MLB

3 MLB FanDuel Studs to Target on Thursday 7/29/21

Matt Kupferle  —  @MKupferle Jul 29th, 2021
J.D. Martinez has been outstanding at the plate, and with a lefty on the mound, he could be in a spot to mash. Who else 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.

Joe Musgrove, SP, San Diego Padres ($8,400)

As we look at the Thursday main slate, which is an abbreviated one, only two pitchers break the $9,000 threshold in Freddy Peralta and Hyun-jin Ryu. With Peralta looking like he may be in a piggyback type of situation and Ryu allowing three earned runs or more in three of his last five starts, let's pivot to Joe Musgrove of the San Diego Padres.

With a 27.4% strikeout rate on the season, Musgrove has been the less-heralded off-season acquisition in the rotation, overshadowed by playoff darling Blake Snell. However, the righty has been far more effective, as we can see from his 3.13 ERA and 1.01 WHIP this season.

The Colorado Rockies have struggled at the plate this season, ranking 21st in team wOBA and posting only a .151 isolated power (ISO) mark. Per our model, Musgrove leads the pack by about four points, so he's our pick-to-click tonight.

Akil Baddoo, OF, Detroit Tigers ($3,500)

Since the beginning of June, Akil Baddoo has arguably been one of the best hitters in baseball -- but have people really noticed?

Spanning 166 plate appearances, Baddoo has slammed five home runs and swiped nine bags, recording a .366 wOBA and 132 wRC+ over that time frame. And as a team, they've been cooking with gas too -- over the last week, the Detroit Tigers rank ninth in team wOBA.

Alexander Wells makes the start for the Baltimore Orioles tonight, and the numbers carry a mixed review. Over those 10 1/3 innings, he's posted a 12.8% walk rate, and he's been bitten by the long ball, giving up two homers. He wasn't very effective in 43 Triple-A innings, either, posting a 4.82 xFIP.

Expect Baddoo to post a very lofty number this evening.

J.D. Martinez, OF, Boston Red Sox ($3,900)

I know some claim that batter-handedness isn't everything, but have you peeped J.D. Martinez's numbers against southpaws?

Okay, for his career, you can no longer say these are small splits -- spanning 1,306 plate appearances with the platoon advantage, Martinez has smacked lefties for a 154 wRC+, including a .400 wOBA and .962 OPS.

With Ryu struggling as of late, this could be a smash spot for Martinez, as the Red Sox lead the slate in terms of implied team total.


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.