MLB

3 MLB FanDuel Studs to Target on 8/23/19

Christian Yelich returns to his friendly home confines in a dream matchup against Merrill Kelly. Which other expensive options should you trust?

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.

Jack Flaherty, P, St. Louis Cardinals ($9,900)

It would appear, as the kids say, Jack Flaherty's pitching game is on fleek.

Since the start of the second half, the right-hander has raised his game another level, posting a .207 wOBA, 0.83 ERA, and 33.1% strikeout rate in 43 1/3 innings pitched. That hefty strikeout rate seems to be directly correlated to Flaherty's increased slider usage, a pitch on which he holds a 23.2% swinging-strike rate this season.

Flaherty faces a Colorado Rockies offense that is second-worst in road wOBA, so dial up the right-hander for what our models project to be a big night.

Tommy Pham, OF, Tampa Bay Rays ($3,900)

The Tampa Bay Rays continue to fight in the playoff race, and Tommy Pham has been surging offensively for the team. Can he keep up this torrid pace?

Well, the good news is he battles a southpaw tonight, and that's been Pham's best split. Over the last three seasons, Pham has ripped lefties for a .301 batting average, .393 wOBA, .918 OPS, and 44.4% hard-hit rate.

And Ty Blach, the Baltimore Orioles' starter tonight, hasn't exactly shined versus righties as he's allowed a homer every 34 plate appearances to a righty (versus one every 126 plate appearances to a lefty).

Christian Yelich, OF, Milwaukee Brewers ($4,800)

Tonight's top projected hitter, Christian Yelich, couldn't be walking into a better spot this evening. We all know the dude loves those cheese curds in Milwaukee, where his numbers are insane. Coupled that with a matchup against pitcher really struggling versus lefties, and Yelich is in a money spot.


What Yelich is doing at home is a bit absurd -- quite frankly, he's approaching Barry Bonds-type of numbers. Since the start of the 2018 season, when he started claiming Miller Park as his home, Yelich owns a .335 batting average, 1.133 OPS, .460 wOBA, and 47 home runs in 469 at-bats at home. That's right -- roughly every 10 times he puts the ball in play, one of them has been a jack.

His matchup against Merrill Kelly makes this spot even more drool-worthy for Yelich. This season, Kelly has allowed a 45.9% hard-hit rate to lefties and only struck out 15.6% of them.

Yelich is a costly investment, but he is worth paying up for on tonight's slate.



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.