3 MLB FanDuel Studs to Target on 6/27/19
Just like in other sports, the focal point of your daily fantasy baseball lineups will be your high-priced 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 pitcher, by far the highest floors for production.
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.
Taking up so much salary, and playing such a big role in your lineup's ceiling, you're not going to want to whiff on these guys, so lets take a look at a few top-end options that you can count on to anchor your lineup today.
Stephen Strasburg, P, Washington Nationals ($10,400)
It's tough not to have your eyes light up when you see a pitcher of Strasburg's caliber against the Miami Marlins -- especially on a day with such a small main slate.
Stras' numbers may not quite hit that lofty top tier among pitchers this year, but that doesn't make him any less nasty. His 3.46 skill-interactive ERA (SIERA) is good for 10th among qualifying pitchers, while his 29.1% strikeout rate ranks 13th.
Targeting the Marlins with our pitchers is nothing new, but it remains a go-to move for a reason -- they're striking out at a top-10 rate while they sit at the bottom of the majors in wRC+.
Strasburg erupted for a season-high 67 FanDuel points the first time he took on the Marlins this season, striking out 11 over 8 scoreless innings, and that is tied for the 10th-highest single-game fantasy score for any pitcher in 2019.
Cody Bellinger, 1B, Los Angeles Dodgers ($5,000)
This is another that's probably not too surprising. We get the Los Angeles Dodgers' offense at Coors Field, which records fly balls at the league's 12th-highest rate, hard-hits at the highest rate and has the 4th-best ISO. Honestly, it wouldn't really matter who the Colorado Rockies were starting on the mound tonight, but it's especially easy to like the L.A. offense with Peter Lambert throwing.
Lambert has only managed a 4.43 SIERA through his first four major league games, and those struggles are no surprise considering his 4.90 xFIP over 11 Triple-A starts to open 2019.
Cody Bellinger is one of the most dangerous hitters in baseball, leading the majors in expected slugging percentage, and the way he hits the ball is especially Coors-friendly. Over three years in the majors, he has a ground-ball-to-fly-ball ratio of only 0.85-to-1, with a 44.3% hard-hit rate and 42.1% fly-ball rate.
Getting a matchup with a right-handed pitcher here almost isn't fair, as he's slaughtering righties for a .452 wOBA and .341 ISO on the year, and over his career has converted 22.5% of his fly balls into home runs in the split. A night at Coors Field has the potential to give that rate a nice boost, as well.
Juan Soto, OF, Washington Nationals ($4,200)
It's not just the offense that's struggling for the Marlins -- their pitching staff has some bright spots, but today's starter Sandy Alcantara is not among them.
His 3.51 ERA looks solid on the surface, but its foundation -- a 5.43 SIERA -- is anything but. Those struggles aren't anything new for him, either, as his career average sits at 5.37 over 29 major league games. His 11.0% walk rate is only barely better than his 12.5% career average, while his strikeout rate (16.8%) falls short of his average (18.3%).
Left-handed bats especially give him fits, with an egregious 5.55 xFIP and identical 13.5% walk and strikeout rates in that split since becoming a Marlin.
Juan Soto should have no trouble taking advantage of those struggles. The 20-year-old is already up to 562 career plate appearances against righties in the majors, and in that split he's sporting a great .396 wOBA and .225 ISO on a 37.4% hard-hit rate and 30.4% fly-ball rate.
Jason Schandl is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Jason Schandl also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username Jaymun. 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.
