MLB

3 MLB FanDuel Studs to Target on 9/25/19

Matt Kupferle  —  @MKupferle Sep 25th, 2019
Shane Bieber is trying to keep Cleveland in the Wild Card race, and he will do so with a great matchup against the poor White Sox offense. What other 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.

Shane Bieber, SP, Cleveland Indians ($11,500)

Despite losing Corey Kluber and Carlos Carrasco due to various maladies for large chunks of the 2019 season, and trading away Trevor Bauer, the Cleveland Indians remain in the Wild Card hunt thanks to brilliant pitching arms like Shane Bieber leading the charge.

Bieber gets to add to his impressive 2019 resume thanks to a fantastic matchup against a bad Chicago White Sox offense that ranks fourth-worst in team strikeout rate (25.6%), third-worst in isolated power (.152, ISO), and seventh-worst in team wOBA (.308).

Bieber also clocks in third-best on this main slate in terms of strikeout rate, and he's a heavy favorite (money line -300), so think about the right-hander tonight for your pitching choice.

Alex Bregman, 3B, Houston Astros ($4,400)

The Houston Astros are battling the New York Yankees for home-field advantage during the playoffs, and they will need Alex Bregman to continue to mash at the dish to help them get there.

Bregman and the crew will face Yusei Kikuchi tonight, and that could spell trouble for the southpaw. Bregman has dominated this split in 2019, recording a .723 slugging percentage and 1.115 OPS in 2019, including smacking 15 of his 40 home runs.

Kikuchi has struggled against all hitters this year, but especially righties -- they've ripped him for a .306 batting average and 28 home runs this season, so fold in a juicy 5.70 implied team total, and Astros should be in high demand.

J.D. Martinez, OF, Boston Red Sox ($4,300)

What a sad lost season for the Boston Red Sox in 2019.

Despite having one of baseball's most prolific offenses, clocking in fifth in team wOBA (.338), seventh in ISO (.198), and fourth in runs scored (864), this team will miss the playoffs, but it's certainly not J.D. Martinez who needs to shoulder the blame.

Another year, and another season of outstanding numbers from the outfielder, who has posted a .302/.556/.937 slash line. And as he has been doing in past seasons, lefties have stood no chance -- Martinez has bombed them for an .887 slugging percentage and 18 home runs in 133 at-bats.

Tonight against Kolby Allard, who has struggled this season, in humid Texas, which witnessed a mere 22 runs cross home plate last night, Martinez is primed for a big day.

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.