MLB

FanDuel Daily Fantasy Baseball Helper: Monday 8/23/21

Don't expect to feel super comfortable at pitcher on tonight's six-game slate. All of the top strikeout pitchers face tough opponents, while the lone hurler opposite an implied total below four runs has one of the worst strikeout rates on the board. On offense, the Houston Astros figure to be the chalk stack.

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Let's check out the top options on tonight's main slate.

Pitchers

Alek Manoah ($9,600): It says something when the first guy I'm going to mention is facing a tough White Sox lineup, but that's the kind of slate we're dealing with. The good news is that Chicago's active roster does carry a 24.0% strikeout rate versus righties, so there's some upside to this matchup if Manoah is on his game.

Manoah certainly wasn't on his game in his last start, a surprise shelling at the hands of the depleted Nationals, but he's otherwise enjoyed a solid rookie campaign, posting a 3.77 SIERA, 28.3% strikeout rate, and 8.5% walk rate. As Chicago's 4.25 implied total would suggest, there's a good chance he lets up some runs, but he also has perhaps the best punchout potential of tonight's group.

Lance Lynn ($10,100): On the other side of that game, Lynn may have better results than Manoah this season, but his underlying numbers are similar, and he has a more difficult opponent and higher salary. Even without George Springer, the top of this Blue Jays lineup is simply lethal, and the group as a whole doesn't strike out very often.

Normally, we would probably skip right over Lynn in this spot, or relegate him to just being a contrarian choice, but he's one of our better options in this case. His 3.78 SIERA, 27.8% strikeout rate, and 7.9% walk rate line up with Manoah in those categories, and Lynn does have the edge in workload, as he's the more likely candidate to go 100-plus pitches.

Zack Greinke ($9,200): Greinke is a gross play for DFS because of his lackluster 17.9% strikeout rate, but he can occasionally post big scores by going deep into games, and Kansas City has the lowest implied total (3.63) by a decent margin.

He's reached seven or more innings in 10 of his 25 starts, which even includes a complete game against Toronto back in June. There isn't anything spectacular in Greinke's profile, but he's still getting the job done more often than not, and he doesn't give up many free passes (4.8% walk rate), helping him remain efficient with his pitches.

The veteran right-hander is hardly a "safe" choice as shown by his zero strikeout performance against these same Royals in his last start despite logging a quality start. But he also blanked the Angels for seven innings with seven punchouts the start prior to that, so he can get there. The Royals come in with an 88 wRC+ versus righties, so on paper, Greinke should get more out of this matchup than he did the last time.

Others to Consider: Huascar Ynoa ($8,600), Kyle Hendricks ($8,300)

Stacks

Houston Astros: The Astros are an elite offense in a fantastic matchup, and they're the only team with an implied total over five runs, so it's fair to expect some lofty roster percentages in this stack.

Left-hander Daniel Lynch actually held Houston in check in his last appearance, but he'll have a tough time duplicating that feat in back-to-back outings. Against right-handed hitters, Lynch owns a 5.03 xFIP, 17.1% strikeout rate, 9.2% walk rate, and 42.3% ground-ball rate -- all marks that the Astros should be able to take advantage of despite flopping in that prior outing.

Carlos Correa ($4,000) and Jose Altuve ($3,700) are the top righty sticks, but I also don't mind taking advantage of the value in the bottom half of the order between Yuli Gurriel ($3100), Aledmys Diaz ($2,700), Chas McCormick ($2,600), and Jake Meyers ($2,700), all of whom have shown a little pop this year. And like always, the lefty-lefty spot shouldn't deter us from rostering Yordan Alvarez ($4,100) and his .251 ISO in tournaments.

Oakland Athletics: Marco Gonzales has really turned things around lately, but he's still someone who doesn't get many punchouts and gives up lots of fly balls. Against righties, the southpaw is showing a 5.53 xFIP with an 18.8% strikeout rate and 49.5% fly-ball rate. He's allowed 1.92 home runs per nine innings in the split.

Righties Mark Canha ($3,300) and Starling Marte ($3,900) have respectable power and are locked into the top two batting slots. Marte also brings some additional speed upside off his league-leading 39 stolen bases. Matt Chapman ($3,600) has come around in the second half with a .219 ISO and should find himself in the middle of the order. Switch-hitter Jed Lowrie ($2,600) bats cleanup when he starts, making him a value at his salary, as is Yan Gomes ($2,600) if he bats fifth as projected.

Like Yordan Alvarez, Matt Olson ($3,900) should be included despite the same-sided matchup because Gonzales doesn't get a ton of punchouts versus lefties, either. In fact, Olson owns a ridiculous .335 ISO against southpaws this year.

Arizona Diamondbacks: No one ever loves stacking the D-backs, but their matchup versus Wil Crowe should have us intrigued. Against lefties, Crowe has a poor 5.13 xFIP with a 22.3% strikeout rate and 14.5% walk rate. Against righties, his strikeout rate dips to 19.8%, and he's coughed up 2.58 home runs per nine innings. Crowe shouldn't scare us in the least.

Outside of Ketel Marte ($3,900), there isn't a ton to get excited about in this Arizona lineup, but at least that means everyone else comes in at mid-to-low salaries. Josh Rojas ($3,300) figures to bat leadoff, while Pavin Smith ($2,900), Christian Walker ($3,200), and David Peralta ($3,200) are likely candidates to form a solid if unspectacular middle of the order.

Daulton Varsho ($2,800) should also be on your radar even if he gets buried in the lineup. He's put up an eye-popping .327 ISO since the beginning of July.

Others to Consider: Pittsburgh Pirates, New York Yankees, Atlanta Braves, Chicago Cubs, Seattle Mariners