FanDuel Daily Fantasy Baseball Helper: Sunday 5/20/18

Two aces stand out for Sunday afternoon's 11-game main slate, making our decisions pretty straightforward on that side of the equation, but we still have plenty of enticing hitting spots to sift through. Today's top offenses include some usual suspects in the Red Sox, Yankees, Braves, and Cubs. Sadly, rain continues to be part of our daily fantasy baseball routine, and will have to be monitored leading up to lock.

Our daily helper is available every day to analyze FanDuel's main slate and help give you a starting point when you're building lineups. Be sure to also incorporate our great tools into your research process. Whether you're looking for daily projections, the latest starting lineups and weather, or batting and pitching heat maps to find the best matchups -- we've got you covered!

On that note, let's highlight some of the top options for today's FanDuel main slate.

Pitchers to Target

High-Priced Pitchers

Noah Syndergaard ($10,300 on FanDuel): Noah Syndergaard is looking like today's top arm as he is facing an Arizona Diamondbacks squad that has only a 3.21 implied team total and owns 26.3% strikeout rate against righties this year. For his part, Syndergaard is doing his usual thing, holding a pristine 3.06 SIERA, 28.0% strikeout rate and 5.5% walk rate, while allowing just a 24.8% hard-hit rate. There isn't anything to hate about this spot -- except for potential storms in the forecast.

Stephen Strasburg ($10,500): Should the weather in New York prove too dicey, we have an easy alternative in Stephen Strasburg, who shouldn't have such concerns in Washington. It's hardly a downgrade as Strasburg holds remarkably similar numbers to Syndergaard, displaying a 3.07 SIERA, 28.2% strikeout rate, and 5.4% walk rate. The only difference is a more neutral matchup against the Los Angeles Dodgers, but they too have a low implied team total (3.47). Whether you end up on Syndergaard or Strasburg, you'll be in good hands.

Value Pitcher

Eduardo Rodriguez ($7,700): Eduardo Rodriguez hasn't quite lived up to his strong peripherals so far, but his 28.5% strikeout rate is right up there with Syndergaard's and Strasburg's, showing superb upside when he can put it all together. Rodriguez's 3.57 SIERA suggests his 4.68 ERA should eventually dwindle, although dropping his 8.9% walk rate would go a long way towards more consistent results. He gets an ideal matchup against the Baltimore Orioles, who have their share of high-strikeout bats. Rodriguez is your typical boom-or-bust tournament candidate, and this is another spot you'll need to keep tabs on the weather.

Hitters to Target

High-Priced Hitters

Mookie Betts ($5,300): If the weather holds up in Boston, the hometown Sox get David Hess on the mound. Hess made his first major league start earlier this month. He has posted solid marks in Triple-A this season, putting up a 3.53 FIP over six starts, but his overall minor league track record is modest at best. It's tough to see this going well for him against the Red Sox, and Mookie Betts continues to tear things up. His league-leading .495 wOBA and .399 isolated power (ISO) just aren't fair right now.

Aaron Judge ($4,900): The Bronx Bombers have one of the top matchups on the board, sporting a 5.18 implied team total against left-hander Eric Skoglund. Through seven starts, Skoglund has a below-average 18.9% strikeout rate to go with a 43.9% hard-hit rate allowed, which doesn't bode well against one of the league's toughest lineups. All the usual Yankees are in play, including Aaron Judge, who's posted a .417 wOBA and owns this season's highest average exit velocity.

Joey Gallo ($3,300): Joey Gallo frustratingly couldn't get anything going against Lucas Giolito on Saturday, but he gets yet another opportunity to shine against Reynaldo Lopez. After escaping his poor peripherals all season, Lopez finally got shelled in his last outing against the Pittsburgh Pirates, and the Texas Rangers could keep that going today. Lopez holds just a 5.51 SIERA, 15.7% strikeout rate and 10.6% walk rate, with lefty sticks posting a 37.3% hard-hit rate against him. Gallo remains low-priced for his immense power upside, owning a career 46.1% hard-hit rate and .306 ISO versus right-handed pitching.

Value Hitters

Josh Harrison ($2,000): Josh Harrison is expected to come off the disabled list today, and he is worth a look if he's immediately slotted back in the leadoff spot. Frankly, it's not the greatest matchup against Jordan Lyles (3.42 SIERA), who's actually performed pretty well this season, but this is more about price. Second base is looking rather limited today, so you could do worse than lock up a (likely) leadoff man at minimum pricing, and use that extra cash to pay up at other positions.

Aaron Hicks ($2,800): Like we hoped yesterday, Aaron Hicks led off against lefty Danny Duffy, so he could slot in there again against lefty Eric Skoglund today. Hicks posted a .383 wOBA against lefties in 2017, and the Yankees have one of the highest implied team totals on the slate.

Michael Conforto ($2,800): As of this writing, it's curious the New York Mets have only a 4.29 implied team total against Clay Buchholz, who is making his first start of the season. In his last full season with the Red Sox in 2016, Buchholz managed an ugly 5.09 SIERA and 15.8% strikeout rate, and he hasn't shown anything since then to suggest he'll be much different now. The Mets are cheap up and down the lineup, so don't be afraid to stack them in a potentially underrated spot. Michael Conforto in particular is intriguing as he is starting to show signs of life. Remember, this guy produced a 41.6% hard-hit rate, .392 wOBA, and .276 ISO in 2017.

Kenyatta Storin is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Kenyatta Storin also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username yatters. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in his articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.