MLB

MLB Daily Fantasy Helper: Sunday 8/28/16

Austan Kas  —  @AustanKas Aug 28th, 2016
J.D. Martinez torches left-handed pitching, and he gets a matchup against Tyler Skaggs. What other players are in a good spot for Sunday's main slate?

The beauty of daily fantasy baseball is that the top targets are different each and every day. Whether it's the right-handed catcher who destroys left-handed pitching or the mid-range hurler facing a depleted lineup, you're not going to find yourself using the same assets time after time.

While this breaks up the monotony, it can make it hard to decide which players are primed to succeed on a given day. We can help bridge that gap.

In addition to our custom optimal lineups, you can check out our batting and pitching heat maps, which show the pieces in the best spot to succeed on that slate. Put on the finishing touches with our games and lineups page to see who's hitting where and what the weather looks like, and you'll have yourself a snazzy looking team to put up some big point totals.

If you need help getting started on that trek, here are some of the top options on the board today. This article is for the main slate, which starts at 1:05 p.m. EST and features 11 games.

Pitchers to Target

High-Priced Pitchers

Chris Archer ($9,400 on FanDuel): Archer is turning in another solid season for the Tampa Bay Rays, posting a 3.53 SIERA, 27.8% strikeout rate and 8.4% walk rate. He has really cranked it up a notch in the second half with a 30.1% strikeout rate and 4.9% walk rate. Archer is our top-ranked hurler on today's main slate for his road matchup with the Houston Astros. Houston has a good offense, checking in 13th in wOBA (.320), but the Astros own the fourth-highest strikeout rate (23.6%), giving Archer that desired upside. Houston also hasn't been quite as good at Minute Maid Park, ranking 23rd in home wOBA with a clip of .312.

Jaime Garcia ($7,900): Typically, Garcia's $7,900 price tag would qualify as a value play, but it's a pretty weak pitching slate. Garcia gets a solid home matchup against the Oakland Athletics. For the year, Garcia is limiting hitters to a .279 wOBA with a 21.4% strikeout rate in his home starts. While the Athletics' low strikeout rate (18.7%) isn't ideal, they also have a meager .301 wOBA this season against southpaws. Oakland -- whose 3.44 implied total is the lowest of the slate -- has struggled over the last 30 days, recording a .294 wOBA with a 21.1% strikeout rate in that span.

Value Pitcher

Anibal Sanchez ($6,600): After allowing a .378 wOBA with a 19.0% strikeout rate and 10.5% walk rate over the first half of the year, Sanchez earned himself a demotion to the bullpen. He's since been moved back into the starting rotation, and he's been much improved. In 32 innings in August, Sanchez is holding hitters to a .300 wOBA while racking up a 21.1% strikeout rate and 5.7% walk rate -- not otherworldly numbers but a vast improvement nonetheless. Sanchez gets an enticing home matchup against the Los Angeles Angels. Even though the Halos' league-best 16.1% strikeout rate caps his upside, the Angels own an ugly .291 wOBA over the past 30 days.

Hitters to Target

High-Priced Hitters

J.D. Martinez ($3,900): Not that Martinez doesn't destroy right-handers, but he really eats versus lefties. He's rocked southpaws this season to the tune of a .406 wOBA with a 48.7% hard-hit rate and 41.9% fly-ball rate. This game will take place at Comerica Park, where Martinez boasts a massive .458 wOBA in 2016. He'll tangle this afternoon with Los Angeles Angels' lefty Tyler Skaggs. Right-handed hitters have put up a .359 wOBA against Skaggs, and he owns a .364 wOBA away from home. The Detroit Tigers' 5.18 implied total is the second-highest of the slate.

Mike Napoli ($3,400): Napoli has turned into a near must-roster option against left-handers, and he'll do battle this afternoon with Texas Rangers lefty Derek Holland in Arlington. Overall, Holland is sporting an ugly 5.23 SIERA with a 14.2% strikeout rate. Those are numbers we want to target. Holland has been particularly terrible against right-handed hitters. He is surrendering a .341 wOBA, 30.8% hard-hit rate and 46.0% fly-ball rate to righties. Napoli has a .384 wOBA against southpaws with a 48.8% hard-hit rate and 45.2% fly-ball rate. The Cleveland Indians' have a tasty 4.84 implied total, and Globe Life Park ranks 6th in park factor.

Value Hitters

Matt Joyce ($2,200): Joyce is always worth peeping when the Pittsburgh Pirates face a right-hander, which is the case today as they take on Chase Anderson. For his career, Joyce has put up a .349 wOBA against righties, and that wOBA jumps to .400 this season. His batted-ball numbers versus right-handers -- a 37.3% hard-hit rate with a 40.9% fly-ball rate -- are superb, and Anderson is allowing a 41.3% fly-ball rate to left-handed sticks. Joyce hit fourth Saturday, and there's really no reason for his salary to be this low.

Casey McGehee ($2,200): Recently promoted to fill in for the injured Nick Castellanos, McGehee has just 78 plate appearances this season, but he's swinging the bat well versus lefties, racking up a .360 wOBA with a 50.0% hard-hit rate and 44.4% fly-ball rate. Obviously, the sample size is incredibly small, but for his career, he has a 30.6% hard-hit rate and 35.3% fly-ball rate against lefties. As we covered, Skaggs has struggled versus right-handed hitters, and the Tigers' implied total of 5.18 runs is well worth targeting.