MLB

3 MLB FanDuel Studs to Target on Wednesday 6/9/21

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 ($11,500)

On a tricky main slate with two top-tier options, Gerrit Cole and Lance Lynn are the only options priced above $10,000. So he should we lock in?

My guess is that it's Cole. Lynn faces the unenviable task of facing the red-hot Toronto Blue Jays' offense, which leads the league in team wOBA and sports only a 22.3% strikeout rate.

Let's juxtapose that against Cole, who faces a solid Minnesota Twins offense but one that whiffs at a higher clip (23.5%).

Our projections have Cole generating 43.7 FanDuel points, 10 points more than anyone else. Lock Cole in and you're ready to rock.

Shohei Ohtani, OF, Los Angeles Angels ($4,200)

A night after blasting Kansas City Royals pitching, can the Los Angeles Angels do it again?

All signs point to yes with Brad Keller taking the mound. Keller's 4.60 FIP is driven by an ugly 19.5% strikeout rate, and he's been hampered by a 36.6% hard-hit rate, the worst mark of his career.

Shohei Ohtani ? Well, he is certainly an interesting player. He has a legitimate shot for a 40-homer, 20-steal season, while tossing in a 30% strikeout rate from the mound. He looks like he could add to those gaudy stats tonight.

Nick Castellanos, OF, Cincinnati Reds ($4,000)

After getting off to a red hot beginning in 2020, Nick Castellanos fell off a cliff in the back half of the season.

Somewhat overshadowed by teammate Jesse Winker, Castellanos has been pretty darn good this year. He's logged a .357 batting average and 12 home runs this season -- showing that the middle of the lineup has plenty of pop.

Tonight's starter, southpaw Brett Anderson, has logged an ugly 8.58 xERA this season, and the proof is in the pudding -- Anderson's allowed 1.72 home runs per nine (HR/9) this year, and his 12.7% strikeout rate leaves plenty to be desired.

In Cincinnati, be ready for some fireworks.


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.