3 MLB FanDuel Studs to Target on Tuesday 8/24/21
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.
Corbin Burnes, SP, Milwaukee Brewers ($11,500)
Strength on strength -- one of the best pitchers in all of baseball, Corbin Burnes, toes the slab against the hottest offense in baseball, the Cincinnati Reds. Over the last 30 days, the Reds have slammed opposing pitchers for a nasty -- and MLB-best -- .365 wOBA and a whopping .248 ISO.
But Burnes, our top-projected arm, can still thrive in this spot. His numbers read like a dang video game -- a 35.1% strikeout rate, 4.6% walk rate, and only 0.30 homers per nine allowed.
Even with the rough matchup, Burnes tops our projections by 6.0 points.
Shohei Ohtani, OF, Los Angeles Angels ($4,500)
With an implied team total of 5.50 runs, the Los Angeles Angels are likely to be a popular stack. And when we talk about the Halos, that conversation should always begin with the venerable Shohei Ohtani.
Smacking 40 home runs on the year (and why not fire in 18 stolen bases on top of that), Ohtani could go off tonight against Spenser Watkins. The Baltimore Orioles' right-hander has struggled his way to a 14.0% strikeout rate and 5.53 SIERA. And this game is inside the band box known as Camden Yards, a venue that is in the top 10 in park factor and home-run factor.
Ohtani checks all the boxes and may be the slate's most popular bat.
Rafael Devers, 3B, Boston Red Sox ($4,000)
If you thought an implied team total of 5.5 runs was cooking, you should get all hot and bothered by the Boston Red Sox's 6.23 implied team total. Now, buyer beware -- the Sox have not sported a ton of pop at the dish in the last 30 days (.171 ISO), but they still have a potent lineup.
Rafael Devers should be on point as a top play. While Griffin Jax has flashed some strikeout upside, including 10 punchouts against the Chicago White Sox, he has also allowed an egregious mark of 2.25 jacks per nine this season. Yikes.
Devers is crushing righties for a .391 wOBA and 46.8% hard-hit rate.
Even though Boston -- like the Angels -- will be a chalk stack, it's tough to fade Devers.
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.
