MLB

3 MLB FanDuel Studs to Target on 9/3/19

Matt Kupferle  —  @MKupferle Sep 3rd, 2019
Cody Bellinger is crushing at the dish, and tonight, he takes aim at Chi Chi Gonzalez. What other top flight plays should we consider?

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 let,s take a look at a few top-end options that you can count on to anchor your lineup today.

Jack Flaherty, P, St. Louis Cardinals ($10,000)

Jack Flaherty has been absolutely ballin' for such a long period of time, it's hard to remember a time when the righty wasn't a legit ace. His $10,000 hefty price point reflects that, and he's a good bet for another monster evening.

First, before we dive into Flaherty's excellence, peep his expensive brethren in the upper tier. Max Scherzer seems to getting eased back into the call of duty, Mike Clevinger faces a Chicago White Sox team with a 14 MPH wind blowing out, and Jacob deGrom takes aim at a very tough Washington Nationals offense.

Now load in the terrible San Francisco Giants offense, which clocks in fourth-worst in team wOBA (.300), sixth-worst in team ISO (.163), and 18th in fly-ball rate (35.3%).

Over Flaherty's last 10 starts, he's notched eight quality efforts, a 32.5% strikeout rate, and a 6.8% walk rate, so roster the right-hander if you can afford him.

Cody Bellinger, OF, Los Angeles Dodgers ($4,700)

Is there a more beautiful swing in all of baseball than this one?

After reclaiming the major league lead in home runs after clubbing his 44th last night, Cody Bellinger is #blessed with an even more bountiful matchup tonight against Chi Chi Gonzalez of the Colorado Rockies.

On the season, which is still early, Gonzalez has walked (22) more hitters than he has struck out (20), and his last outing was a thing of beauty for opposing hitters -- 2/3 of an inning, seven hits, seven runs, and a walk. Yikes.

Fire in Belly if you can stomach the price point.

Jorge Polanco, SS, Minnesota Twins ($4,100)

The new rabbit ball has been extremely unkind to Rick Porcello, and taking on the home run clubbing Minnesota Twins could make for a banner night for lefty swingers.

On the season, covering 330 batters, lefties have smacked him for a .495 slugging percentage, including a paltry 15.8% strikeout rate and 46.2% fly-ball rate.

That could provide some great air cover for the switch-hitting Jorge Polanco, who's popped a career-high 20 home runs this season. For a guy in a great spot, peep Polanco.

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.