MLB

3 MLB FanDuel Studs to Target on Tuesday 5/18/21

Matt Kupferle  —  @MKupferle May 18th, 2021
Pete Alonso has been heating up at the dish, and he faces a rookie without a ton of big league experience tonight. Which other top plays should we consider?

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 Wheeler, SP, Philadelphia Phillies ($10,400)

Tuesday's main slate is loaded with a plethora of outstanding options tonight, but the one who should grab your attention is Zack Wheeler.

While Brandon Woodruff ($11,000) and his slate-high salary is a big name certainly worth the investment, Wheeler stands out due to his tantalizing matchup. The Miami Marlins have really struggled to make contact, checking in with a 26.4% strikeout rate on the season (fourth-worst). A .292 wOBA isn't anything to be proud of, either.

Wheeler ranks second-best in our projections (35.1 FanDuel points) and is a guy to build around on this slate.

Pete Alonso, 1B, New York Mets ($3,500)

The New York Mets haven't exactly ripped the cover off the ball, but with Noah Syndergaard, Jacob deGrom, and Carlos Carrasco on the mend, the offense needs to step up if they have any aspirations of an NL East crown.

One man that could provide a jolt in a big way is Pete Alonso of the New York Mets, and he faces Tucker Davidson, who fills in for Huascar Ynoa (who idiotically broke his hand punching a wall). Davidson has shown a solid strikeout rate in two Triple-A starts this season, but he's also only logged 34 2/3 innings above Double-A in his career.

We peg Alonso as a top hitter on the slate, per our model, so fire him in tonight.

Mookie Betts, OF, Los Angeles Dodgers ($4,100)

Part of the challenge with the Los Angeles Dodgers, including injuries to Cody Bellinger and Corey Seager, is that the offense as a whole isn't clicking. That includes reigning NL MVP Mookie Betts, who's off to a slower start with a .252/.364/.432 slash line and four homers, but he's hardly someone to be worried about over the long haul.

That ship may get righted with Merrill Kelly on the mound tonight to face Betts and the Dodgers. Kelly has been pounded this season for a 5.24 ERA and 1.48 WHIP in 44 2/3 innings pitched, so it's no surprise Betts clocks in at the top of our slate.

Expect Betts to be in for a big effort on Tuesday.

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.