FanDuel Daily Fantasy Baseball Helper: Saturday 4/1/23
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 today's main slate.
| Team | Opp SP | Opp | O/U | Moneyline | Implied Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CHC | Brandon Woodruff | MIL | 6.5 | 104 | 3.16 |
| DET | Zach Eflin | TB | 7.5 | 152 | 3.3 |
| MIL | Justin Steele | CHC | 6.5 | -122 | 3.34 |
| WSH | Spencer Strider | ATL | 8.5 | 220 | 3.36 |
| OAK | Patrick Sandoval | LAA | 8 | 146 | 3.56 |
| STL | Kevin Gausman | TOR | 7.5 | 114 | 3.56 |
| TEX | Zack Wheeler | PHI | 7.5 | 112 | 3.57 |
| CHW | Jose Urquidy | HOU | 8 | 110 | 3.83 |
| KC | Sonny Gray | MIN | 8.5 | 136 | 3.85 |
| MIA | Tylor Megill | NYM | 8 | 106 | 3.87 |
| PHI | Nathan Eovaldi | TEX | 7.5 | -132 | 3.93 |
| TOR | Jack Flaherty | STL | 7.5 | -134 | 3.94 |
| PIT | Nick Lodolo | CIN | 8.5 | 124 | 3.95 |
| SF | Clarke Schmidt | NYY | 8.5 | 124 | 3.95 |
| BAL | Chris Sale | BOS | 9 | 136 | 4.08 |
| NYM | Edward Cabrera | MIA | 8 | -124 | 4.13 |
| HOU | Lucas Giolito | CHW | 8 | -130 | 4.17 |
| TB | Spencer Turnbull | DET | 7.5 | -180 | 4.2 |
| LAA | Shintaro Fujinami | OAK | 8 | -174 | 4.44 |
| CIN | Rich Hill | PIT | 8.5 | -146 | 4.55 |
| NYY | Alex Cobb | SF | 8.5 | -146 | 4.55 |
| MIN | Jordan Lyles | KC | 8.5 | -162 | 4.65 |
| BOS | Dean Kremer | BAL | 9 | -162 | 4.92 |
| ATL | Josiah Gray | WSH | 8.5 | -270 | 5.14 |
Pitchers
Spencer Strider ($10,800)
Saturday's most expensive pitcher will challenge a Washington Nationals' lineup with a projected 25.2% K-rate and a .288 weighted on-base average (wOBA) versus right-handers after the 24-year old accounted for a 2.30 expected Fielding Independent Pitching rating (xFIP), a 15.5% swinging strike rate, and an eye-popping 38.3% strikeout percentage in 131.2 innings last season.
While Washington's lineup will likely roll out seven hitters from the left side to attack Strider's pronounced splits (2.90 xFIP, 32.0% K-rate versus LHH / 1.85 xFIP, 43.9% K-rate versus RHH), Atlanta's second-year starter still ranks third overall with 34.3 expected FanDuel points against five batters with strikeout percentages between 22.0% and 27.1% and contact rates ranging from 70.9% and 78.2%.
Brandon Woodruff ($10,500)
In a divisional matchup versus a Chicago Cubs' team with a 19.4% K-rate, a .306 wOBA, and a 78.9% contact percentage in this split, Milwaukee's veteran right-hander is projected for 32.4 FanDuel points after he recorded a 3.14 xFIP and a 30.6% strikeout percentage in 153.1 innings during 2022.
With Saturday's third highest swinging strike percentage last season (14.1%), Woodruff stands second overall with 6.4 expected punch-outs against five projected batters with K-rates over 25.1% .
Nick Lodolo ($9,600)
After recording an impressive 3.49 xFIP and a 29.7% strikeout rate in his rookie season, Cincinnati's left-hander will take the mound against a vulnerable Pittsburgh Pirates' offense with a .232 wOBA and a 53.2% K-rate in this split.
While the 25-year old's control can be inconsistent at times (8.8% walk rate in 2022), Lodolo still ranks as an elite option with a 33.3 fantasy projection and Saturday's top strikeout expectation at 6.47.
Patrick Sandoval ($9,400)
Los Angeles' southpaw is another option to consider versus an Oakland Athletics' unit with a .255 wOBA and a 26.2% strikeout percentage after Sandoval produced his best overall year in 2022 with a 3.67 xFIP.
In a favorable spot against five batters with K-rates between 25.0% and 33.3% and contact percentages from 60.7% to 74.7%, Sandoval rates as numberFire's top option with 34.9 expected FanDuel points including 5.54 strikeouts in 5.7 projected innings.
Stacks
After producing an impressive seven run performance on Opening Day, Atlanta stands as Saturday's top offense with a 5.14 expected run total versus Washington's right-hander Josiah Gray.
In his first full season as a Major League starter during 2022, Gray had an overall rough season with Washington, accounting for a 4.57 xFIP, a 10.2% walk percentage, and a 10.7% barrel rate.
With most of his struggles occurring against the opposing side of the plate (5.71 xFIP, .390 wOBA against LHH), Matt Olson (13.3% barrel rate, .366 expected wOBA), Michael Harris II (10.3% barrel rate, .367 expected wOBA), Ozzie Albies (6.6% barrel rate, .326 expected wOBA), and Eddie Rosario (6.9% barrel rate) are primary options for a potential stack while Ronald Acuna (15.0% barrel rate, .390 expected wOBA) and Austin Riley (13.9% barrel rate) offer immense power from the right side.
In a matchup versus Jordan Lyles, the Twins also rate as a top stack with a 4.65 run total against a mediocre right-hander with a 4.39 xFIP, a 18.6% K-rate, and concerning career splits versus left-handed bats (5.03 xFIP, .357 wOBA).
To best attack his main weakness, Minnesota combinations should first feature Max Kepler (6.8% barrel rate), Trevor Larnach (10.2% barrel rate), Nick Gordon (8.5% barrel percentage), and Joey Gallo (20.2%) while Byron Buxton (51.0% fly-ball percentage, 9.5% barrel rate), Carlos Correa (35.1% fly ball percentage, 9.2% barrel rate), and Michael Taylor (7.5% barrel rate) also can be mixed in with their power and fly-ball tendencies.
