3 MLB FanDuel Studs to Target on 7/24/19
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 lets take a look at a few top-end options that you can count on to anchor your lineup today.
Noah Syndergaard, P, New York Mets ($10,000)
There's a clear distinction between stud and non-stud pitchers tonight, with three priced at at least $10,000 and no other above $8,400.
Noah Syndergaard's overall numbers may look concerning, ranking third among these three studs with both his 4.13 skill-interactive ERA (SIERA) and 23.7% strikeout rate. He appears to be picking things up recently, though. He's struck out 9 and 8 in his last two starts, and while strong games against those weak opponents are to be expected, he was also throwing some serious heat. His average fastball velocities in those two games were his second- and third-highest marks of the season. His fastball velocity in his last two starts before that (his first two after returning from a hamstring injury) also both rank in his top-half for 2019.
His matchup with the San Diego Padres, whose 3.88-run implied total is the lowest on today's main slate, is also an appealing one.
The Padres' active roster is tied for the highest strikeout rate in the majors (26.2%) against right-handed pitching, while their 92 wRC+ in the split is tied for the sixth-worst in the majors.
Cody Bellinger, OF, Los Angeles Dodgers ($4,700)
Per Baseball Savant, Cody Bellinger ranks second in the majors in both expected wOBA and expected slugging percentage this season, trailing only Mike Trout in each area.
He has demolished baseballs with a 51.2% hard-hit rate, 12.3% soft-hit rate and 40.2% fly-ball rate in 2019, and that has translated to a .447 wOBA (second among qualifying hitters) and .356 ISO (third). He sees a slight increase in both numbers (to a .454 wOBA and .376 ISO) if we just look at his split against right-handed pitching, with his hard-hit rate also climbing to 52.1% in the split.
That makes him an easy target tonight with the Los Angeles Dodgers sporting the slate's second-highest implied total (5.71 runs) against Los Angeles Angels righty Jaime Barria. Barria hasn't been nearly as bad this season as his 7.36 ERA might suggest, but with a 4.73 SIERA over 34 career major league games, he's still nothing to be excited about.
Anthony Rendon, 3B, Washington Nationals ($4,200)
The series may not be going down at Coors Field, but the Washington Nationals offense continues to offer plenty of appeal against some shaky Colorado Rockies pitching.
The Rockies will start Kyle Freeland tonight, and the southpaw has struggled to the tune of a career-worst 5.12 SIERA over 14 games in 2019. Pitching at Coors will always hurt Rockies' pitchers, but Freeland has been no good on the road, either. He has a 4.88 xFIP on the road this year (4.77 career), and in those road games, he's been tagged for a .345 wOBA on 43.6% hard-hits and 40.0% fly-balls.
Anthony Rendon has been silly good from the dish this season, ranking fourth among qualifying hitters in wOBA (.408) and 8th in ISO (.288), and those numbers jump to a .432 wOBA and .321 ISO on a 51.6% hard-hit rate against southpaws.
Jason Schandl is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Jason Schandl also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username Jaymun. 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.
