 We have got ourselves in a very interesting situation for today in daily fantasy baseball because lock for the main slate is a 12 20 p.m. Eastern on Fando, which means if you listen to this after 12 20, we'll see you tomorrow Enjoy your day But we've got a hustle to get through this podcast and get you set to fill out some good lineups Or any today is break down this nine game main slate still give you the info you need to make good decisions But hopefully do so in a quicker fashion to get you on your way before lock rolls along Let's dive on in and get you set for this Wednesday slate welcome on into the solo shot That's right here on the Fanduola podcast network in number fire calm. My name is Jim Saunas I am a senior writer and analyst for a number fire calm here to break down this nine a game main slate with locks ever 12 20 p.m. Eastern over on Fanduil and there's a lot of weather to note for today in Atlanta winds are in from center at 12 miles per hour That is a slight downgrade to bats of the Nationals and the Braves There's a good chance of rain in Cincinnati for the Reds and the Guardians It honestly doesn't look great So no guarantees that game even goes so be wary of Reds and Guardians bats in Minneapolis for the twins and Dodgers wins Are out to center at 15 miles per hour, but it's just 42 degrees So still a pretty bad spot for hitting today. I would say that's a massive downgrade to hitters there There's a chance of rain in Detroit for the Tigers and Red Sox though. They'll at least start the game I think they should be fine winds are in from right at 17 miles per hour So upgrade pitchers in that one the game in St. Louis between the Cardinals and Royals should start But then it looks like heavy rain will roll in around the third inning or so so proceed with caution on that one and finally temperatures in San Francisco for the Giants and Padres are 49 degrees so downgrade hitters in that one will dive on into the pitchers in just one second first a quick reminder To make sure you're subscribed to the number fired daily fantasy podcast feed wherever you get your podcast our PGA podcast for Thursday went up yesterday myself and Brandon Cudula breaking down our thoughts on the RBC heritage We've got NHL still going USC NASCAR a lot of good stuff and of course the solo shot here every week So make sure you're subscribed wherever you get your podcast and also do not forget that if you have not yet signed up Fandal fantasy You want to dive into those DFS streets? Do so right now for users who have yet to make a deposit on Fandal fantasy You can deposit today to receive two free entries All you have to do is deposit a minimum of ten dollars into your Fandal DFS account And you'll be instantly rewarded with two free vouchers This is a limited time offer So be sure to deposit now and play for free head over to Fandal.com or download the Fandal fantasy app today Eligibility restrictions apply go to Fandal.com or download the Fandal app for more details pitching preview for this Wednesday slate We got Max Scherzer here checking in as the highest salary pitcher on Fandal He is eleven thousand dollars followed by Aaron Nola in that same game at ten five. That'll be fun from our Valdez Is ten thousand dollars Sean Mania 96 Logan Webb facing Mania is 93 Clinton Kershaw making his season debut $9,100 max read is 9,000 then we have Adam Wainwright, Nathania Valde, Kyle Hendrix as the others being $8,000 or higher now I think at the top get a tough choice between Max Scherzer and Aaron Nola because both these guys are very good pitchers in tough matchups And they're both pretty stretched out So they're unequal footing and it might be dumb But I think I like Aaron Nola more and there are a couple reasons for that The first one is that the matchup is better for Nola. He's facing the Mets They have a much lower ISO against righties and the Phillies do and also a lower fly ball rate They're not a big strikeout team the Mets, but the other stuff matters a lot in terms of DFS and Nola can bring the strikeouts himself He has made 13 starts while throwing fewer forcing fastballs and It's skewed more towards sinkers than you'd like, but it hasn't hurt his upside He's got a 31 strikeout right in that time at 3.06 skill interactive. ERA Still some rocky starts in there, but the peripherals on Nola are sick I've got Nola projected for 6.83 strikeouts right now. That is the second highest mark on the slate behind Scherzer But we have Nola at a bit of a discount. He's at home I think those factors do push me his direction. That's enough for me to put Nola first on my list here at $10,500 It's kind of a similar spot for Logan Webb who I'm going to put second He's a good pitcher. It's not the most electric matchup But web is $9,300 and he has lots of things to like here I'm going to put him next up on my list He's facing the Padres and the Padres are a team. I expect to be a low strikeout team this year They've got a 21 strikeout rate against righties since it started last year on their current active roster Most of the high strikeout guys on this slate the pitchers here aren't in great spots from that perspective not facing high strikeout teams So that's not necessarily an opportunity cost thing. It's just like, okay It's a no negative across the board Plus web is nasty. He has thrown fewer forcing fastballs like nola over his past 11 starts Again, could be a bad thing because it, you know Could throw more sinkers and sinkers suck But it hasn't hurt web It's actually led him to be like this dominant type guy with a 2.81 skill