MLB

3 MLB FanDuel Studs to Target on Thursday 7/8/21

Matt Kupferle  —  @MKupferle Jul 8th, 2021
Nelson Cruz has been outstanding yet again this year. What other studs should we consider?

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.

Taijuan Walker, SP, New York Mets ($9,500)

There's two options that will garner a lot of attention tonight -- Max Scherzer and Yu Darvish square up in San Diego. However, with both of those offenses ranking inside the top seven in wRC+ since the start of June, I'm pivoting to Taijuan Walker of the New York Mets.

Walker has been outstanding so far this year -- in 85 innings pitched, he's recorded a 25.9% strikeout rate and an 8.0% walk rate with a delightful 30.9% hard-hit rate allowed. While the Pittsburgh Pirates, Walker's opponent, have been challenging to strike out (21.6%), they are woeful at the dish. For the season, Pittsburgh's 82 wRC+ versus right-handers ranks third-worst in the majors.

Per our projections, Walker is the best pitching option on Thursday's slate, as we forecast him to edge out both Darvish and Scherzer just slightly.

Nelson Cruz, OF, Minnesota Twins ($4,000)

The year is 2031. Nelson Cruz is 51 years old, and he has just finished the season hitting 40 bombs.

I have no clue how the dude keeps doing it, but the veteran bat is having another great season this year -- he's launched another 18 missiles for home runs on the season.

With this smaller main slate, Cruz and the Minnesota Twins sport the second-best implied team total (4.91 runs) on the night, and it's hard to ignore Cruz's splits against lefties. He will take on Tarik Skubal, and Cruz has pounded lefties for a 193 wRC+ this season.

Pay up for Cruz and you should be happy.

Teoscar Hernandez, OF, Toronto Blue Jays ($3,500)

We could probably make the argument for many members of the Toronto Blue Jays, but at only $3,500, Teoscar Hernandez is nearly a must-start tonight.

The veteran outfielder has absolutely buried left-handed pitching tonight. He owns a .838 OPS in this split for his career, including a 121 wRC+ and .271 ISO. And Keegan Akin has been torched by the long ball, allowing 1.98 HR/9 in 2021.

Now, match that up with a game in hitter-friendly Camden Yards, and the Jays are a great stacking opportunity, and Hernandez gets us some relatively cheap exposure to it.


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.