3 MLB FanDuel Studs to Target on Monday 9/20/21

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.

Framber Valdez, P, Houston Astros ($9,300)

Tonight's main slate is an interesting one -- top arms like Robbie Ray and Sean Manaea are involved with some offenses that have been very solid as of late, making their hefty price points a bit hard to stomach.

That makes sinker-baller and softball Framber Valdez a pretty outstanding opportunity tonight -- pushed back one day due to a slight finger injury, his 69.2% ground-ball rate supports his more-than-solid 3.58 xFIP.

Valdez sports a solid-yet-unspectacular 22.0% strikeout rate -- but that's where his opponent, the Los Angeles Angels, can do the trick. They are third-worst in the last month in team wOBA (.282), their .135 isolated power (ISO) is downright pathetic, and their 25.0% strikeout rate is more than helpful.

We project Valdez as the fourth-best arm tonight, and with some serious potential for some major upside.

Ozzie Albies, 2B, Atlanta Braves ($3,900)

The Arizona Diamondbacks are calling up Humberto Mejia to start for them, and it could be a long day for the right-hander.

Mejia has posted a 4.52 FIP this season, and his major bugaboo has been 1.64 HR/9 allowed -- that's supported by an absurd 31.4% ground-ball rate this year. There's a lot of fly-balls and line drives being hit off the righty.

Enter Ozzie Albies, who's possibly enjoying his finest season as a member of the Atlanta Braves. Smacking pitchers for a career-best .226 ISO this year, the switch-hitting Albies is likely to be a major part of a lineup with a solid 5.15 implied team total tonight.

Giancarlo Stanton, OF, New York Yankees ($4,000)

If you are looking for some exposure to a great matchup, Giancarlo Stanton fits the bill quite well as the New York Yankees are fighting for their playoff lives.

Let's start with the matchup -- A.J. Alexy takes the ball for the Texas Rangers, and while he's posted some major strikeout rates in the minors, he's also walking 15.5% of hitters in the majors, and he has got to limit the fly-balls. A 21.2% ground-ball rate just isn't going to cut it.

Stanton has posted a 133 wRC+ mark in the second half, including a gorgeous .514 slugging percentage. Given this outstanding matchup, it all adds up to a potentially big day for Stanton and the entire Yankees squad, a team that boasts a 5.16 implied total.

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.