MLB

3 MLB FanDuel Studs to Target on Thursday 7/22/21

Matt Kupferle  —  @MKupferle Jul 22nd, 2021
With Ronald Acuna out, Ozzie Albies has hit cleanup and stepped up in a big way. Which other top-flight options should we consider?

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.

Walker Buehler, SP, Los Angeles Dodgers ($10,500)

One guy who I was not super bullish on this year was Walker Buehler of the Los Angeles Dodgers. With his bumpy 2020, I was unsure how deep the Dodgers would let him pitch.

Boy, was I wrong.

So far this season, logging 112 1/3 innings pitched, the righty has posted a brilliant 3.34 FIP with a 26.0% strikeout rate, vaulting him back into ace-like status.

While the Giants have smacked righties around (110 wRC+), they also have whiffed a ton with a 25.2% strikeout rate. Buehler makes a lot of sense at the top end.

JD Martinez, OF, Boston Red Sox ($4,000)

A stack that should see a lot of love tonight is the Boston Red Sox, and there's no one who sticks out more than J.D. Martinez.

The Sox have been an outstanding offense against left-handed pitching (105 wRC+), and they get another southpaw tonight in Jordan Montgomery in a park that's third in park factor.

Martinez has long been known as a lefty-basher at the plate, and his 136 wRC+ mark this season shows he's doing the same yet again. Consider the veteran tonight.

Ozzie Albies, 2B, Atlanta Braves ($3,600)

Even with Ronald Acuna out, this Atlanta Braves offense has still been more than adequate, and Ozzie Albies has been at the heart of it.

That's good news, as Matt Moore goes tonight for the Philadelphia Phillies. Although he has held lefties in check this year, he's been slammed by righties this year for a .590 slugging percentage in 110 total batters faced.

Albies, a switch-hitter, should be primed to pop tonight, as evidenced by his .290 isolated power (ISO) in this split.

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.