3 MLB FanDuel Studs to Target on 8/26/19
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 let,s take a look at a few top-end options that you can count on to anchor your lineup today.
Sonny Gray, P, Cincinnati Reds ($11,300)
There's only one pitcher that is over $8,500, but fortunately for us, he definitely qualifies as a stud.
Sonny Gray has bee absolutely brilliant so far in 2019 -- he's a heavy favorite (moneyline -165), and his consistency over his last 10 starts has been outstanding. He's logged 40 or more FanDuel points in nine of his starts, logging a quality start in eight of those starts.
He's even stepped things up even more in recent outings -- he's topped 45 points in each of his last four starts, and he shut these same Miami Marlins out earlier this season.
He's certainly expensive, but he's an outstanding option at the top of the pitching pile.
Bryce Harper, OF, Philadelphia Phillies ($4,200)
Back from paternity leave, Bryce Harper will look to keep up his hot streak at the dish, and it seems like to occur in the battle of Pennsylvania tonight against Joe Musgrove.
Everyone should be well aware of his five home runs in the last week, but if that weren't enough to entice you on Harper, take a look at how bad Musgrove has been. Since the beginning of May, Musgrove has posted a 5.79 ERA over 107 1/3 innings pitched, including a 38.3% hard-hit rate.
Those numbers are ugly -- but the numbers against lefties are even uglier. This season, he's been slammed for a .498 slugging percentage and 36.6% hard-hit rate on the season.
Bank some Harper power upside tonight and what could be a big offensive evening.
Christian Yelich, OF, Milwaukee Brewers ($4,800)
We all know how awesome Christian Yelich is at Miller Park. What the dude doesn't need is help, but he's getting that in the form of Adam Wainwright tonight.
On the season, spanning 253 batters, Wainwright has gotten absolutely annihilated by lefties. He's allowed a .519 slugging percentage, .377 wOBA, a 14.2% walk rate, and 44.2% hard-hit rate.
Now consider Yelich at home versus righties this year, where he owns a crisp 1.261 OPS and .451 ISO. Fire this masher in and reap the rewards.
Matt Kupferle is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Matt Kupferle also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username MKupferle. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in his articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.
