FanDuel MLB DFS Picks and Helper: Sunday 7/28/24

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

Coming off a day where two-thirds of the field played the same guy at pitcher, it's quite refreshing there isn't one marquee option on today's slate.

Cole Ragans ($10,400) is definitely the top option as Garrett Crochet ($10,100) remains on a pitch count. Ragans and the Kansas City Royals take on the Chicago Cubs, who have a .724 OPS and 22.7% strikeout rate against southpaws in the past 30 days. His average exit velocity (88.8), walk rate (8.0%), and hard-hit rate allowed (38.2%) are much closer to the league average, but he definitely still stands out among alternatives.

Though not quite in as delicious of a matchup as previously in the season, Bailey Ober ($9,700) still deserves a shout against the Detroit Tigers because he's gotten so much stronger as the summer has progressed, topping 30 FanDuel points in six straight. Detroit's 107 wRC+ against righties in the past month is a definite improvement, but they still have struck out at a 23.0% clip (tied 10th-highest in MLB) during this time.

The best overall matchup for a top pitcher mans the other team's mound on the South Side, though. That's Bryce Miller ($9,300), who gets to attack a Chicago White Sox club with the worst wRC+ (68) and second-highest strikeout rate (26.9%) against righties in the past 30 days. Miller's own 4.01 expected ERA (xERA) and 22.9% K rate are just well down from the potential he's shown in the bigs.

Tobias Myers ($7,700) is another key name here -- as are many that face the Miami Marlins. Miami's still whiffing plenty against righties (25.5% K rate in last 30 days), but they've quietly sported a .724 OPS in the past month against them.

Stacks to Target

• Baltimore Orioles (5.20 implied team total)
  • Randy Vasquez is a popular target any time he toes the slab due to a 5.90 xERA and allowing 1.43 HR/9. The usual challenge of stacking the Orioles' slew of 1B/OF options aside, one of baseball's best offenses could explode at Camden Yards.
• Houston Astros (4.67)
  • Though River Ryan's ERA sits at 0.00, he left his MLB debut with a 6.60 skill-interactive ERA (SIERA) thanks to an 84.1% contact rate. A humming Astros lineup could make good on those balls in play, and the Los Angeles Dodgers' bullpen has been a mess in the past month (4.47 xFIP).
• Minnesota Twins (4.46)
  • Do the Tigers ever run out of former top right-handed prospects underperforming? Alex Faedo is one behind a 4.01 xERA and .254 expected batting average allowed (xBA). Plus, the Stripes' bullpen (4.33 xFIP) is in a similar boat as L.A.'s.
• San Diego Padres (4.30)
  • I've been waiting for Albert Suarez in a dangerous matchup, and here it is. Suarez's minuscule 5.4% homer-to-flyball ratio is one of baseball's largest regression candidates when he's also sporting below-average flyball (40.9%) and hard-hit (38.9%) rates allowed.
• Texas Rangers (4.23)
  • Jose Berrios' 1.60 HR/9 probably shouldn't be ignored -- especially when his Toronto Blue Jays' bullpen has the second-worst xFIP over the past month of play (4.77). Texas' path to failure has much more to do with their own ineptitude in this split (.698 OPS in past 30 days), but Corey Seager definitely shines as a one-off.

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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.