3 MLB FanDuel Studs to Target on Friday 9/24/21
Just like in other sports, the focal point of your daily fantasy baseball lineups will be your high-salary 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 pitchers, the high-salary options typically come with the highest floors, too.
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.
With your high-salary picks playing such a big role in your lineup, you need to be right on these guys, so let's take a look at a few top-end options you can count on to anchor your lineup today.
Dylan Cease, SP, Chicago White Sox ($9,000)
The high-end arms are intriguing on this slate. Let's examine some of the top options before diving into Dylan Cease.
Gerrit Cole ($11,000) and Nathan Eovaldi ($10,000) are two of the better plays, but they are taking on each other, with each facing a good offense. That's an easy stay-away for me. Another potential option is Frankie Montas. He has been utterly brilliant of late but draws a Houston Astros team with only an 18.0% strikeout rate over the last month. No thanks.
That pushes me to Cease, whose matchup is quite dreamy. He gets the Cleveland Indians, who've logged a 25.3% strikeout rate (third-worst) over the last 30 days with only a .317 wOBA over that same time.
Cease's 31.6% strikeout rate and 14.6% swinging-strike rate give him gobs of upside, and he tops our projections.
Brandon Belt, 1B, San Francisco Giants ($3,800)
The San Francisco Giants have a smokin' implied team total of 6.86 runs tonight, and it's clear we need some exposure to this date with Peter Lambert.
Lambert made 19 starts in 2019, and they weren't good. Over 89 1/3 innings pitched, he logged a pitiful 13.6% strikeout rate, and he was smacked for 1.81 homers per nine. This is his first start since 2019, and it's about as tough of a matchup as you could draw up.
Lefties gave Lambert fits in 2019, and that's where Brandon Belt comes in. Left-handed swingers bashed Lambert for a .613 slugging percentage (not a typo) that year, which makes Belt an incredible play in this Coors clash. At a salary that isn't too steep and as part of the night's obvious top stack, Belt figures to be very popular.
Nick Castellanos, OF, Cincinnati Reds ($3,800)
If the Cincinnati Reds are going to climb back into the Wild Card race, their offense needs to deliver tonight at home against Paolo Espino.
The Washington Nationals' starter has been terrorized by same-sided bats, and Nick Castellanos fits the bill. This season, covering 209 total batters faced, righties have slammed Espino for a .457 slugging percentage and 2.09 homers per nine.
Castellanos has been at his best this year, mashing his way to a .556 slugging percentage, and Great American Ball Park ranks in the top five in both park factor and home run factor. Get Castellanos in your lineups tonight.
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.
