Just like in other sports, the focal point of your daily fantasy baseball lineups will be your high-priced studs. These guys take up by far the biggest chunk of your cap space, but they also offer the highest ceiling, and in the case of pitcher, by far the highest floors for production.
For hitters, we're looking for guys with big numbers, strong matchups, and with players around them that are likely to produce well too, increasing our chances for runs and RBI. For pitchers we want big strikeout numbers, while the ability to go deep in a game and pick up a win is also valuable.
Taking up so much salary, and playing such a big role in your lineup's ceiling, you're not going to want to whiff on these guys, so lets take a look at a few top-end options that you can count on to anchor your lineup today.
Anthony Rizzo, 1B, Chicago Cubs
FanDuel Price: $4,100
This is a pretty good slate for offense. As of Monday morning, six teams have been given implied totals, and only one of them is below 4.41 -- with three above the 5.00-run barrier. The top implied total (as of now) belongs to the Chicago Cubs, who boast a 5.13 clip for their road date with Trevor Williams.
Williams has been getting blitzed by left-handed hitters in 2019, allowing a .327 wOBA in the split with a mere 13.5% strikeout rate. That makes this a great spot for Anthony Rizzo.
The Chicago Cubs' first baseman owns a .379 wOBA and 11.8% walk rate for the season. With the platoon advantage, Rizzo holds a gaudy .402 wOBA with a 42.9% hard-hit rate.
Hitting in the heart of what should be one of the night's top offenses, Rizzo is worth paying up for in this spot.
Christian Yelich, OF, Milwaukee Brewers
FanDuel Price: $4,800
We're becoming numb to how amazing Christian Yelich is. He posted a .465 wOBA in June, and it wasn't that big of a deal. Today, he's on the road at Great American Ball Park for a date with righty Tyler Mahle.
Yelich has dominated right-handed pitching this season to the tune of a .476 wOBA, 54.7% hard-hit rate and 41.2% fly-ball rate. He's got 20 jacks in 229 plate appearances in the split.
Mahle isn't a bum. His 3.97 SIERA is pretty darn solid, and the same can be said for his 24.4% strikeout rate. But an 8.9% swinging-strike rate hints at some impending negative regression in the strikeout department, and the Milwaukee Brewers have a 5.00 implied total for this one.
On a slate without many good pitching options, Yelich is easier to fit in than he normally is, and he makes sense as part of a Milwaukee stack or as a one-off play. Our models have Yelich as the slate's top bat.
Fernando Tatis Jr., SS, San Diego Padres
FanDuel Price: $4,300
The San Diego Padres get to face Jeff Samardzija, who has pitched to a 4.81 SIERA this year while allowing a 40.9% hard-hit rate and 43.1% fly-ball rate. That puts a lot of the Padres in play, starting with Fernando Tatis Jr., their star rookie.
Tatis has posted a .420 wOBA through his first 205 MLB plate appearances, racking up 11 homers with 12 steals. He's got a .407 wOBA against righties, and he's put up a 41.5% hard-hit rate over 100 plate appearances at Petco. He's also on fire at the moment, mashing his way to a .515 wOBA over his last 35 plate appearances.
Samardzija has surrendered a 43.8% hard-hit rate and 40.3% fly-ball rate to right-handed hitters this year, and Tatis is in a nice spot to continue his excellent run.