3 MLB FanDuel Studs to Target on Wednesday 9/1/21

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.

Carlos Rodon, P, Chicago White Sox ($10,200)

For a slate that is reduced in size, it's pretty impressive that there are four arms that are priced at $9,500 or above. For my money, I'm spending up on Carlos Rodon.

Let's run through each of the pricey options -- Kevin Gausman ($9,500) makes for an interesting option, but he's gotten hit hard as of late and the Milwaukee Brewers rank seventh in team wOBA (.332) in the last month with a sub-20% strikeout rate. Max Scherzer ($11,500) is the most expensive option but arguably faces the most difficult matchup with the Atlanta Braves. That's also similar for the $11,200 Gerrit Cole, who faces a surging Los Angeles Angels offense.

Rodon's opponent, the Pittsburgh Pirates, have been terrible at the plate this season. They've logged only a .272 wOBA and .122 isolated power (ISO) over the last month, and they make for a popular choice to target -- their 24.2% strikeout rate will be the highest among these four pitchers.

Rodon is near the top of the heap (37.4 points) and is a guy I'll be locking in.

Matt Olson, 1B, Oakland Athletics ($3,900)

While the initial story starts with Wily Peralta, it doesn't look like it's going to last.

Out of baseball and skipping 2020, Peralta came back to pitch for the Detroit Tigers and got off to a blazing start -- but it hasn't been a long-lived stay. The sinker-baller has had problems with elevating the baseball, logging a 1.45 HR/9 allowed mark, and his 8.5% swinging-strike rate is one of the lowest marks in the league.

That leaves us with a great option in a bopper like Matt Olson of the Oakland Athletics -- they sport a solid 5.29 implied team total on the day, and with Olson's delightful .274 isolated power (ISO) mark, he's a guy we want to focus on.

Luis Robert, OF, Chicago White Sox ($4,300)

Slugger Luis Robert has been hotter than the surface of the sun lately -- he's posted a scintillating .403 OBP mark in the last month, including five long balls on the season.

That is especially tasty when he gets to face Max Kranick of the Pittsburgh Pirates, who's not whiffing many batters (18.9%) and not getting nearly enough ground-balls (31.3%).

Kranick's 23.5% CSW (Called plus swinging-strike rate) shows that the low strikeouts aren't an aberration, either -- so if you're looking for some pop in your DFS lineups, peep Robert.

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.