MLB Daily Fantasy Helper: Thursday 9/21/17

The beauty of daily fantasy baseball is that the top targets are different each and every day. Whether it's the right-handed catcher who destroys left-handed pitching or the mid-range hurler facing a depleted lineup, you're not going to find yourself using the same assets time after time.

While this breaks up the monotony, it can make it hard to decide which players are primed to succeed on a given day. We can help bridge that gap.

In addition to our custom optimal lineups, you can check out our batting and pitching heat maps, which show the pieces in the best spot to succeed on that slate. Put on the finishing touches with our games and lineups page to see who's hitting where and what the weather looks like, and you'll have yourself a snazzy looking team to put up some big point totals. We've also got our Solo Shot Podcast, which breaks down the MLB daily fantasy slate each day. Here's today's episode.

If you need help getting started on that trek, here are some of the top options on the board today.

Pitchers to Target

High-Priced Pitchers

Carlos Martinez ($9,400 on FanDuel): On a day with sparse pitching choices, Carlos Martinez is your clear top choice. Despite having one of his worst starts of the season against the Chicago Cubs in his last start (7 earned runs in 5 1/3 innings), Martinez has otherwise been a solid and consistent DFS contributor throughout the season. In 30 starts, he's put up a 3.82 SIERA, 25.4% strikeout rate, and 8.2% walk rate. He also keeps the ball out of the air (51.5% ground-ball rate), which further keeps him out of trouble. Hitting the road against the Cincinnati Reds in Great American Ball Park may not be the most ideal spot, but Martinez's talent makes him the most reliable arm available.