This article is part of our FanDuel MLB series.
A full 12-game slate awaits Friday's FanDuel main slate, with first pitch at 7:05 p.m. ET. As of early Friday morning, FanDuel does not have a listed pitcher for the Pirates or Giants, and those two games are currently without lines. I'm a broken record when saying this, but scoring continues to be down across MLB, and the betting odds reflect that. Diamondbacks-White Sox is our highest run total at 9.5 with three others sitting at 8.5. Rangers-Mariners is our low point at 7.0. Expect Rockies-Pirates in Coors Field to see a higher run total, giving us something to target.
We'll need to keep an eye on weather along the East Coast, with rain looking possible in Baltimore and New York.
Pitching
Matt Waldron, SD at NYM ($8,800): There are plenty of pay-up options Friday that don't need introductions. There are also a plethora of those facing solid offenses, which makes them more risky while likely also coming with lower roster percentages. I'm not going to sell you on them or off of them, I'm just going to take a different approach to this section. Waldron is one of three mid/higher-end options we can use in cash and GPP formats for floor and ceiling. He's turned in three straight quality starts and hasn't allowed more than two runs in six straight, surrendering seven total earned runs in 35.1 innings. The strikeouts have been feast or famine, and the Mets fan at only a 21.3 percent clip off righties, so we could be more floor than ceiling here. But the offense doesn't scare, and the ballpark doesn't help bats. Waldron is poised to keep his form going, which means at worst, we can expect 28 fantasy points.
Hunter Brown, HOU vs. DET ($8,600): Brown is righting his season after a terrible start, earning four straight quality starts where he's allowed six runs across 24.0 innings while striking out 28. Detroit comes in with a .300 wOBA, 94 wRC+ and a 24.2 percent strikeout rate. A win may be a tall ask with his offense facing Tarik Skubal, but Brown looks to be in a solid position to keep his turnaround going in a game that could be a pitcher's duel.
Zack Littell, TB at ATL ($7,900): Loyal readers will know I'm a die-hard Braves fan. I watch them on a nightly basis. And it's been painful. We keep hearing about how they're too good offensively to stay in a slump and how they still have leading hard-hit and barrel rates. But the only thing that matters is results, and one six-run outburst isn't going to scare me away from what I see every other night. And if they hit Friday, I likely go to bed happy, so I'll take either side of this. But Littell has been solid and will be overlooked. He has posted three straight quality starts, though they haven't been as clean as the others listed above, allowing nine runs across 19 innings. He doesn't walk many and eats innings while limiting damage with a 3.63 ERA and 3.30 FIP. I look for his 8.4 K/9 rate to play up a tick with Atlanta fanning at a 23.7 percent mark. Their approach seems to hack early and adjust if they get a third opportunity to face the opposing starter.
Top Targets
When paying up for bats, it's as much about floor as it is ceiling, as you're not likely to win with nothing from your top hitters. For me, the top five based on price all have that safe floor with ample upside. Mookie Betts ($4,200) happens to be the cheapest of that group, and draws a lefty Friday, albeit a solid one in Kansas City's Cole Ragans.
Royce Lewis ($3,900) is a touch more risky, but all he's done is hit when healthy, doing so in every game but one since returning from an Opening Day injury, while homering in four of those nine. He draws a statistically challenging matchup with Oakland's Mitch Spence, who has a 50.0 percent ground ball rate, 3.68 ERA (3.17 FIP) and is only allowing 0.53 HR/9.
Christian Yelich ($3,900) is certainly more ceiling than floor with four double-digit fantasy point outings in his last seven, and zeros in the other three. He enters Friday with a .385 wOBA off righties. While he's just 3-for-12 off Reds starter Hunter Greene, two of those hits have left the park.
Bargain Bats
It's easy to take the lowest-priced pitcher and grab bats against him, but the White Sox's Chris Flexen has been surprisingly serviceable of late, allowing five runs across his last 15 innings. He's been better on the road, too, but overall he is allowing a .354 wOBA to lefties against .306 to righties. Queue up Corbin Carroll ($3,200) who appears to be warming, going 7-for-16 over his last four with four runs and two extra-base hits.
It's also easy to see Coors Field on the slate and rush for pieces. I can't consider any Rockie bats until we confirm who's pitching for Pittsburgh, but Colorado will throw out Ryan Feltner. He's allowing a .428 wOBA and 1.013 OPS to lefties at home. Oneil Cruz ($3,600) is in decent form, with eight hits and eight RBI over his last seven. Jack Suwinski ($3,200) and Rowdy Tellez ($2,900) aren't, but the matchup and stadium give them one-off power potential.
I have a great deal of interest in the Padres lineup against Sean Manaea, who's allowed 11 runs and 13 hits in his last two outings. But rain, paired with Jurickson Profar potentially being unavailable has me treading lightly. Manny Machado ($3,000) is a strong BvP option, going 7-for-17 (.412) off Manaea with a 1.033 OPS.
Stacks to Consider
Blue Jays vs. Logan Allen (Guardians): Vladimir Guerrero ($3,500), Bo Bichette ($2,900), George Springer ($2,800)
I continue to get sucked in on Blue Jays bats for stacking purposes because they're so cheap. Of course, they're cheap because they've been underperforming all season. So the appeal Friday is right-handers against Logan Allen, who is allowing a .401 wOBA and .935 OPS to opposite-handed bats. He's also been very up and down, allowing two runs or fewer five times in 13 starts, and 36 total runs in the other eight outings. I can't sell you on the Blue Jays based on their statistical merits; it's ugly. They've shown next to no power and Guerrero's .339 wOBA off lefties is the best of this trio. But for GPPs, if we've got solid pieces elsewhere, this trio hitting around each other can provide a return given the price and matchup.
Braves vs. Zack Littell (Rays): Ozzie Albies ($3,400), Matt Olson ($3,200), Michael Harris ($2,900)
You can take everything I stated about Littell earlier and throw it out the window. Not really, but this looks like a game where picking a side can be advantageous. I do like Littell a good bit to limit Atlanta overall, but the flip side is we know how much potential exists, and the Braves' pieces are priced too cheaply to ignore despite form. Littell is allowing a .392 wOBA to lefties on the road, with a .905 OPS. Olson is a nice stand-alone play Friday, as he hasn't been nearly as bad as the price suggests and is riding a seven-game hitting streak. We prefer Albies when facing a left-handed pitcher, but he seems to have settled into the two-hole in this lineup regardless, and Harris will hit atop the lineup. Albies is off a 4-for-5 day and leads the team in doubles, while Harris has reached base six times in his last four. And with this group hitting 1-2-4, we should get a boost from whatever Marcell Ozuna can muster between them.
