3 MLB FanDuel Studs to Target on Thursday 9/23/21
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.
Lance McCullers, SP, Houston Astros ($10,200)
On a four-game main slate, there aren't a plethora of great pitching options to choose from.
Two stick out -- Aaron Nola and Lance McCullers. I'm siding with McCullers.
McCullers has the better fantasy matchup between the two. He faces a Los Angeles Angels offense that has been in the tank lately. Over the last 30 days, the Halos have recorded a .290 wOBA (fourth-worst), .144 ISO, and 23.5% strikeout rate. All of those marks are far more appetizing than the clips for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Nola's opponent. The Pirates don't pack much punch, but they also don't have a lot of swing-and-miss to them, carrying the seventh-lowest strikeout rate for the year (22.1%).
Knowing all of these factors, McCullers profiles well, and he ranks second-best at pitcher, per our projections. As long as he can keep the walks under control, McCullers makes for a great play.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr, 1B/3B, Toronto Blue Jays ($4,500)
With easily the highest implied team total on the day, the Toronto Blue Jays should be super popular. That means we need to fire up Vladimir Guerrero Jr..
Tonight's opposing starter, Michael Pineda, has some odd metrics to his profile. The sinker-baller has given up way too many home runs this season, allowing 1.46 homers per nine, and while lefties have maintained a particularly spicy advantage against him, the .418 slugging percentage righties have recorded is no joke, either.
We don't need to boast the platitudes of Vladdy, as there are many, and he's ready to rock in this one.
Adolis Garcia, OF, Texas Rangers ($3,400)
On such a unique slate, there have to be some liberties we take in compiling our roster. For me, with a game inside of Camden Yards, which ranks in the top-five in park factor and home run factor, we can roster some folks from the Texas Rangers.
Adolis Garcia stands out as a solid play against Zac Lowther. The southpaw has allowed 2.29 dingers per nine this season, and his 11.2% walk rate has not done him any favors.
Garcia has recorded a 42.7% hard-hit rate and 42.7% fly-ball rate in the split. Fire him up with confidence as a one-off play or as part of Texas stacks.
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.
