FanDuel Daily Fantasy Baseball Helper: Friday 4/21/23

We have a fun slate on Friday with equal parts pitching and hitting. Note that there are a couple of potential trouble spots for weather in Cleveland and Minnesota.

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!

Let's check out the top options on today's main slate.

Pitching Breakdown

We have to pay a pretty penny to roster Shohei Ohtani ($11,400), but if we exclude a weather-shortened start on Monday, he's come through with 52, 49, and 49 FanDuel points this season.

A 4.21 SIERA and 15.9% strikeout rate show that he hasn't been perfect, but his 32.9% strikeout rate meets expectations, and he's yet to give up a single barrel. He also reached a season-high 111 pitches in his second start, so his workload is no issue, either.

The Royals are a cupcake matchup, as their active roster has the second-worst wRC+ (83) against righties from 2022 onward, and they also have the third-worst walk rate (6.8%). Understandably, Kansas City has one of the slate's lowest implied team totals (3.26), and it's easy to like Ohtani if you can fit in his salary.

Unlike Shohei, Aaron Nola ($9,300) hasn't enjoyed his start to 2023, coming in with an underwhelming 4.41 SIERA and 20.4% strikeout rate alongside slightly lower velocity. The good news is his swinging-strike rate has gone up in every start (13.3% on Sunday), so we're hopefully getting closer to the guy who put up a 29.1% strikeout rate last year.

He's in the right matchup to bust out with a ceiling game, too. The Rockies are notoriously bad on the road and own a mere 88 wRC+ versus righties from 2022-23. While the early returns haven't been great, this might be the ideal time to buy low on Nola.

If you're worried about Nola's recent form, Tyler Mahle ($9,000) is opposite the night's lowest implied team total against Washington (3.08).

Mahle has produced a 3.49 SIERA, 27.7% strikeout rate, and 7.7% walk rate through three starts, putting him around what we've seen from him in recent seasons. He's topped out at 90 pitches over his last two outings, so he probably doesn't have the leash of someone like Ohtani, but he should still have plenty of upside against a weak opponent. The Nats have an 84 wRC+ versus right-handed pitching going back to last year.

Jon Gray ($8,800) gives us another potential value play. He's logged an uncharacteristically high walk rate (10.7%), but that should go down over the long haul, and his 23.2% strikeout rate is only a smidge below the 24-25% range we typically see out of him. The draw here is a pristine matchup against the lowly Athletics (85 wRC+ versus righties from 2022-23), who come in with the fourth-lowest implied team total (3.40). Gray's also maxed out at 100 pitches, so his pitch count won't be any problem.

For direct pivots off Ohtani, Zac Gallen ($10,000) and Freddy Peralta ($10,600) are possibilities.

Gallen doesn't have an easy matchup versus San Diego, but he's scored 64 and 51 FanDuel points in his last two starts and boasts an impressive 3.20 SIERA, 29.5% strikeout rate, and 5.3% walk rate on the season.

While the Red Sox may not be an upper-tier offense, they aren't the best opponent for punchouts, possibly putting a damper on Peralta's upside. But that might not matter if Peralta is on his game, and he's gone 100 and 98 pitches over his last two starts, a promising sign for a pitcher who's often had lower pitch counts.

Lastly, Domingo German ($8,600) deserves a mention following an 11-strikeout, 59-point game against Minnesota. There were suspicions of a foreign substance issue in that one, but nothing was confirmed, and the fact is that German enters the day with a 33.3% strikeout rate, 17.1% swinging-strike rate, and 33.3% called-plus-swinging-strike rate. However, he hasn't exceeded 87 pitches this season, and his matchup is a rough one against the Blue Jays.

Hitting Breakdown

The Philadelphia Phillies have a slate-high 5.51 implied team total, and they should be able to take advantage of an inexperienced Noah Davis.

The young right-hander held Seattle scoreless over five innings in his first big league start, but he struggled with walks (15.8% rate), something that's followed him throughout his minor league career. Even more worrisome for him is that he's been held below an 11% strikeout rate in four career Triple-A starts. While it's always tricky to predict how these starts against unknowns will go, there sure isn't a lot that scares us about Davis.

Kyle Schwarber ($3,100), Brandon Marsh ($3,700), and J.T. Realmuto ($2,900) are the top Philadelphia power options, and Trea Turner ($3,600) is always viable as a power-speed threat. Bryson Stott ($2,900) and Nick Castellanos ($3,200) can round out stacks due to their fantasy-friendly spots in the lineup.

The Los Angeles Angels also have a lofty implied team total (5.24). They'll face opener Taylor Clarke, who is expected to be followed by Ryan Yarbrough. If we assume Yarbrough pitches multiple innings, that means the Angels will get to attack someone with a 5.95 SIERA and 9.1% strikeout rate this season and has never generated a ton of punchouts (17.2% strikeout rate in 2022). Kansas City's bullpen rates poorly overall, as well.

The inability to roster Ohtani as a batter tonight is unfortunate, but we still have Mike Trout ($4,000) at least. Most of the other Angels aren't off to exciting starts, but Hunter Renfroe ($3,600) is still hitting for power, and Taylor Ward ($3,200), Anthony Rendon ($3,100), and Brandon Drury ($2,400) come in at appealing salaries.

The Texas Rangers are another standout tonight. They're facing JP Sears, a left-hander who's already allowed 5 home runs in 15 2/3 innings off a 60.4% fly-ball rate and 18.8% barrel rate. He also isn't getting many strikeouts at a mere 19.0% clip and struggled in that department last year (17.7%). We should see a righty-heavy lineup from Texas, too, with Marcus Semien ($3,700) and Adolis Garcia ($3,400) being top options. Ezequiel Duran ($2,100) could bat second, making him an easy value at near-minimum salary, and Josh Jung ($3,000) and Jonah Heim ($3,300) won't break the bank, either.

Yusei Kikuchi is another lefty struggling to keep the ball in the park, placing the New York Yankees high on the list, too. Kikuchi is still getting strikeouts (27.0% rate), but his home run woes have remained, allowing five round-trippers over his three starts. Overall, he's coughed up 1.76 per 9 innings over his career. Aaron Judge ($4,200) is a no-brainer if you pick just one Yankee, and Gleyber Torres ($3,200) is proving to be a solid power-speed combo this year. Anthony Volpe ($2,800), DJ LeMahieu ($3,200), and the rest of the New York righties come in at modest salaries, making this a fairly easy team to stack.

The Milwaukee Brewers are one more stack to consider. Nick Pivetta is struggling with both walks (12.5% rate) and dingers (1.93 per 9 innings), and neither of these things is anything new. Willy Adames ($3,500) and Rowdy Tellez ($3,400) are the power bats to build around.