FanDuel Daily Fantasy Baseball Helper: Friday 8/4/23

Friday's 11-game slate gives us a far better pitching selection than we saw yesterday, but we can still narrow things down to a fairly tight core. Arguably the same can be said for stacks, where a handful of offenses form an enticing top tier.

Our daily fantasy 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 numberFire's great tools into your research process, including daily projections, the latest starting lineups and weather, and batting and pitching heat maps to find the best matchups.

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

Pitching Breakdown

Between home run issues and an up-and-down strikeout rate, Aaron Nola ($9,900) hasn't been the most consistent fantasy performer this year, but a date with the Kansas City Royals should give him a nice boost tonight.

The Royals' active roster is showing the third-worst wRC+ (86) versus right-handed pitching, and that comes with mediocre marks in both strikeout rate (23.2%) and ISO (.157). Kansas City also has a slate-low 3.59 implied team total.

Nola's 3.85 SIERA and 3.77 xERA imply that he's been better than his 4.43 ERA, and we should be less concerned with dingers against this opponent. While his 24.7% strikeout rate is a fairly big drop from last year, he'll still rack up the fantasy points here and there, posting double-digit punchouts three times and logging seven or more innings in eight starts.

With both a plus matchup and an appealing salary, Nola checks a lot of boxes on Friday.

In terms of strikeout upside, Luis Castillo ($10,700) is one of our best bets, and I wouldn't be against prioritizing him in tournaments over Nola -- at what should be a lower roster percentage -- despite a difficult spot versus the Los Angeles Angels.

As noted yesterday, the Halos pack some punch, but their active roster also has a 24.1% strikeout rate versus righties, so it isn't outlandish to imagine Castillo leading the slate in Ks. He boasts a 28.3% strikeout rate while walking just 6.3% of batters, and he's cracked 100 pitches in each of the last three starts.

The Angels' modest 3.94 implied team total is encouraging, too.

Left-hander Reid Detmers ($9,000) is an easy sell as our go-to value play. After all, he leads the slate in strikeout rate (29.3%) and has a high-strikeout opponent in the Seattle Mariners.

The fact that the Mariners will likely start as many as eight right-handed batters shouldn't deter us, either, because Detmers' punchout rate actually bumps up to 31.6% in the split.

Detmer's 9.0% walk rate can sometimes lead to him coming short of six innings, but he's typically given a long leash when he's dealing and has recorded eight Ks or better seven times.

Hunter Brown ($9,200) and Merrill Kelly ($10,200) are two more hurlers who could make some noise tonight.

While Brown is coming off a fairly quiet month in DFS, he's still armed with a 27.0% strikeout rate and 53.7% ground-ball rate for the year, and this New York Yankees lineup remains more of an average matchup even with Aaron Judge back.

At roughly the same salary, Detmers feels like the better candidate for a ceiling game, but Brown ought to be the less popular option, adding to his appeal.

Although Kelly's 25.3% strikeout rate isn't as high as others on the board, the Minnesota Twins should help make up the difference. Against right-handers, the Twins' active roster owns a hard-to-believe 28.5% strikeout rate, and it's possible they'll be without Byron Buxton again, who's day-to-day with a hamstring issue.

However, there's still some dangerous power in this lineup, and Kelly's 9.5% walk rate isn't ideal, either. At this salary, he's behind the others we've gone through, but the path to a big score is there.

Hitting Breakdown

The Boston Red Sox have a slate-best 5.76 implied team total in an inviting spot against Alek Manoah, so let's hope the weather cooperates.

A contender for the Cy Young last year, Manoah's 2023 campaign couldn't be going much worse. Over 18 starts, he's amassed a 5.78 SIERA, 18.4% strikeout rate, and 14.6% walk rate. Even a minor league stint in June couldn't fix his ongoing control problems; he posted a 13.8% walk rate over four July starts.

Unsurprisingly, Manoah hasn't been very good against either side of the plate, but a 6.53 xFIP versus lefties particularly doesn't bode well for him against Boston.

Rafael Devers ($3,500) is the obvious first choice, and then we can choose between a slew of lefties in Triston Casas ($3,400), Jarren Duran ($3,300), Masataka Yoshida ($3,200), and Alex Verdugo ($3,000). Of that group, Devers (.249 ISO) and Casas (.225) boast the best power, with Durran coming close behind (.197).

The St. Louis Cardinals should have a big night at the plate, as well, facing struggling right-hander Chris Flexen. Already with his third organization this year, Flexen's had a rough go as both a starter and reliever, putting up a 5.47 SIERA, 15.1% strikeout rate, and 11.4% walk rate. He's been lit up for 2.56 home runs per nine innings, too.

Despite the Cardinals' disappointing campaign, their offense remains appealing for stacks.

Both Paul Goldschmidt ($3,700) and Nolan Arenado ($3,400) are still enjoying strong seasons at the plate, and Nolan Gorman ($3,500) leads the team with a 90th-percentile barrel rate. Willson Contreras ($2,900) and Tyler O'Neill ($2,600) offer us some value plays with some pop.

The Philadelphia Phillies round out the very top stacks, coming in with a 5.41 implied team total versus Jordan Lyles. Between a 16.7% strikeout rate and 49.2% fly-ball rate, Lyles is getting crushed for 1.76 home runs per nine innings, and this is the sort of thing we've come to expect from him over the years.

Leadoff man Kyle Schwarber ($3,800) will have the platoon advantage and has the league's sixth-most dingers this year, so he needs little explanation. While the power numbers haven't been there for Bryce Harper ($3,400), his Statcast metrics remain encouraging, and the mid-range salary doesn't hurt.

The low salaries of guys like Nick Castellanos ($3,000), J.T. Realmuto ($3,000), and Brandon Marsh ($2,700) only further enhance this stack.

The Milwaukee Brewers, Houston Astros, and Cleveland Guardians also have intriguing matchups.

The Brewers get right-hander Quinn Priester, who's been knocked around in all three of his MLB starts and enters his fourth with a 17.8% strikeout rate and 15.1% walk rate. Luis Severino hasn't been himself this year, allowing 2.34 home runs per nine innings, which should be music to the ears of the Astros. Cleveland's lefty bats will have the advantage against Mike Clevinger, who has a 6.48 xFIP in the split.

The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author's advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.