This article is part of our FanDuel MLB series.
A 12-game main slate awaits Friday evening at FanDuel with a 7:05 p.m. ET first pitch. All 24 teams have a pitcher listed, and it's pretty top-heavy, with five arms coming in priced in the five figures and six more in the $9,000 tier. Tarik Skubal ($12,000) leads the way at a price point I don't believe I've seen this season. Run lines certainly suggest offense won't come easily here, with two games having a slate-high run total of 9.0 while six sit at 7.5 runs or fewer.
An early look at the weather doesn't provide much of an edge. We're dry throughout. Winds look to be swirling in St. Louis and blowing in elsewhere, most notably in Kansas City.
Pitching
Zack Wheeler, PHI at MIA ($11,500): The only concern here is the price. Wheeler has turned in six straight quality starts, striking out at least six in those outings while having a 34-fantasy point floor and a 61-point ceiling. The floor is solid, but we need more here given the cost. That comes from a Marlins lineup that's 12-for-45 (.267) with just one extra-base hit off of him and has an 88 wRC+ off righties to date. Strikeout potential is marginally in question. While the Marlins fan at a 23.1 percent mark, their current hitters have whiffed only 19.1 percent of the time off Wheeler.
Kevin Gausman, TOR at ATL ($9,400): The easy/potentially lazy option here is Nick Pivetta ($9,300) against the lowly White Sox. For GPPs, give me Gausman as a likely low-rostered option with potential. Is anyone suffering through Braves games nightly like I am? They got five hits early yesterday and then had 24 batters retired consecutively, by Austin Gomber, who needed only 92 pitches to go eight innings. C'mon. They sit with a below-average 94 wRC+ and a targetable 24.1 strikeout rate against righties and have now scored nine runs in their last five games. Their current lineup is 18-for-60 (.300) off of Gausman, which isn't ideal, but two of the three homers came from Adam Duvall, who almost certainly isn't in the lineup. Gausman is far from a model of consistency but does have four quality starts in his last seven, striking out 36 in 46.1 innings. Look for more strikeouts Friday.
Mitch Spence, OAK vs. DET ($7,800): The bottom tier of the Friday pitching slate is pretty gross, to the point where I'd likely advocate simply punting the position with someone cheaper than Spence and hoping for 20 fantasy points. But none of the matchups or innings potential stand out. Spence has been better at home (3.99 ERA/3.35 FIP) than on the road (5.09 ERA, 5.23 FIP), where his strikeouts are also up and his walks are down. He's gone at least five innings in seven of his last eight. The Tigers have a 24.1 percent K rate, .298 wOBA and 93 wRC+ off righties. It's reasonable he can keep them in this game while dueling with Skubal.
Top Targets
Matthew Boyd has been beyond solid for the Guardians, but is anyone willing to trust him against the Dodgers? I assume not, and that's why he's omitted from the above section. But the form is enough to not run out and use Dodger bats heavily. Mookie Betts ($4,100) profiles safely, however. He's 3-for-10 off Boyd, has hits in 10 of his last 11, and a .378 wOBA and 146 wRC+ off lefties.
I'll happily go right back with my Francisco Lindor ($3,800) affection. Reds starter Fernando Cruz won't stick around long enough to heavily target against, but he is allowing a .387 wOBA to lefties. Lindor continues to be underpriced, has three consecutive multi-hit games and is on a 15-game hitting streak. He has reached base in every game since July 30.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. ($3,600) is a common target when facing a lefty, boasting a .444 wOBA, 196 wRC+ and hitting .284 off of them. He's got 19 hits in his last 10 games. Atlanta starter Max Fried hasn't been dominant of late, allowing at least three runs in four of his last six.
Bargain Bats
Wyatt Langford ($3,100) is the Rangers' best against lefties with a .364 wOBA, 139 wRC+ and .244 ISO. He's moved into the two-hole in the batting order and has eight hits and eight RBI in his last five.
The Phillies got Edward Cabrera for six runs over four innings in mid-August. We don't need to target power in Miami's ballpark, however, so we can look towards secondary options. Kody Clemens ($2,600) makes too much sense if Alec Bohm is again sidelined. He has five RBI in his last three games. Bryson Stott ($2,800) works too and is more secure in his starting spot. Cabrera is allowing a .361 wOBA to lefties against .319 to righties.
Boston bats are going to be incredibly popular, but outside of Jarren Duran, they're in poor form, so it's another spot to possibly target some secondary options for shares of this offense. Enmanuel Valdez ($2,600) works if he draws the start. If not, Wilyer Abreu ($2,900), Connor Wong ($2,900) or Masataka Yoshida ($2,900) can help round out lineups.
Stacks to Consider
Padres vs. Mason Black (Giants): Fernando Tatis ($3,500), Manny Machado ($3,500), Luis Arraez ($2,900)
Black has allowed 16 runs in his five starts to date. He is allowing a .433 wOBA and 1.022 OPS to lefties and .394/.912 to righties. Thanks to the pricing we don't have to get cute and can simply load up on the top of the Padres order. Tatis is back off the injured list (IL) and still working on timing, but he and Machado give us obvious upside. Arraez gives us some stability that's flashed more than the usual potential of late, with double-digit fantasy points in five of his last eight games.
Mariners vs. Erick Fedde (Cardinals): Julio Rodriguez ($3,300), Cal Raleigh ($3,200), Randy Arozarena ($3,200)
This looks like a decent opportunity to again get the top/heart of an order for a fair/cheap price, and the Mariners are in decent form. Rodriguez is trending upward, finally, with an eight-game hitting streak, including three homers. Raleigh has six hits and seven RBI in his last four, while Arozarena has 12 hits in his last 11, including two homers. I'll warn that this trio is just 3-for-20 off of Fedde, but the Cardinals starter has allowed three or more runs in four of his last seven.
