Philly is 20th in wOBA (.310) over the last 30 days, and their implied total is an attackable 3.77.

I'd rather plug in Wade Miley ($8,800), who gets a dream date with the Miami Marlins. The owner of an 18.9% strikeout rate, Miley lacks big-time upside, but he gets a lift in that department as the Marlins' 25.8% strikeout rate over the last 30 days is the second-highest. Miley has tossed at least 97 pitches in six of his last seven starts and might be the safest pick on the slate. With that said, our algorithm has him putting up just 26.4 FanDuel points.

The only other hurler -- other than Rodriguez and Musgrove -- we project for more than 30 FanDuel points is Aaron Nola ($9,100). He's got a tough against with the San Diego Padres, but with a 29.0% strikeout rate and 12.9% swinging-strike rate, Nola can rack up punchouts on anyone. A slate-leading score is well within his range of outcomes, and Nola isn't likely to be popular.

Stacks to Target

Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks

It's a Coors slate. We've got Zac Gallen and Kyle Freeland on the hill. The Colorado Rockies boast a slate-high 6.33 implied total while the Arizona Diamondbacks' 5.17 implied total is awfully juicy, as well.

Everyone who starts is in this game play, and I'm not going to rattle off all the obvious options. I do, however, want to note that I think Arizona might not be as popular as they should be.

Freeland is allowing a .356 wOBA to righties and owns just a 19.1% strikeout rate overall. The Snakes' 5.17 implied total is only the fifth-best clip, but we project them for 6.08 runs. Last night's slate was much larger, but the Coors bats didn't see huge draft percentages. I think the Rox will be chalk tonight, but Arizona might not be.

Boston Red Sox

Jordan Lyles has permitted six, six and five earned runs in his last three outings. He's unlikely to find much respite tonight at Fenway against the Boston Red Sox. Right-handed hitters have a .377 wOBA versus Lyles while lefties carry a .355 wOBA, so we can do pretty much whatever we want when stacking.

Rafael Devers ($4,200) is an elite play and the number-two stick, per our projections. With the platoon advantage this season, Devers has mashed to the tune of a .393 wOBA, 46.5% hard-hit rate and 44.9% fly-ball rate. Against righties at home, he's got a 50.5% hard-hit rate and .393 wOBA. Yes, please.

The hurdle with Boston is that they cost a pretty penny as Xander Bogaerts ($4,100), J.D. Martinez ($4,000) and Kyle Schwarber ($3,700), Enrique Hernandez ($3,600) and Hunter Renfroe ($3,600) are all at least $3,600. Alex Verdugo ($3,000), Christian Vazquez ($2,300) and Travis Shaw ($2,300) offer some welcomed cap relief. We rate Vazquez as the fourth-best point-per-dollar play among all bats.

St. Louis Cardinals

I could easily write up the Atlanta Braves, who hold a gaudy 6.01 implied total against Matt Harvey, but I wanted to aim for an under-the-radar stack. The St. Louis Cardinals should be that.

The Red Birds are facing lefty Dillon Peters. Over his career, Peters has struggled to a 5.26 SIERA and 16.6% strikeout rate. He does have really good minor league numbers this season, but time will tell if he's made legit improvements to his arsenal.

Not only do the Cards present a chance to dodge chalk, they have just two guys -- Nolan Arenado ($4,300) and Paul Goldschmidt ($3,800) -- with a salary above $3,200. If you have the coin, those two are really good plays as they each have a long track record of success against left-handers.

My favorite play on the Cards, however, is Tyler O'Neill ($3,200). O'Neill has a huge .407 wOBA and 48.6% fly-ball rate against left-handers in 2021. Our model has him as St. Louis' top hitter tonight. Tommy Edman ($3,000) is a modestly salaried leadoff man who is eligible at two spots. Harrison Bader ($2,900), Paul DeJong ($2.700) and Yadier Molina ($2,500) are solid low-salary options who will all hit from the right side.