FanDuel MLB DFS Picks and Helper: Wednesday 8/28/24

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

Chris Sale ($11,500) is the standout pitcher on what is a pretty meh pitching slate across the seven games. Sale is having a superb season, pitching to a sparkling 2.74 SIERA and 32.7% strikeout rate, and he's a -430 favorite to win the NL Cy Young, per FanDuel Sportsbook's Cy Young odds. He's also the top pitcher by our MLB DFS projections as we peg him to score 34.4 FanDuel points.

However, Sale's salary is steep, and the matchup is a tough one as he's at the Minnesota Twins, a team that is eighth in wOBA versus southpaws (.325).

Still, the MLB odds at FanDuel Sportsbook are expecting Sale to succeed. Minnesota's 3.51 implied total is a slate-low clip, and Sale's K prop is at 6.5 with -158 odds on the over.

Freddy Peralta ($9,200) is a solid SP2 option, and given the huge salary difference between he and Sale, Peralta is very appealing. The issue is that Peralta hasn't been his usual self in 2024, recording a 3.73 SIERA, his worst mark since 2019. He's punched out only nine across his last three starts (17 innings).

A matchup with the San Francisco Giants helps. San Fran is just 20th in wOBA against righties (.300), and the Giants own the fourth-highest K rate in the second half (26.1%). As a result, San Francisco sports the slate's second-lowest implied total (3.64), and our projections have Peralta (33.7 FanDuel points) right on Sale's heels.

In the value bin, David Festa ($7,700) catches my eye. Festa is getting an injury-depleted Atlanta Braves lineup, although Atlanta is still seventh in wOBA since the break (.327). Festa, a rookie, showed elite swing-and-miss stuff in the minors, producing a 16.4% swinging-strike rate at Triple-A. Through his first 36 1/3 MLB frames, Festa has a 28.0% K rate, which is easy to like at this salary. Overall, it's not a bad slate to take a swing on a value arm.

Stacks to Target

• Colorado Rockies (5.68 implied total) and Miami Marlins (5.32)
  • Coors is going to be the go-to spot for stacking today as it's Max Meyer taking on Kyle Freeland in a game with an 11.0-run over/under. All the bats on both sides are in play, but Ryan McMahon ($3,200) and Otto Lopez ($2,800) will be the ones I prioritize. Lopez is a super handy puzzle piece as he can be deployed at four positions.
• Boston Red Sox (5.05)
  • Boston is at Fenway versus Chris Bassitt, and they've got the best non-Coors implied total by a good distance. Bassitt is having a pedestrian season (8.3% swinging-strike rate and 4.29 SIERA). The negative with Boston is that Rafael Devers may sit out again today. On the flip side, that makes Boston's salaries a little easier to jam in alongside Sale.
• Los Angeles Dodgers (4.27) and Baltimore Orioles (4.23)
  • My two favorite stacks are facing each other, and with big names like Walker Buehler and Corbin Burnes on the bump, each offense could go a little overlooked. Buehler (4.76 SIERA in 44 1/3 innings) has been bad this season, and Burnes (22.5% K rate) is having a down year by his lofty standards. Both offenses have a lot of high-upside bats. I'm particularly intrigued by the O's side of things and will be overweight on Gunnar Henderson ($3,900) and Anthony Santander ($3,600).

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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.