MLB

3 MLB FanDuel Studs to Target on 4/12/21

Matt Kupferle  —  @MKupferle Apr 12th, 2021
With a fairly full main slate, which players should we spend up for?

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.

Zack Greinke, SP, Houston Astros ($9,800)

It feels odd on a Gerrit Cole slate to not recommend such a stud hurler, but for my money, Zack Greinke is the one who I am hitching my wagon to.

Just behind Cole on the day, Greinke has been off to his usual tricks to start the year, and he faces the Detroit Tigers, who are one of the worst offenses in the league with a team wOBA of .273 and 27.9% strikeout rate.

Spend up for Greinke and be ready for a big day.

Aaron Judge, OF, New York Yankees ($4,100)

I hate all pitchers coming off of an injury, especially one like Robbie Ray of the Toronto Blue Jays. Unfortunately for Ray, he gets the powerful New York Yankees to kick things off.

While Judge has hammered lefties, Ray has been hammered by bats with the platoon advantage at the same time. In the midst of Ray's ugly 2020 (6.62 ERA), there was a nasty .425 wOBA allowed to righties a season ago. Yikes.

Spend up for Yankees, and you should be great.

Pete Alonso, 1B, New York Mets ($4,000)

Staying in New York, poor Chase Anderson takes the pill for the Philadelphia Phillies, and it could be a long night for the Philly right-hander.

Let's dive into why. He was blasted for an ugly 7.22 ERA a season ago, and same-sided bats are what have terrorized him in the past. Want proof? He has been slammed by righties over his career for a .349 wOBA. Uh oh.

That makes slugger Pete Alonso and other New York Mets very tempting to roster.

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.