FanDuel Daily Fantasy Baseball Helper: Monday 7/24/23

Monday's main slate comes in at a modest eight games, and we can probably stick with a fairly tight core at pitcher. As is often the case, we can branch out a bit more when it comes to our bats, though a handful of offenses stand out above the rest.

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

Yu Darvish ($10,000) is in the midst of a season with mixed results, but he's enjoyed back-to-back strong outings since the All-Star break (52 and 49 FanDuel points) and looks like the low-risk choice on tonight's slate.

The 36-year-old is facing a Pittsburgh Pirates team that's sporting a slate-low 3.39 implied team total, which is befitting of an offense that's really fallen off since its hot start way back in April. Dating back to the start of May, Pittsburgh's active roster has the league's third-worst wRC+ (88).

While Darvish might be past his peak, he's still sporting a rock-solid 25.9% strikeout rate and has logged 100 or more pitches in five of his last seven starts.

But if we're gunning for upside, Luis Castillo ($10,800) is the guy who stands out versus the Minnesota Twins.

Minnesota continues to be a boom-or-bust type of matchup for righties, as their active roster boasts a 188 wRC+ in the split but also strikes out a whopping 28.3% of the time. Castillo is showing some of the best overall marks on the board, coming in with a 3.58 SIERA, 27.7% strikeout rate, and 6.3% walk rate.

Note that this is his second straight start against the Twins -- which isn't necessarily a good thing -- but he racked up a season-high 11 punchouts in the first outing.

On the other side of that Castillo game, Kenta Maeda ($8,400)​ is in a very similar situation, as Seattle's active roster has the second-highest strikeout rate versus right-handers (24.9%)​, but this is also a repeat matchup from last week.

Maeda did post nine Ks, though, which is the second time he's reached that mark this month. However, what continues to hold Maeda back is a pitch count that consistently comes short of 90 pitches, so he has little room for error to post a big fantasy score.​

Logan Allen ($9,400)​ got called back up from the minors last week, and while it was a promising return (45 FanDuel points), he was held to just 77 pitches. He could see a bump in workload moving forward, but it makes him a riskier choice compared to Darvish or Castillo, and Maeda's limited workload is built into a salary that's a full $1,000 less than Allen's.

Still, the rookie might be worth a look because of his enticing matchup versus the Kansas City Royals. Against left-handers, the Royals' active roster has produced a 93 wRC+ and 24.8% strikeout rate. Despite the demotion earlier this year, Allen has a 4.15 SIERA and 24.3% strikeout rate over 13 big league starts.

Hitting Breakdown

The San Diego Padres are one of just three teams with an implied team total cracking five runs tonight, and it's for good reason against right-hander Quinn Priester.

Priester's MLB debut wasn't exactly a smashing success, as he was, well, smashed for seven earned runs in 5 1/3 innings while striking out just two batters. Given that his Triple-A numbers were rather pedestrian, including a 22.4% strikeout rate and 9.3% walk rate, it's hard to expect things to go much better in his second outing.

Fernando Tatis Jr. ($4,200), Juan Soto ($4,000), and Manny Machado ($3,800) form an obvious "big three" to make room for, and then every other Padres hitter comes in at $3,000 and below.

The Arizona Diamondbacks are another headliner for stacks, taking on an over-the-hill Adam Wainwright -- who is making his first start since landing on the injured list at the beginning of the month.

It's been a forgettable campaign for the 41-year-old, who's managed just a 5.80 SIERA and 11.0% strikeout rate over 11 starts. The lack of punchouts combined with a 35.1% ground-ball rate has led to Wainwright coughing up 1.74 home runs per 9 innings.

Corbin Carroll ($4,100), Ketel Marte ($3,900), and Christian Walker ($3,600) are the top options to spend up on, and Lourdes Gurriel ($3,100) is showing some nice power (.209 ISO) this season, as well.

While Jose Berrios is by no means a bad pitcher, it's hard to see him winning this battle against the Los Angeles Dodgers tonight. L.A.'s 4.87 implied team total backs that notion, too.

With this being the vaunted Dodgers, we probably shouldn't overthink who to play, but it's worth noting that Berrios' strikeout rate is just 20.9% in same-sided matchups this season, so that adds to the appeal of righties Mookie Betts ($4,300) and Will Smith ($3,700).

The Washington Nationals, Toronto Blue Jays, and Texas Rangers are other offenses to consider.

The Nats actually have the slate's highest implied team total (5.16) in what should be a bullpen game for the opposing Colorado Rockies. Toronto's up against Michael Grove, who's given up 1.56 home runs per 9 innings this season. The Rangers get Brandon Bielak, a right-hander with a 4.87 SIERA and 18.0% strikeout rate in 2023.

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.