FanDuel Daily Fantasy Baseball Helper: Sunday 8/8/21

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 projections and 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. We'll be focusing exclusively on the main slate.

Pitching Breakdown

It's a pretty blah pitching slate, but the two highest-salaried arms -- Zack Wheeler ($10,700 on FanDuel) and Lance McCullers ($9,800) -- have the most upside.

Wheeler is taking on the New York Mets, a team that sits 23rd in wOBA (.294) over the last 14 days. Wheeler's numbers slipped a bit in July as he permitted his highest wOBA (.288) in any month this campaign along with posting his lowest single-month strikeout rate (25.5%) of 2021. However, those are still very good marks, and Wheeler has as high of a ceiling as anyone on the slate. The Mets' 3.75 implied total is a clip we can attack.

McCullers gets the Minnesota Twins in Houston. He's locked in right now, pitching to a 31.6% strikeout rate in July, so even though the Twins -- who carry a meager 3.67 implied total -- are a solid offense, McCullers has to be on our radar. He's had spike outings of 57 and 58 FanDuel points across his last four starts, and our model has him and Wheeler about dead even.

When you factor in salary, Tyler Mahle ($8,400) might be the best option on the slate. Our model ranks him as the top point-per-dollar play. He has a friendly matchup with the Pittsburgh Pirates, who rank just 22nd in wOBA (.311) over the last 30 days. The two negatives with Mahle in this spot are that Pittsburgh doesn't strike out much and that he's throwing at Great American Ball Park. But Mahle owns a 3.85 SIERA and 27.9% strikeout rate. He can roll today, and the salary is really nice.

Stacks to Target

Toronto Blue Jays

The Toronto Blue Jays can mash in their home clash with Garrett Richards. Richards was crushed for a .442 wOBA in June and a .393 wOBA in July. Righties have a .400 wOBA against him for the season, and Toronto is not the lineup you want to face if you struggle with right-handed bats. As such, the Jays carry a 5.27 implied total, but that's only the fourth-highest on what is a loaded slate for offense.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. ($4,400), Bo Bichette ($4,000), George Springer ($4,200), Marcus Semien ($3,900) and Teoscar Hernandez ($3,400) will likely occupy the 1-5 spots in the order. While they are up there in salary, the ceiling they offer is worth it.

If you want a budget-friendly piece of the Jays, Corey Dickerson ($2,000) and Randal Grichuk ($2,300) fit the mold. Dickerson is a handy piece given his minimum salary.

Cincinnati Reds

Here we are again with the Cincinnati Reds. They've torched Pittsburgh pitching for 10 and 11 runs the last two days, and the Reds have the slate's highest implied total (5.96) today for their matchup with Bryse Wilson. Wilson has a 5.47 SIERA for his career and has struck out only 16.2% of hitters. That's probably not going to play well at Great American Ball Park.

Jesse Winker ($4,100) is the top-ranked stick on the slate, per our projections, and fellow lefty Joey Votto ($4,100) has a .443 wOBA versus righties this year. Tyler Naquin ($2,900) is someone I'll have a lot of. He has a 41.4% hard-hit rate against right-handers. Max Schrock ($2,200) is our algorithm's top point-per-dollar play.

We don't need to limit ourselves to lefties, though, so Nick Castellanos ($3,500) and Kyle Farmer ($2,900) are well worth a look. Farmer posted a massive .481 wOBA in July.

Tampa Bay Rays

Jorge Lopez has given up only one run in two of his past three starts. Oddsmakers aren't expecting that kind of outing today as the Tampa Bay Rays boast a 5.845 implied total against him. Lopez has a 4.72 SIERA for the season, and he's been battered by hitters from both sides of the plate.

Stacking Tampa Bay is always fun due to their -- for the most part -- modest salaries and positional flexibility.

Nelson Cruz ($3,500) and Austin Meadows ($3,800) are the lone Rays' hitters with a salary at $3,500 or above. Meadows has tagged righties for a .376 wOBA and 55.3% fly-ball rate. Brandon Lowe ($3,300) is our model's number-two bat and is projected to be atop the lineup.

Joey Wendle ($2,500) and Wander Franco ($3,000) are economical pieces who are easy to like at their salaries. Wendle is the fourth-best point-per-dollar play, per our projections.