3 MLB FanDuel Studs to Target for Thursday 8/3/23

In daily fantasy baseball on FanDuel, rostering the right high-salaried studs is an important part of building lineups.

These high-salaried studs are foundational components of lineups and are expected to deliver.

Thursday's main slate features several situations that could provide high FanDuel point totals, with the Los Angeles Dodgers' showdown with the Oakland Athletics near the top of the list.

Let's take a look at some of the top high-salary players for today's main slate.

All advanced statistics via FanGraphs. All projections via numberFire.

Shohei Ohtani, P, Los Angeles Angels ($10,400)

Another Shohei Ohtani start, another chance to include the most exciting player in baseball in your DFS lineups.

The Los Angeles Angels' superstar pitcher has numberFire's highest pitcher projection (35.4 FanDuel points) on Thursday's main slate, and he's the fifth-best point-per-dollar option.

In 20 starts this season, Ohtani has recorded a 9-5 record and is averaging 6.0 innings pitched per start. The righty has an excellent 3.57 skill-interactive ERA (SIERA), 12th-best in baseball, and his ridiculous 32.0% strikeout rate ranks 3rd. He is averaging 11.6 strikeouts per 9 innings, fourth-most in the league.

In his last start, Ohtani threw a complete-game shutout against the Detroit Tigers, recording eight strikeouts. Before that, he struggled in outings against the Pittsburgh Pirates (five earned runs), Houston Astros (four earned runs), and San Diego Padres (five earned runs) but is still averaging 8.5 strikeouts per start over his last six.

On Thursday, the 29-year-old is expected to take the mound against the Seattle Mariners. Seattle enters this matchup with a 26.2% strikeout rate, second-highest in baseball. The Mariners' 129 home runs this season rank 13th, but their .311 wOBA sits 22nd and their .235 batting average ranks 26th.

This is a matchup between one of the best strikeout pitchers in the league and one of the offenses that strikes out the most.

Freddie Freeman, 1B, Los Angeles Dodgers ($4,300)

We stay in Los Angeles for our second high-salaried stud as Freddie Freeman is set to face Oakland.

The Dodgers' star infielder has numberFire's highest projection (15.2 FanDuel points) on Thursday's main slate, a full point higher than the Chicago Cubs' Cody Bellinger, who sits in second place.

Freeman is in the middle of an exceptional season. His 5.5 FanGraphs' WAR ranks 3rd, behind only Ohtani and Ronald Acuna. His 21 home runs checks in just 20th, but he ranks 3rd in both wOBA (.421) and slugging (.586), and sits second in wRC+ (169). In short, he's an elite player.

On Thursday, Freeman will be facing 27-year-old left-hander JP Sears. Sears' 4.48 SIERA ranks 47th, and his 1.93 home runs allowed per 9 innings is the third-highest clip in baseball.

As a result, the Dodgers have the second-highest implied team total on Thursday's main slate (5.22), according to numberFire's DFS heat map.

Freeman is well-positioned to take advantage of this matchup.

Ian Happ, OF, Chicago Cubs ($3,200)

The highest implied team total on Thursday's main slate belongs to the Cubs (5.50).

At a salary of $3,200, Ian Happ will look to take advantage of that. He has numberFire's seventh-highest point projection (12.9) and sixth-highest point-per-dollar value projection (4.02).

Happ is coming off a two-homer game on Wednesday and is averaging 21.3 FanDuel points per game over his last five appearances.

His 12 home runs this season rank 84th and his .414 slugging ranks 95th, but he is sporting a 120 wRC+ that ranks 52nd.

On Thursday, Happ and the Cubs are expected to face right-hander Luke Weaver. In 18 starts this season he is averaging 4.7 innings pitched with a 6.80 ERA and 6.12 FIP. He is allowing 2.3 home runs per nine..

In his most recent start, Weaver gave up one earned run in six innings against the Dodgers, but before that one, he posted single-game ERAs of 6.75 (vs. Arizona), 13.50 ERA (vs. San Francisco), and 12.27 (vs. Milwaukee in his last three starts. He didn't make it out of the fourth inning in any of those three games.

With 10 wins in their last 12 games, Chicago is in fine form right now and should keep things rolling against the Reds tonight.

The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author's advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.