FanDuel Daily Fantasy Baseball Helper: Saturday 7/9/22
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!
Pitchers
Framber Valdez ($!0,700)
Despite a 5.9% salary increase to his highest point this season, Valdez presents a reliable option in all formats with a 3.13 expected Fielding Independent Pitching (xFIP) Rating and a 22.6% strikeout percentage in 101.0 innings.
Houston's left-hander will take the mound on Saturday afternoon in a favorable spot against an Oakland Athletics' lineup with a weak 0.279 weighted on-base average (wOBA) and a low 75.0% contact rate.
As numberFire's second overall rated pitcher, Valdez's Saturday pitching expectation includes 35.3 FanDuel points and 5.6 strikeouts in 5.6 projected innings.
Brandon Woodruff ($10,000)
Since his return in June, Woodruff has been trending in the right direction, recording 18 strikeouts and a superb 1.19 xFIP in last two starts.
With ideal recent form and a great opportunity to sustain his momentum versus a Pittsburgh Pirates' team with a .284 wOBA and a 25.5% K-rate, Milwaukee's right-hander offers a sky-high ceiling as numberFire's top option with a 36.4 FanDuel point expectation and 6.9 projected strikeouts
Kyle Wright ($9,900)
Atlanta's right-hander is another option to consider versus a Washington Nationals' lineup with an overall .287 wOBA and a 24.0% strikeout percentage in their last 488 plate appearances in this particular split.
In his largest Major League sample size as a starting pitcher, the 26-year old has performed at a career-best level this season, accounting for a 3.43 expected FIP and an effective 25.1% K-rate in 96.0 total innings.
At his lowest salary point since May 26th, Wright offers intriguing upside as numberFire's third ranked pitcher with a 34.1 fantasy projection and 6.39 strikeouts in 5.6 expected innings.
Stacks
In a matchup versus Patrick Corbin, Atlanta's offense stands as an important decision point for Saturday's nine-game slate with a 6.0 expected mark.
While the veteran lefty has recently cut down his expected FIP to a 3.91 mark in his last six starts, Corbin has struggled with managing hard contact, allowing a 11.2% barrel rate and 15.5% home-run to fly-ball percentage in 34.1 innings.
With a lean towards trouble versus right-handed bats (4.06 xFIP in 69.2 innings this season), Atlanta stacks can start with Ronald Acuna (14.9% barrel rate, .393 expected wOBA), Austin Riley (13.8% barrel percentage, .580 expected slugging), Dansby Swanson (11.7% barrel percentage, .551 expected slugging), Travis d'Arnaud (9.2% barrel rate, .465 expected slugging, or Marcell Ozuna (.572 expected slugging, 14% barrel rate) while Matt Olson (11.9% barrel rate, .358 expected weighted on-base average) can also be mixed in.
Oakland's inexperienced left-hander Zach Logue will make his sixth career start versus an intimidating Houston lineup with an undervalued 5.6 implied run total.
Through 24.2 innings this season, Logue has profiled as a below-average starter with a poor 5.40 xFIP and a 18.6% strikeout percentage, while his Triple-A production (6.76 xFIP in 2022, 4.10 xFIP in 2021) also supports this perception.
With overall neutral splits, Jose Altuve (9% barrel rate, .376 expected wOBA), Aledmys Diaz (.412 expected slugging), and Alex Bregman (.372 expected wOBA, .471 expected slugging) stand out as potential infield options while Yordan Alvarez (19% barrel rate, .751 expected slugging) and Kyle Tucker (11.2% barrel percentage, .412 expected wOBA) can still utilized despite batting from the left side.
Jon Heasley will take the hill in a divisional matchup versus a Cleveland Guardians' team with an underestimated 4.6 run total.
In his second opportunity to start in the Majors, the 25-year old has replicated his poor 2021 MLB performance, recording a 5.28 xFIP and a 11.6% walk rate in 51.0 innings.
With obvious trouble against lefty bats (5.23 expected FIP, 20.0% home-run to fly-ball percentage), a sneaky Guardians' stack can start with their most popular hitter in Jose Ramirez (.458 expected slugging, 6.4% barrel rate) while Franmil Reyes (17.7% barrel rate), Josh Naylor (.500 expected slugging, 9.6% barrel rate) and Andres Gimenez (7.7% barrel rate, .367 expected wOBA) present upside when considering their recent batted ball form.
