MLB

FanDuel Daily Fantasy Baseball Helper: Saturday 9/10/22

In a matchup versus Colorado's Jose Urena, the Diamondbacks stand as Saturday's top offense with a 6.0 run total. Which other stacks and players are important decision points for Saturday's main slate?

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

Shohei Ohtani ($10,400)

Despite a 5.0% salary increase, Ohtani still rates as Saturday's top ranked pitcher with a 37.4 FanDuel point projection and today's second best value rating at 3.6 in a rematch against a Houston Astros' lineup with a .317 weighted on-base average and a 19.1% K-rate in their last 615 plate appearances.

In his previous ten starts, the 28-year old right-hander has almost matched his seasonal expected numbers (2.70 expected Fielding Independent Pitching rating in 136.0 innings) with a 2.93 xFIP, an impressive 31.7% K-rate, and 40 or more FanDuel points in 70% of these appearances including an average of 50.5 versus Houston.

With an outstanding 15.5% swinging strike rate during this time, Ohtani's slate-high 7.5 strikeout prediction will hinge on his unique ability to induce punch-outs mostly against four Houston batters with K-rates between 21.4% and 36.7% and contact percentages ranging from 64.9% to 77.8%.

Kevin Gausman ($10,300)

At his second highest salary point in the past two months, Gausman stands as numberFire's fourth rated pitcher with a 33.1 fantasy expectation with a 3.21 value rating against a Texas Rangers' team with a 25.3% K-rate and a 73.2% contact rate.

Since July 2nd, Toronto's veteran has performed at an ace level in his last 61.0 innings, recording a 2.81 xFIP, a 29.3% K-rate, an eye-popping 14.4% swinging strike rate, and six or more strikeouts in 72% of his last 11 starts.

In a matchup versus six Ranger's hitters with K-rates between 24.1% to 30.0%, Gausman's projection contains Saturday's third highest strikeout expectation at 6.2 in 5.6 projected innings.

Max Fried ($10,000)

After a 2.9% salary decline, Atlanta's reliable left-hander rates second overall with a 34.9 FanDuel projection and third in value with a 3.49 rating versus a Seattle Mariners' lineup with an unimposing .299 weighted on-base average and a 29.9% hard hit rate.

In his most recent 11 appearances, Fried has recorded premier production with a 3.27 xFIP in 69.0 innings while allowing two or less earned runs in 81% of his starts.

With his amazing form, the 28-year old offers a unique combination of a high floor with 37 or more FanDuel points in 57% of his 26 starts and ceiling with Saturday's fourth best strikeout projection at 6.0 in 5.97 innings.

Stacks

Arizona Diamondbacks

In a mouth-watering opportunity versus Jose Urena, the Diamondbacks stand as Saturday's top ranked offense with a 6.0 expected run total.

Through 33.0 innings at Coors Field, the veteran right-hander has been downright awful at home, allowing an overall dreadful .378 weighted on-base average and a 5.82 xFIP to left-handed batters in high attitude.

With seven expected batters hitting from the left side, ideal Arizona stacks play right into Urena's main weakness with Daulton Varsho (10.3% barrel rate, .409 expected slugging), Jake McCarthy (.266 expected average, .318 expected wOBA), and Ketel Marte (41.3% hard hit percentage) rating best while Christian Walker (12.6% barrel rate, .506 expected slugging) and Emmanuel Rivera (10.6% barrel rate, .428 expected slugging) offer the most overall power.

Colorado Rockies

After yesterday's explosive 13-run outburst, the Rockies should continue their offensive momentum versus a declining Madison Bumgarner with a below-average 4.78 xFIP and a career-worst 2.29 strikeout-to-walk ratio (16.4% K-rate, 7.2% walk percentage).

To best capture Colorado's success versus southpaws (.343 wOBA, 82.8% contact rate), the Rockies' batters with the best batted ball form include C.J. Cron (10.5% barrel rate, .434 expected slugging), Mike Toglia (11.5% barrel rate, .480 expected slugging), Alan Trejo (7% barrel rate, .436 expected slugging), Brendan Rodgers (7.3% barrel rate, .262 expected average), Randal Grichuk (43.4% hard hit rate), Elehuris Montero (10.8% barrel rate), and Yonathan Daza (.292 expected average).

Milwaukee Brewers

Outside of Coors Field, the Brewers also have an advantageous matchup with a 5.6 expected run total against a well-below average right-hander in Chase Anderson.

Since 2021 in his last 17 appearances including 11 starts, the 34-year old veteran has accounted for little success, recording a cumulative 5.63 XFIP, a 17.2% K-rate, a 10.9% walk percentage, and an opposing 9.5% barrel rate.

With a slight lean towards right-handed batters giving him the most trouble (.446 wOBA in 21.1 innings during 2021, career .354 wOBA), Willy Adames (12.7% barrel rate, .444 expected slugging), Hunter Renfroe (11.9% barrel rate, .452 expected slugging), and Andrew McCutchen (.406 expected slugging, 7.8% barrel rate) profile best while Christian Yelich (9% barrel rate, .349 expected wOBA) and Rowdy Tellez (12.9% barrel rate, .493 expected slugging) add pop from the left.