FanDuel Daily Fantasy Baseball Helper: Sunday 8/6/23

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.

Pitchers

Zac Gallen ($10,600)

In an underrated spot versus a Minnesota Twins' team with a .308 weighted on-base average (wOBA) and a 24.2% K-rate, Gallen ranks as today's top pitching option with a 38.4 FanDuel point projection and 6.81 expected strikeouts.

Through his last six starts despite producing a 4.46 Earned Run Average, the 28-year old is due for a change in luck when evaluating his 3.59 expected Fielding Independent Pitching rating (xFIP) and 3.51 Skilled Interactive Earned Run Average during this time period.

When evaluating his recent expected form, Gallen should be considered a high ceiling play against a lineup with plenty of strikeout opportunities including six spots with K-rates ranging from 22.9% to 33.3%.

Brandon Woodruff ($9,600)

At his his lowest salary point this season, Milwaukee's veteran will take the mound versus a Pittsburgh Pirates' unit with a .317 wOBA and a 29.9% K-rate including six batters with strikeout percentages over 24.0%.

While there is some uncertainty after Woodruff missed most of this season with a shoulder injury, the 30-year old offers intriguing upside on Sunday when examining his discounted salary, favorable matchup, and stellar 28.9% career K-rate.

Stacks

Cincinnati Reds

Although the Reds are coming into Sunday in a recent cold streak with a three run average in their past three games, Cincinnati's offense rates as today's top stack with a 5.99 expected run total against Jake Irvin and his poor 5.41 xFIP, 17.7% K-rate, and 10.0% opposing barrel percentage.

Potential Cincinnati stacks should feature their best fly-ball hitters and left-handed bats to attack Irvin's 40.5% ground-ball percentage rate and glaring splits (.363 wOBA, 5.48 xFIP) including Joey Votto (35.3% fly-ball percentage, 16.2% barrel rate) Elly De La Cruz (8.2% barrel rate), Will Benson (10.7% barrel rate, 27.5% fly-ball percentage), Matt McLain (26.2% fly-ball percentage, 10.5% barrel rate) and Stuart Fairchild (7.6% barrel rate, 27.8% fly-ball percentage).

St. Louis Cardinals

After last night's six run performance, the Cardinals remain a strong option with today's second highest expected run total (5.43)l versus Colorado's left-hander Austin Gomber.

While Gomber has done a good job managing contact by keeping the ball mostly on the ground (42.9% career rate), the Cardinals have plenty of right-handed fly-ball hitters to counter his main strength including Paul Goldschmidt(11.5% barrel rate, 29.6% fly-ball percentage) , Nolan Arenado (8.9% barrel rate, 35.7% fly-ball percentage ), Tyler O'Neill (13.7% barrel rate, 30.9% fly-ball percentage), and Andrew Knizner (9.9% barrel rate, 32.% fly-ball percentage).

Philadelphia Phillies

In a matchup against Zack Greinke, the Fightin' Phils rank third on Sunday with an attractive 5.49 expected run total versus a low strikeout right-hander with a 4.47 xFIP and a troublesome 16.7% home run to fly-ball ratio.

Ideal Philadelphia stacks should group together their top left-handed bats including Kyle Schwarber (.346 expected wOBA, 14.0% barrel rate), Bryce Harper (.373 expected wOBA, 12.4% barrel rate), and Bryson Stott (.272 expected average) while Nick Castellanos (10.0% barrel rate) and Alec Bohm (.280 expected average, 42.6% hard hit rate) still rate enough well to be mixed in with their recent form.

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.