3 MLB FanDuel Studs to Target on 5/1/19

Jacob deGrom, P, New York Mets

Price: $10,900

For the second day in a row, we get a main slate loaded with top pitching options. There are four hurlers priced at or above $10k on Wednesday's nine-game slate, but even in that crowd, Jacob deGrom stands out.

His 2.88 skill-interactive ERA (SIERA) n 2019 comes in as the third-best on the slate, behind Max Scherzer (2.56) and Hyun-jin Ryu (2.66), but 2.88's a phenomenal mark anyway, and it's right in line with his elite 2.78 from 2018. Scherzer also has a strong 2018 mark (2.71) to back up this start, but Ryu (3.18) does not.

deGrom has also set himself apart in terms of strikeout rate, with a slate-high 37.7%, building on last year's 32.2%. His swinging-strike rate is down slightly, but still sits at an excellent 14.6%. He shouldn't have any trouble continuing to find success on that front tonight, as the Cincinnati Reds have been striking out at a top-12 rate to open 2019.

deGrom and the New York Mets are also getting a ton of love from oddsmakers. They sit as -200 favorites, which is the second-biggest on the slate (third is only a -156 moneyline), and the Reds' 2.77-run implied total is also the lowest on the main slate, with nobody else implied below 3.12.

That gives us a ton of safety to go with the big strikeout upside, making deGrom a really strong option while priced in the middle of the day's top pitching tier.