3 MLB FanDuel Studs to Target on Friday 5/28/21
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.
Gerrit Cole, SP, New York Yankees ($12,200)
It's Gerrit Cole's world, and we are just living in it.
Averaging nearly 50 FanDuel points per game, Cole -- who has scored 45 or more points in all but three starts this season -- has a dream matchup tonight against the Detroit Tigers. He is facing one of the league's worst offenses, one which owns a .288 wOBA and league-worst 28.8% strikeout rate. Detroit has a slate-low 2.82 implied total.
When you pair Detroit's swing-and-miss ways with Cole's 38.5% strikeout rate and 15.5% swinging-strike rate, the New York Yankees' ace offers an insane floor/ceiling combination.
One thing to watch out for is rain as it is going to have an impact all over this slate. As of now, it looks like the Tigers-Yanks game should be OK, but that could change.
Our projections have Cole generating 41.2 FanDuel points, tops on the slate by nearly 10 points.
Jose Abreu, 1B, Chicago White Sox ($3,900)
After the Chicago White Sox won their 22nd consecutive game against a lefty, Jose Abreu will now turn his attention to Matt Harvey, who has been a fun story but quite dreadful this season.
Over 45 2/3 innings pitched, Harvey has struck out only 17.0% of batters and has just an 8.2% swinging-strike rate. That's led to his ugly ERA of 6.31.
The White Sox carry a slate-high 5.01 implied total, and Abreu is a great way to get exposure to them. He has a .345 wOBA and 44.6% hard-hit rate this year against righties. He's the top-projected bat on the Pale Hose, per our model.
Abreu and friends are in a solid spot for a crooked number -- just check for rain.
Rafael Devers, 3B, Boston Red Sox ($3,800)
While Miami Marlins starter Cody Poteet has a sparkling 1.07 ERA over 17 innings, there are some warning signs here, and this is a nice stacking opportunity for us.
Poteet has logged a middling 21.0% strikeout rate so far this year, and his ERA is being propped up somewhat by a 94.6% strand rate. His 46.7% fly-ball rate hints that some damage could be on the way soon, and the Boston Red Sox have a 4.97 implied total.
Rafael Devers has already slammed 14 home runs this season, and he has tagged righties for a .428 wOBA and 55.3% hard-hit rate. We have him as the night's top Boston stick.
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.
