3 MLB FanDuel Studs to Target on 4/13/21

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.

Trevor Bauer, SP, Los Angeles Dodgers ($11,000)

Despite controversy continuing to swirl around the 2020 NL Cy Young winner, Trevor Bauer will toe the slab for the Los Angeles Dodgers today, and this boy ain't playin'.

Striking out 10 batters in each of his first two starts, Bauer takes aim tonight at a Colorado Rockies offense that isn't yet cooking. Colorado owns an ugly .082 isolated power (ISO) mark against right-handed bats, and this game is in LA, making Bauer very tantalizing. So far in 2021, Colorado is striking out 27% of the time against righties.

Bauer checks all the boxes. He's the top pitcher, according to our projections, while the Rockies' 2.98 implied total is a slate-low clip.

Yuli Gurriel, 1B, Houston Astros ($2,900)

The Houston Astros are in a smash spot, and they're going to be a chalky stack against lefty Matt Boyd.

Houston carries a slate-high 5.06 implied total, and they have a bunch of righties who do damage against lefties -- with Alex Bregman ($3,900) and Jose Altuve ($4,000) at the top of the list at their lofty salaries. But don't sleep on Yuli Gurriel, who can perform like a stud tonight despite the friendly salary.

After losing a ton of weight this offseason, Gurriel has been slamming baseballs, and he has demolished southpaws in his career to the tune of a .274 ISO and 138 wRC+. That officially locks him in as a lefty masher.

Boyd has long struggled with the gopher ball, and he permitted 2.74 home runs per nine innings last campaign. In 2019, his last full season, Boyd surrendered a 40.7% hard-hit rate and 44.9% fly-ball rate.

Joey Wendle, 2B, Tampa Bay Rays ($3,300)

After a scoreless night Monday against the Texas Rangers, Joey Wendle of the Tampa Bay Rays will look to bounce back against a very mediocre pitcher in Kyle Gibson.

Now, why the optimism? Check it -- lefties are slamming Gibson (while early) for a .571 batting average this season, and a year ago, they popped the vet for a .363 wOBA in the split.

Wendle, meanwhile, had a .340 wOBA with the platoon advantage last season and should be in a nice spot in the lineup for a Rays squad that holds a decent 4.26 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.