MLB

3 MLB FanDuel Studs to Target on 9/18/19

Matt Kupferle  —  @MKupferle Sep 18th, 2019
Gerrit Cole has been on absolute fire, and he is primed for another monster evening. What other top notch plays should we be thinking about?

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.

Gerrit Cole, SP, Houston Astros ($12,100)

Another day and another brilliant start from Gerrit Cole of the Houston Astros is likely on tap.

A quick peep about Cole's dominance -- the dude has been on absolute fire. Over his last five starts, he has topped 60 or more FanDuel points in four of them, and he has recorded a quality start in all but two outings since May 22nd.

Now, he gets to attack a Texas Rangers team that ranks third-worst in strikeout rate (25.6%), leading to another potentially explosive outing for Cole. Pay up and don't look back.

Eugenio Suarez, 3B, Cincinnati Reds ($3,900)

Since the beginning of the 2018 season, here is the list of players with more home runs than Eugenio Suarez of the Cincinnati Reds:

Mike Trout (84).

That's literally it. With 81 home runs to his name, and 47 so far in 2019, Suarez has been absolutely roasting the ball at the dish so far.

To make things even more tantalizing, Jon Lester takes the hill for the Chicago Cubs, and Suarez owns lefties -- over 146 plate appearances in the split this year, he's racked up a .407 wOBA, .296 isolated power (ISO), and 53.4% hard-hit rate.

He may be a pricey option, but he could lead the Reds to back-to-back victories tonight.

Alex Bregman, SS, Houston Astros ($4,100)

Like Suarez, Alex Bregman has been on a mission, and he is part of an absurdly stacked line up in Houston. After clocking his 37th home run last night, and second in three days, the slugger owns a cool 1.003 OPS on the year.

Bregman also gets the benefit of the platoon advantage this evening, and that also bodes well as he faces Kolby Allard of the Texas Rangers. Bregman has clocked southpaws for a .691 slugging percentage this season, ripping 13 home runs in only 149 at-bats.

With the 'Stros plugged into the third-highest implied team total for the day, signaling we want some exposure to this team, consider Bregman.

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.