MLB

5 MLB FanDuel Studs to Target on 4/11/16

Kris Bryant tops the list of FanDuel stud batters, but who else should you target?

In any daily fantasy baseball slate, it’s important to select the correct top-priced hitters. 

Luckily for us, some top bats have excellent matchups today.

Let’s take a look at the FanDuel studs for today’s main slate:

Kris Bryant, 3B, Chicago Cubs

FanDuel Price: $4,200

Kris Bryant was as good as advertised in his rookie season, batting .275 with 26 home runs, 99 RBI, 87 runs, and 13 stolen bases. Hitting in the heart of a powerful Cubs lineup, the 24-year-old third baseman will continue to see multiple RBI opportunities per game in his sophomore campaign.

Tonight, Bryant will face lefty Brandon Finnegan, a reliever-turned-starter for the Cincinnati Reds. It can be difficult to project the performances of former relievers for a variety of factors, but the fact remains that Finnegan allowed a .180 ISO to right-handed hitters in 2015.

Speaking of splits, Bryant performed admirable versus southpaws last season, posting a .206 ISO and a .348 wOBA.

After a week on the road, Bryant and the Cubs will happily return home to Wrigley Field, where Bryant astonishingly hit 21 of his 26 home runs a year ago.

Similar to Chris Davis and Bryce Harper versus righties (more on that below), play Kris Bryant at home and you won’t be disappointed often.

Colby Rasmus, OF, Houston Astros

FanDuel Price: $3,400

Colby Rasmus is always an outfielder to keep on our short list of DFS targets on days when he is facing a right-handed pitcher. Over 948 plate appearances in the last three seasons, Rasmus has posted an .ISO split of .242.

Tonight, Rasmus will face Royals starter Chris Young, who was miserable versus lefties in 2015 to say the least.

Last season, left-handed batters destroyed Young to the tune of a .248 ISO and .409 wOBA in 175 plate appearances. Lefties also enjoyed a hefty 54.9 percent fly ball rate versus Young, so this is a perfect situation to take advantage of Rasmus’ massive upside.

Having batters with multi-home run games wins tournaments, and with his two home run game versus the Brewers last week, Rasmus has shown that ability.

Bryce Harper, OF, Washington Nationals

FanDuel Price: $5,200

It’s almost tiring writing about Bryce Harper everyday, but he’s seriously an elite option any time he is facing a right-handed pitcher.

The same matchup as today happened last Wednesday, when Harper squared off against Braves’ pitcher Bud Norris.

In that matchup, Harper performed like an actual human being and had just one hit in four at-bats for a meager 3.0 FanDuel points.

Don’t let the small sample get to your head -- Harper’s lights-out ISO of .354 versus right-handed pitching in 2015 and Norris’ 40 percent hard-hit rate versus left-handed batters has the potential for a monstrous fantasy performance from Bryce.

Nelson Cruz, OF, Seattle Mariners

FanDuel Price: $4,100

If you read this column regularly during the first week of the season, you’ll remember a nugget where we advised not to overlook righty-righty matchups during our quest to find favorable splits.

When a batter faces a pitcher of the opposite hand, we generally discover better ISO and wOBA numbers. However, some power hitters just hit the ball hard and far no matter what hand the pitcher is.

A prime example of this is Nelson Cruz, who posted a studly .264 ISO and .371 wOBA in 464 trips to the plate last season versus right-handed pitching.

Tonight, Cruz will step into the box versus Colby Lewis, who frankly hasn’t scared batters no matter on which side of the plate they stand. Lewis allowed a 47.4 percent fly ball rate and 13 home runs to right-handed hitters a year ago, and at age 36, it’d be foolish to think he’d improve upon those numbers.

Don’t be surprised when Cruz goes yard tonight.

Luis Valbuena, 3B, Houston Astros

FanDuel Price: $2,300 on FanDuel

When you think of a FanDuel Stud of the Day, Luis Valbuena isn’t the first name that comes to mind.

Despite the lack of respect, Valbuena was a monster in 2015 versus right-handed pitching. Valbuena totaled a .234 ISO split last season, which is right in the area of guys like Freddie Freeman, Jay Bruce, and Pedro Alvarez.

Compared to facing a lefty where Valbuena’s hard-hit percentage was just 23.5 percent, that stat jumped to 36.2 percent versus pitchers of the opposite hand.

Stacking Valbuena and his teammate above in Colby Rasmus with their fantastic matchup against Chris Young is sure to be a profitable move.