FanDuel MLB DFS Picks and Helper: Friday 7/19/24

Our daily fantasy helper is available every day to analyze FanDuel's main slate and give you a starting point when you're building lineups.

Be sure to incorporate our MLB DFS projections -- which are powered by numberFire -- into your research process. numberFire also has the latest starting lineups and weather as well as heat maps to help you find the best matchups.

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

Note: All MLB odds come from FanDuel Sportsbook. All stats come from FanGraphs and Baseball Savant unless noted otherwise.

MLB DFS Picks

Pitcher Breakdown

Sonny Gray ($10,400) has the slate's second-highest salary in a better-than-expected matchup with the Atlanta Braves. Atlanta has the league's eighth-highest strikeout rate (23.9%) and second-highest swinging-strike rate (12.9%), plus they're bottom-10 in WRC+ versus righties (93). Gray, meanwhile, is top six league-wide in strikeout rate (30.3%), xFIP (2.76), and SIERA (2.97). He's averaging the second-most FanDuel points per game (37.5) among today's pitchers.

Jack Flaherty ($9,700) is the top point-per-dollar value (36.3 FanDuel points; 3.74 per $1,000) at pitcher, according to our MLB Projections. He's averaging a slate-best 38.7 for the season and would rank in the top five for strikeout rate (32.1%) and SIERA (2.63) if he qualified. Flaherty has a neutral matchup on the road versus the Toronto Blue Jays. The Jays are a pedestrian 15th in wRC+ (99) against righties -- though they've dipped to 24th in ISO for that split since the beginning of June.

Gerrit Cole ($9,600) might be back. Cole's most recent start was his best of the season, notching 46 FanDuel points by tossing six innings of one-run ball and striking out seven. He's now induced 27 swinging-strikes over his last two starts, so there's a real chance we get the Cy Young version of Cole the rest of the way. A home date with the Tampa Bay Rays isn't a bad spot to start his second half. They've struggled mightily against right-handed pitchers, ranking 26th in wOBA (.294) and 29th in ISO (.129) while striking out at the ninth-highest clip (23.8%).

Others to Consider

• Hunter Brown ($9,100 at SEA) has registered nine quality starts in his last 10 outings, averaging 39.9 FanDuel points per game with a 9.4 K/9 over that span. Tonight he'll pitch at T-Mobile Park -- Statcast's top venue for pitchers -- against a Seattle Mariners lineup that leads the league in strikeout rate against righties (28.9%).
• Sean Manaea ($8,800 at MIA) is in the strongest stretch of his season right now. He's put together three straight quality starts and most recently scored a season-high 49 FanDuel points. Manaea's strikeout rate is up to 24.0% amid this run, and he's got a mouth-watering matchup with the Miami Marlins. Miami is dead-last in wRC+ (70) and has struck out at the 12th-highest rate (22.2%) versus lefties.

Stacks to Target

• San Francisco Giants (5.56 implied total) -- San Fran is at Coors Field this weekend, so they'll be a top stack for the next three days. Tonight will likely be their toughest matchup of the series against Cal Quantrill -- though the righty isn't exactly an ace. He's pitched to a 4.75 xFIP and registered just a 16.4% K rate at home this season. The Giants only have two players salaried over $3K, so you can get weird here. Jorge Soler ($2,900) and Heliot Ramos ($3,400) are both top-10 players tonight, according to our MLB Projections, while LaMonte Wade Jr ($2,600) and Mike Yastrzemski ($2,400) are both strong left-handed values.
• Kansas City Royals (4.98) -- K.C. draws the Chicago White Sox tonight and, specifically, Chris Flexen. Flexen (4.98 xFIP; 1.48 HR/9; 45.9% FB%) has been horrific this season, so we can load up on Royals with confidence. With a righty on the bump, Bobby Witt Jr. ($4,400) and Salvador Perez ($3,500) are priorities, both clearing an .820 OPS in this split. Michael Massey ($3,100), Vinnie Pasquantino ($3,100), and Hunter Renfroe ($3,000) are all worth considering with wOBAs north of .300 against right-handers.
• Colorado Rockies (4.94) -- With Kyle Harrison dealing for the Giants, we can certainly stack Rockies at Coors. Harrison's ERA indicators (4.95 xERA; 4.40 xFIP; 4.33 SIERA) aren't anything to write home about, and he's in just the 10th percentile for barrel rate (10.3%) and hard-hit rate (44.9%) allowed. Who knows what the Rockies will do lineup-wise, but they aren't short on capable bats against southpaws. In that split, all of Michael Toglia ($3,000), Charlie Blackmon ($2,700), Brendan Rodgers ($2,700), Ryan McMahon ($2,900), and Brenton Doyle ($3,300) clear an .800 OPS. Ezequiel Tovar ($3,000) barely misses the cut at .798.
• New York Yankees (4.43) --The Bronx Bombers went just 4-8 in the first half of July, ranking 19th in team wRC+ over that stretch. That's nothing a home date with Zach Eflin can't fix. Eflin hasn't been all bad this season, but his effectiveness is down across the board relative to 2023. Despite modest ERA indicators (3.24 xERA; 3.77 xFIP; 3.87 SIERA), Eflin's given up more hard-hits and flyballs this season, yet his K rate is down to 18.9%. Though he's cooked New York twice this season, we shouldn't shy away from Aaron Judge ($4,700), Juan Soto ($4,300), and company. Outside of those two, Ben Rice ($3,200) and Alex Verdugo ($2,800) have the most encouraging numbers against righties.

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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.