MLB

3 MLB FanDuel Studs to Target on Friday 8/20/21

Matt Kupferle  —  @MKupferle Aug 20th, 2021
Austin Riley has been cookin' at the dish, and tonight, he's ready to slam Keegan Akin. Who else 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 ($11,600)

For whatever reason, it feels like Walker Buehler is getting overlooked this season -- but should he be?

After a limited 2020 season, Buehler has been brilliant this year with a 27.0% strikeout rate, but perhaps an even better metric for Buehler is that he's allowed only 0.81 HR/9 this season. That's led to a brilliant 3.13 FIP on the season as well as an MLB-leading 2.09 ERA among qualified pitchers.

Buehler's also got an outstanding matchup on the day -- he faces a New York Mets lineup that's been truly brutal recently. As the Mets continue their backslide, and the Mets 3.39 implied team total reflects their struggles, Buehler makes for a great play.

Austin Riley, 3B, Atlanta Braves ($3,800)

The Baltimore Orioles are not a good baseball team, especially with southpaw Keegan Akin on the mound. Akin has made 16 starts this season, and he's allowed two-plus earned runs in 14 of them, and the O's have won only one of those games. One.

Part of the reason for Akin's struggles is the home run ball -- he's truly been massacred by them this season, allowing 1.53 HR/9 on the year. It's no surprise the Atlanta Braves have a whopping 6.21 implied team total.

Bopper Austin Riley becomes an obvious choice, and while the Braves are gonna be heavily rostered, he's a no-brainer.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr, 1B, Toronto Blue Jays ($4,400)

One of the more incredible seasons in 2021 is the emergence of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. as a bona fide superstar this year -- he's slammed opposing pitching for 35 home runs on the year, posting a 1.014 OPS mark. Wowza.

Shockingly, the Blue Jays 5.86 implied team total isn't even one of the highest totals of the day -- there's some crazy numbers on the day. Tyler Alexander of the Detroit Tigers has been about as middle-of-the-road as it gets, posting a 4.57 ERA and 1.31 WHIP on the season.

But the more egregious number is Alexander has allowed 1.52 HR/9 this season -- and that's where we start to ring up Vlad. If you can afford him, he will make a great play.


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.