MLB

3 MLB FanDuel Studs to Target on 4/15/21

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.

Patrick Corbin, SP, Washington Nationals ($8,100)

With a small main slate, sometimes our pitching choices can be a bit of slim pickins'. In this case, Patrick Corbin represents one of the top arms on the day.

His first -- and only -- outing of the year was a disaster, but let's not pretend like the Los Angeles Dodgers aren't one of the best offenses in baseball. Despite that monster LA offense, Corbin still recorded a solid 10 swings and misses in 4 1/3 innings. And the Arizona Diamondbacks, his opponent tonight, are far less imposing, especially without Ketel Marte.

It's hard to feel all that great about any of this slate's arms -- we have no one projected for more than 31.0 FanDuel points -- but Corbin is projected for the most punchouts (5.55) among all hurlers.

Salvador Perez, C, Kansas City Royals ($3,200)

As the seventh most expensive player at the C/1B slot, Salvador Perez of the Kansas City Royals isn't salaried like a stud, but he is projected like one.

Perez slammed the baseball a year ago, and he has picked up where he left off. To start the year, the backstop owns a 185 wRC+, and if Tanner Roark is on the bump, this is even juicier. A season ago, the right-hander allowed a .495 wOBA to right-handed batters in 47 2/3 innings. Fam, that ain't a typo.

Our model has Perez as the top overall bat and the fifth-best point-per-dollar play. Play. Perez. With. Confidence.

Justin Turner, 3B, Los Angeles Dodgers ($3,800)

Have you all heard this story before? We've got a great Dodgers lineup, and Justin Turner just continues to smash the baseball.

Turner is squaring off with Austin Gomber of the Colorado Rockies. Turner has belittled all pitchers, especially those when he has the platoon advantage. In 2020, Turner amassed a 52.6% hard-hit rate and 47.5% fly-ball rate in the split, and while the sample size is only 14 plate appearances, Turner owns an absurd 213 wRC+ versus southpaws so far this year.

Oh, and that Rockies 'pen? Yea, it stinks. They have the worst ERA in the National League at 5.23 ERA.

Turner is a lock-and-load play tonight in a dream matchup.



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.