interactive. You're right 19 percent fly ball rate and a 26 strikeout right now. The strikeout rate is not massive But it's also not nothing I've got him projected for 6.22 strikeouts. That ranks the sixth highest on this slate But when you put that in a cool park with the skills that he has The rest of his profile should be really good. So I like web a lot at $9,300 I know I tend to be higher on him than most in terms of dfs, but I'm okay with that personally So I think that uh logan web a mighty fine option for today in the mid-range on fan duel as far as a value guy We're not going to get the same floor that we get from web From nathan yavaldi, but I love his ceiling for today And I think that honestly if I'm looking at things relative to salary I'd probably go yavaldi above web for today and the reason is I love the ceiling for yavaldi He's facing the tigers. They will strike out. They've got a 24 strikeout rate against righty since the start of last year Which is tied for the highest mark on this slate It's an intriguing combo because yavaldi gets a lot of strikeouts on his own as well In the first start this year yavaldi through his slider 19.7 percent of the time That is up from his full season mark last year So more sliders this year than he did the last year But it's a change that he started doing back in early august last year And if we look at the 11 starts then the one start here with more sliders He's at a 29 strikeout rate got a 3.22 skill interactive era He is letting up a bit too much hard contact in this time And that's why yavaldi is $8,500 and not $9,500 $9,900 But he has upside and we need that on a slate with so many good pictures to hang With those top end scores at scherzer nola, etc. etc We'll get you yavaldi through 76 pitches in his first start this year That was good enough to get him seven strikeouts across five innings So i'm guessing he'll go 85 to 90 or so here I've gotten projected to 85 so on the lower end of that and that puts him for 6.68 strikeouts Which ranks fourth on this slate you're getting that for $8,500 So I know that there were some homework issues with the yavaldi that could happen again based on the line If he's facing based on the fact that he does let us some hard contact, but I am okay Hoping he keeps the yard the ball in the yard here and going with yavaldi once again today So the top guy again nola slightly over scherzer Web two in the mid-range and then yavaldi But I think yavaldi again grades out pretty well relative to this hour So I'll probably have more of him than I have web for today as far as stacks go for today I mentioned that there is wind blowing in in atlanta and that is true and it does downgrade batters there but I still think the braves are at the top stack of the night they're facing joziah gray and It's risky to stack against gray because he definitely has talent And that shows up in his strikeout numbers because gray has a 25 strikeout rate over his past five stars So he's been throwing more sliders. So that's good a lot of strikeouts But he also has an 11 walk rate and a 47 fly ball rate in that time So he gets in big trouble and he's a volatile pitcher and volatility can be good If we're looking for like upside, but it also can be good if we're looking for stacking against him Against the mets in his first dark gray had five strikeouts across four innings But also four earned runs because of those other issues I do like gray long term. I love high strikeout guys And I think he'll eventually be solid But he's not there yet and it makes it easy to stack the braves on a slate lacking in elite stacking options I'd give preference to the lefties on the braves here when stacking them because they do have a higher hard hit rate Against gray in his career than righties. So the writers are still good But bump up guys like ozzy albies matt olson eddie rosario all those guys Worthy of a bump up as a result of the platoon splits here relative to the powerful righties You could consider alex dickerson. He is uh, $2,100 I always get a bit nervous with him because i'm worried that he could leave for a pinch hitter So just consider that but if you want a salary saver, you want to get nola with albies or olson stuff like that I think that you could consider dickerson in that situation Moving to our second stack mero kelly looked really good in his first start He had seven strikeouts in four innings against the padres and he was good this spring too And probably I think that kelly is a solid pitcher But it is a very tough slate for stack We know a lot of good options that so many ace is pitching and kelly's facing the astros So I think they were a good team to stack for tonight kelly in that game last week continued a trend He started last year where he threw fewer curveballs and more change ups Clearly things have been fine with that approach based on those results last week and based on a lot of what he did last year too But some of the peripherals Show that he's not quite like an elite arm yet. He has a 4.56 skill interactive e array in that time Which is tied for second highest in the slate. He has a 20 strike rate Which means a lot of balls in play and the fly ball rate a bit above average at 38 So he's better, but he's still not pristine, especially on a tough slate The astros have a 119 at wrc plus against righty since the start of last year a 192 iso And I'll happily take both those things. So I think they are second today behind just the braze for stacking One guy though. I'm not super itchy to use in this stack is michael brantley He's likely to second