FanDuel MLB DFS Picks and Helper: Wednesday 8/21/24

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

In terms of upside, Jack Flaherty ($10,900) is the clearcut number-one arm on the slate.

He's got a delightful home matchup versus the Seattle Mariners, a team that ranks 23rd in wOBA versus righties (.298) with the highest strikeout rate in the split (28.1%). The owner of a 32.2% K rate and 14.1% swinging-strike rate, Flaherty can crush in this spot. Seattle has the slate's lowest implied total (3.40), and Flaherty's strikeout prop is at 7.5, per the MLB odds at FanDuel Sportsbook.

I'm not really all that into any of the other high-salary arms. If I'm not using Flaherty, I'll likely bump down to Ryan Pepiot ($8,200).

Pepiot checks the matchup boxes as he's at the Oakland Athletics and gets to throw in a pitcher-friendly park. Oakland sports the third-highest K rate versus righties (25.1%) and just got dominated by Shane Baz on Tuesday. Pepiot has pretty excellent numbers -- especially for someone with an $8,200 salary -- including a 3.79 SIERA, 26.5% strikeout rate and 12.2% swinging-strike rate. Pepiot's K prop is at 5.5 with -154 odds on the over.

Others to Consider

• Aaron Nola ($9,900 at Atlanta Braves)
  • Nola could slip through the cracks a bit tonight, and the matchup at Atlanta isn't that bad given all the Braves' injury woes. Nola hasn't been getting many swings and misses this season (10.2% swinging-strike rate), but his strikeout prop is a solid 5.5 today with -138 odds on the over.
• Jameson Taillon ($8,000 vs. Detroit Tigers)
  • Taillon makes some sense as a low-salary dart throw and as a pivot off Pepiot. He draws a lovely matchup versus the Tigers, an offense that is 26th in wOBA against right-handers (.295) with the 7th-highest K rate in the split (24.1%). It helps that the wind is blowing in at Wrigley. Detroit's 3.40 implied total is the slate's second-lowest.

Stacks to Target

• Kansas City Royals (5.31 implied total)
  • KC is going to be the night's chalk stack. Only one other team has an implied total above 4.4, so their 5.31 clip sticks out in a big way. They are at home versus 38-year-old Johnny Cueto, who is making his first MLB start of the season. Bobby Witt Jr. ($4,700) and Vinnie Pasquantino ($3,400) are two of the slate's best bats.
• New York Yankees (4.65)
  • The Bronx Bombers are at home against lefty Joey Cantillo. A rookie, Cantillo has been lit up through his initial 13 MLB frames, posting a 5.26 SIERA and allowing 2.77 home runs per nine innings. Juan Soto ($4,500) and Aaron Judge ($4,800) are the obvious plays, and Giancarlo Stanton ($3,000) is really easy to like at his salary.
• Chicago Cubs (4.10)
  • If you're using Flaherty, you need some value bats. The Cubs can help out. Chicago will likely face Kenta Maeda after opener Beau Brieske. Maeda is struggling this year to the tune of 1.79 homers per nine and an 18.3% K rate. Michael Busch ($2,800) and Cody Bellinger ($3,200) catch my eye as modest-salaried bats who could go off today.

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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.