MLB

3 MLB FanDuel Studs to Target on Monday 6/21/21

Matt Kupferle  —  @MKupferle Jun 21st, 2021
Jose Altuve has been white hot at the dish, and with a great matchup tonight, he's likely to hammer the baseball again. Who else should we be looking to roster?

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.

Frankie Montas, SP, Oakland Athletics ($9,500)

Monday's main slate is interesting. There are not a ton of games tonight, but there are a slew of high-end arms. Included are Yu Darvish ($11,000), Julio Urias ($9,000) and Tyler Mahle ($8,800).

But all of those arms have issues. The San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers square off (the Dodgers are not favored for the first time in 150 games), and those are two offenses that rank in the bottom-five for lowest strikeout rate. Mahle's matchup against the Minnesota Twins makes things spicy, too -- the Twins are one of the league's better offenses (.322 wOBA).

With all of those factors considered, I like Frankie Montas. He faces a bad Texas Rangers team that ranks at the bottom of the league in wRC+ (86) with a ton of strikeout potential (25.1%).

Jose Altuve, 2B, Houston Astros ($4,400)

After a lot of big negative energy surrounded the Houston Astros with the trash can scandal, Jose Altuve and his comrades struggled in 2020. But 2021 has turned over a whole new leaf, and this lineup is clicking.

It leads the league in most offensive categories, and they are a real bear against lefties. Tonight, they match up against Keegan Akin in Camden Yards, which ranks second in home run factor this year.

Altuve has been brilliant in this split in 2021. He's logged an .861 OPS versus lefties this season and has been on a power surge as of late. Expect Altuve to continue his strong run of form tonight.

Nick Castellanos, OF, Cincinnati Reds ($4,200)

The Cincinnati Reds are looking to improve their pitching staff, and if they can, they will be absurdly dangerous. Like the Astros, they are one of the league's best offenses this season.

And Nick Castellanos has been outstanding at the dish -- especially against lefties -- and he gets to slam J.A. Happ tonight. That's not good news for the southpaw, who's allowed 54 base runners in his last 32 innings with a 9.64 ERA.

In a game with an over/under of 9.5 runs, it looks like oddsmakers believe this is going to be a high-scoring affair, and Castellanos could play a major role in that.


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.