and you get a not super high salary guy bad second a stack you want to do good park cool But i'm not sure he has the upside to burn me for not using him Like there's not a lot of fomo here. He has a 146 iso Against righty since the start of last year no big changes early on this year So I'd much rather hit down to guys lower in the order like jeremy pania chasmacormac They're just higher upside guys and brantley. So I am okay taking that risk glossing over a guy batting second in a stack that I like because I'm just not sure he'll burn me for not doing so. So that's where I'm with brantley for right now He could be fine, but I'm okay taking that risk for sure The third stack is going to be the cubs. I'm not super into them like as a whole team for this year But I do like their matchup for today. They're facing Zach Thompson Thompson Pretty decent this spring and I think he has talent too. There's still some flaws here though Primarily Thompson doesn't get enough strikeouts yet. He made 13 starts last year with the marlins and in those 13 starts He had a 20 strikeout rate with a 9 walk rate And that leads to a slate high 4.68 skill interactive era for each guy's most relevant sample Thompson did do some nice things in the bullpen and I wouldn't be shocked if those translate to When he's in the rotation this year But I kind of want to see it before I believe it especially when we're in a situation where again We're pretty thin on quality stacks for this slate We also saw Thompson let up a 40 fly ball rate. So not a ton of strikeouts. Let's have fly balls That's kind of the key formula always but especially for today on this slate I think that's enough to beat on the cubs for today. Thompson's big issue last year was handling lefties He let up a 454 slugging percentage to them versus a 304 for righties and It's not ideal for the cubs because they are a kind of righty heavy lineup But Raphael Ortega absolutely good enough to use very high on him Ian Hap has some power not opposed to Jonathan VR if he plays not sure he will but if he's in there I'd be fine with it and Say a Suzuki's a righty. So that's worth noting But I'm obviously very okay with him a couple homers last 90s $2,800 So Suzuki the exception to the lefty preference rule But guys like Ortega, Hap, maybe VR all those guys very okay by me I'd rather not do hayward. He's kind of in the the Michael Brantley bucket where I'm not sure he'll burn me if I don't use him. Let's go now to things to watch for today for one other stack I've been looking at I'd be okay checking out the Reds if that game does wind up playing They're facing Tristan Mackenzie Mackenzie pitched really well last year after he came back up from the minors But still again a 45% fly ball rating that time He had just one strikeout when he pitched in relief last week I think it was 14 batters face and one strikeout two walks. That's a good recipe for stacking So we need that game to play but if we get that green light, I would say we are good to stack the Reds at that time I'm curious what Clayton Kershaw looks like today My strikeout projections like Kershaw a lot. Um, I'm just not Fully sure where his pitch count will be he went 75 back on April 6th. So I project him projected to 84 But like with the Dodgers they tend to be conservative with this stuff They may slow play things he might have been 75 on April 6th and then be 75 again today So I'm interested, but I'm wary of the pitch count and not fully convinced even of what my numbers say about Kershaw for today As for his offense in that game My not listing them the stacking section here was almost entirely due to weather because they're facing Chris Paddock And Paddock let up a ton of hard contact last year. I'd be happy to stack against him If it weren't 45 degrees outside. That's brutal for hitting So I'll be lower on the Dodgers for that reason for today. Love the matchup Love the offense, but just lower on them as a result of the lower temperatures in Minneapolis Let's finish up here with some Homer calls for today for the boring one I will go Matt Olson again in a good spot for a lefty Facing off against Josiah Gray. I think that you always want to go towards guys like that So the boring call is Matt Olson as the dinger call for there for the fun one I do want to go with Raphael Ortega because Ortega I think it's kind of forgotten But he like had a good year last year 282 played appearances against righties 203 iso 42% flat ball right can also swipe some back So, you know, we're talking about dingers here, but like he's using for dfs Even if he doesn't go deep he can still pay off for dfs So the homerun calls for today Matt Olson and Raphael Ortega Hopefully that was fast enough to get you on your way in time to go fill out some good lineups again 12 20 is locked for today So go over get those lineups in have some fun win some money and enjoy the slate Do not forget to subscribe to the number fire daily fantasy podcast feed wherever you get your podcasts I'm on apple podcast spotify stitcher google podcast. You name it. You find it We can find us there And while you're there if you like what you hear leave us a rating and review if you've got questions for me I am on twitter at jim sonnis j i m s a n n e s You can also follow the fan dual podcast network at fan dual podcast big Thank you to everyone for tuning in for today. Good luck to you with your dfs lineups. Enjoy the basketball tonight We'll talk to you once again on thursday for another slate This has been the heat check or the solo shot right here on the fan dual podcast network