MLB

3 MLB FanDuel Studs to Target on Thursday 5/20/21

Matt Kupferle  —  @MKupferle May 20th, 2021
Xander Bogaerts has a .479 wOBA in May, and he'll have the platoon advantage tonight versus Steven Matz. Which other high-salary players should you plug in?

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.

Sandy Alcantara, SP, Miami Marlins ($9,300)

Tonight's main slate is just four games, and with Trevor Bauer having his start pushed back, we don't have any slam-dunk options at pitcher.

Sandy Alcantara does check some boxes. Alcantara faces a Philadelphia Phillies team that owns a 27.2% strikeout rate, and he's been pretty dang good so far in 2021, pitching to a 3.85 SIERA with a 24.2% strikeout rate and 14.4% swinging-strike rate.

Our projections have Alcantara going for 27.1 FanDuel points, tops of anyone with a salary of at least $7,500.

Max Muncy, 1B/2B, Los Angeles Dodgers ($3,900)

The Los Angeles Dodgers' offense is starting to heat up, and that's a pretty frightening proposition for opposing pitchers.

Leading that charge as of late is Max Muncy, who has been sorely needed with Cody Bellinger and Corey Seager hitting the Injured List. Muncy was brilliant yet again yesterday, recording two hits and a stolen base. He's got eight long balls on the season along with a .430 wOBA against righties, which will come in handy versus Merrill Kelly

Kelly has been pounded this season for a 5.24 ERA and 1.48 WHIP in 44 2/3 innings pitched. He's striking out just 17.3% of hitters while conceding a 40.0% hard-hit rate to left-handed hitters.

The Dodgers are a great stacking option, and Muncy is a fun way to get a piece of LA.

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

Look, I'm a huge Steven Matz stan -- and with him on the bump tonight, normally I'd be thrilled to use him. But facing the Boston Red Sox and Xander Bogaerts, maybe not so much.

Matz has been really good, firing a strikeout per inning pitched this season -- but his old bugaboo (right-handed batters) is really starting to give him some trouble. While he certainly faces righties significantly more than lefties, the slugging percentage difference is startling (.425 to .386) and the same goes for strikeout rate (22.7% to 35.4%).

Bogaerts carries a massive .427 wOBA into this one, and he's got a .479 wOBA in May. Boston's shortstop has a good chance to stay hot tonight.


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.