MLB

3 MLB FanDuel Studs to Target on 9/5/19

Matt Kupferle  —  @MKupferle Sep 5th, 2019
Stephen Strasburg has been fantastic this season, especially since the All-Star Break. Who else is worth paying up for tonight?

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.

Stephen Strasburg, P, Washington Nationals ($11,200)

Long known for being a challenge to roster in season-long formats, Stephen Strasburg has been one of baseball's best arms in 2019, and if he can duplicate efforts like his last turn, he is DFS gold in some spots, too.

Owning a slate-best 29.8% strikeout rate, Strasburg dominated a terrible Miami Marlins offense for 14 whiffs en route to a 76-point FanDuel effort. He's averaged 41.2 FanDuel points per start since the All-Star break.

While the team context will certainly be more challenging against the Atlanta Braves, one of the league's best offenses, Strasburg is clearly the top arm on the slate.

Anthony Rizzo, 1B, Chicago Cubs ($4,200)

The Chicago Cubs will be very familiar with NL Central foes down the stretch, and they could make life miserable for Chase Anderson, tonight's starter for the Milwaukee Brewers.

Simply by his own doing, Anderson has been awful as of late. For the season, he hasn't topped 40 FanDuel points in a single start, and over his last seven starts, he has averaged only 19.3 starts, including a 3.0-point stinker against these same North Siders last time out.

Rizzo, meanwhile, has bombed right-handed pitching this season -- he owns a .974 OPS and .556 slugging percentage in 2019, including 20 of his home runs.

Pay up for Rizzo and don't look back.

J.D. Martinez, OF, Boston Red Sox ($4,400)

Sporting an absurd 6.25 implied team total, easily the highest on the slate, Boston Red Sox will be in high demand against southpaw Martin Perez, who could be hitting the showers early.

Unlike Strasburg's strikeout prowess, Perez sports the third-worst strikeout rate on the main slate, at 19.1%, and he's allowed a .463 slugging to right-handed bats.

For a guy like J.D. Martinez, it's time to eat. This season, he owns a 1.392 OPS and .902 slugging percentage against lefties, making him certainly worth spending up for.


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.