3 MLB FanDuel Studs to Target on Wednesday 5/4/22

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, as well, 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.

Freddy Peralta, SP, Milwaukee Brewers ($8,800)

I am once again going to recommend attacking the woeful offense of the Cincinnati Reds. Cincy clocks in last in team wOBA (.267), and they also carry a huge 26.1% strikeout rate. They're a great matchup to pick on

Milwaukee Brewers starter Brandon Woodruff punched out 12 Reds yesterday in a brilliant performance en route to making the perfect lineup. We could see another Milwaukee hurler in Wednesday's perfect lineup.

Freddy Peralta carries the same kind of upside Woodruff does, and he's been turning it on. In 18 1/3 innings pitched this season, he's logged a whopping 29.5% strikeout rate and allowed only a 32.6% hard-hit rate. His 3.23 SIERA this season shows that he has been excellent yet again this year.

We project Peralta for a slate-best 37.1 FanDuel points. He's really easy to like at his $8,800 salary.

Aaron Judge, OF, New York Yankees ($4,000)

While offense is down across the league, one bopper who is off to a white-hot start is Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees.

So far on the season, the big right-hander has nine home runs to his name and owns a staggering .371 isolated power (ISO) and 50.8% hard-hit rate.

Today, Judge gets the benefit of facing Yusei Kikuchi, which is a dream matchup for him. For his career, Judge has slammed southpaws to the tune of a 164 wRC+.

While a move of scenery seemed like it could aid Kikuchi, it hasn't been all puppy dogs and rainbows thus far. The lefty has still struggled with the long ball, giving up 1.84 HR/9 this year. He's recorded identical 18.1% strikeout and walk rates, which should lead to a crooked number for the Yanks.

Xander Bogaerts, SS, Boston Red Sox ($3,600)

The Boston Red Sox are still trying to find their form at the plate. Surprisingly, they rank fifth-worst in team wOBA on the year (.282), and their .119 ISO isn't anything to brag about.

However, youngster Reid Detmers could cure some of the offensive ails that are plaguing the BoSox. The southpaw sports a pretty mediocre FIP of 4.52 in his 17 1/3 innings pitched. He's allowing 1.56 HR/9 and has only a 22.5% strikeout rate. Curbing a 40.8% fly-ball rate would certainly help his chances of thriving at the MLB level.

Enter Xander Bogaerts, who has socked only one homer this year. His .126 ISO is not one of his best marks, and he's hurt himself with a low 22.4% fly-ball rate on the year. But for his career, he's performed well in this split, knocking lefties for a 128 wRC+ and .848 OPS.

Boston carries the highest non-Coors implied total (4.32) as of early Wednesday, and Bogaerts is a great piece to Red Sox stacks.

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.