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Mike Schwarzenbach highlights the top FanDuel MLB DFS lineup picks for 9/4/21, and a couple of sleepers to consider while building daily rosters.
Welcome, Rotoballers, to the last weekend where we baseball nuts get to steal the show in DFS. Well, maybe most of the fantasy sports industry is already in football mode, but not here, we'll be grinding MLB DFS slates through September and into the playoffs. We've got an eight-game main slate tonight and there should be a good amount of offense, at least according to Vegas.
I'll be providing you with my daily fantasy baseball lineup picks for the FanDuel main slate on 9/4/2021. Be sure to also check out all the MLB player news, including late scratches, and the projected and confirmed daily MLB lineups for each DFS slate. You can also read more DFS advice and lineup picks for sites like DraftKings, and other sports.
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FanDuel DFS Pitchers
Cash Game/GPP Anchor Play:
Framber Valdez – HOU at SDP ($9,800)
Framber Valdez is one of the least-appreciated hurlers in the Majors thanks to the name that dons his chest. The Astros are the most hated team in the Majors right now thanks to their cheating scandal, but Valdez wasn't on that 2017 club and should be getting more love from casual fans as one of the up-and-coming aces in baseball. Valdez's skill-set is tailor-made for FanDuel's scoring system as he's not an elite strikeout pitcher, but he consistently pitches deep into games and is backed by arguably the best offense in baseball.
Valdez earned the quality start bonus in 11 of 17 starts this season and is in great form as he completed at least six innings in seven of his last eight starts. He gets things done with an elite 69% ground ball rate. Valdez doesn't have enough innings to qualify for the leaderboards, but for perspective, Dallas Keuchel leads qualified starters with a 55% ground ball rate. Valdez is elite at getting batters to pound the ball into the ground. He gets a soft matchup in this one as San Diego ranks dead last in the Majors with a .257 team wOBA over the last two weeks and it ranks 26th in baseball in team slugging percentage versus left-handed pitchers. Before pricing came out, I was anticipating Valdez would be close to $11K on FanDuel. His sub-10K price makes Framber a lock for cash games and a solid GPP option as well.
Potential Alternate Play
Marco Gonzales – SEA at ARI ($8,400)
Like Valdez, Gonzales isn't the sexiest fantasy option thanks to a lack of strikeouts, but he's another pitcher who gets the job done with weak contact and pitching deep into games. That formula doesn't always work as evidenced by his 4.02 ERA and 4.96 xFIP, but versus the hapless Diamondbacks, Gonzales has a good chance to post a quality start and earn the win tonight.
His numbers look bad, but Gonzales has been the victim of some bad home run luck as he's allowing 1.84 HR/9 so far this year, well above his career average of 1.20 HR/9. Gonzales should be able to keep the ball in the yard versus the snakes and could post a strong score in DFS if he does.
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FanDuel DFS Infielders
Jose Abreu - 1B, CWS at KC ($4,100)
I won't lie to you, valued reader, I starred at the 1B options for a while as no option screams value. When in doubt, Jose Abreu is always a rock-solid option, especially when facing a lefty. The reigning AL-MVP has a .930 OPS versus southpaws this season, over 100 points higher than his OPS versus righties. He's also been hot lately as Abreu has a hit in eight of his last nine games with a .389 batting average, 10 RBI, and 10 runs scored in that span.
Brendan Rodgers – 2B/SS, COL vs ATL ($3,000)
Rodgers is one of the most mispriced players on the slate as he should be batting second for the Rockies in a home game. He's $200 more than last night, but Rodgers is still incredible value, especially when we consider his recent numbers. Since the start of August, Rodgers is batting .310 with a .460 slugging percentage with 15 runs and 13 RBI in only 24 games.
Jonathan India – 3B/2B, vs DET ($3,700)
We need to watch the weather in Cincinnati, but if this game plays, the Reds are the top stack of the night, even with Coors Field in play. Cincinnati, by almost any metric, is the second-best hitter's ballpark for boosting homers and the rostership rates in Cincy are always lower than they should be as fantasy managers flock to Coors. India, for his part, crushes left-handed pitching to the tune of a .905 OPS so he should find success versus fly-ball pitcher Matt Boyd in a tough ballpark for fly-ball pitchers.
Adalberto Mondesi – SS, vs CWS ($3,500)
It's happening people, this is not a drill. Adalberto Mondesi is healthy again in September and he's reminding fantasy baseballers why we stashed him in IL spots all year in redraft leagues. He's played in two games since returning from the IL and has a home run and stole a base in each game. At this price, one trip on the basepaths could return value and Reynaldo Lopez isn't an intimidation matchup for the switch-hitting Mondesi.
FanDuel DFS Outfielders
Akil Baddoo - OF, DET at CIN ($2,900)
The same weather caveat we mentioned with India applies here, but Baddoo is crazy value as the leadoff hitter for a road team in Cincinnati. Tyler Mahle is a good pitcher, but he's also had issues with allowing walks and homers. Baddoo has a strong 9.3% walk rate and a 40% fly-ball rate so he can take advantage of Mahle's weaknesses in a great hitter's park.
Kyle Tucker – OF, HOU at SDP ($3,100)
Like his teammate Valdez, Tucker is a fun, young star in this league that the casual fan doesn't appreciate enough because he plays for the Astros. Tucker is having a great season with 23 homers, 12 steals, and a .526 slugging percentage. He's better versus right-handed pitching and gets the platoon advantage versus righty Joe Musgrove tonight.
Nick Solak – OF/2B, TEX at LAA ($2,500)
Solak is riding an 11-game hit streak and has a .395 batting average and a .605 slugging percentage in that span. On the season, he's got a healthy.363 on-base percentage versus left-handed pitching and gets to face Jesse Suarez tonight, not exactly the most intimidation matchup.
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