MLB

3 MLB FanDuel Studs to Target on Wednesday 7/28/21

Matt Kupferle  —  @MKupferle Jul 28th, 2021
Joey Votto is surging towards a career year and he has a great matchup on tap tonight. Which other plays should we think about?

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.

Walker Buehler, SP, Los Angeles Dodgers ($11,500)

The most expensive arm on the main slate is the one we are going to ride with, and tonight, Walker Buehler is in a potential smash spot for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

There's no denying that the San Francisco Giants possess a better-than-expected offense -- they rank among the league's elite with a .328 wOBA (third-best) and .191 isolated power mark (tied for the best). That's legit. But they also possess hefty swing-and-miss capability with a 24.7% strikeout rate overall, and a 25.5% mark against righties.

And Buehler? Yea, he's been a beast this season for Los Angeles, racking up a 3.20 FIP and 26.4% strikeout rate this season. Buehler ranks as the slate's third-best arm, per our model, and he could be ready to pop.

Joey Votto, 1B, Cincinnati Reds ($3,700)

We have almost all ignored the greatness of Joey Votto this year, but do people realize that in his age-37 season, he's quite possibly pacing for the best power output of his career?

Armed with 17 home runs in 298 plate appearances, including a career-best .252 isolated power mark, Votto's .889 OPS shows that he is back and ready to slug baseballs. And, he could add to those gaudy totals tonight -- Zach Davies takes the mound for the Chicago Cubs, and he has struggled not only with his double-digit walk rate, but a career-worst 41.8% hard-hit rate.

Expect a big night from Votto, who can be a core piece of Cincinnati Reds stacks.

Shohei Ohtani, OF, Los Angeles Angels ($4,400)

Can anyone stop Shohei Ohtani? Does anyone own the Kryptonite to stop him?

After blasting his 36th home run Tuesday night, Ohtani's AL MVP candidacy is full speed ahead. Tonight, he faces Chi Chi Gonzalez of the Rockies, who's been egregiously bad in 2021 -- he sports a 5.24 FIP, including 1.59 HR/9.

The Angels sport the highest implied team total on the day, and Ohtani is our top-projected hitter. If you can afford him, he's a no-brainer.


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.