MLB

3 MLB FanDuel Studs to Target on Tuesday 9/14/21

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.

Gerrit Cole, P, New York Yankees ($11,400)

While he had to, unfortunately, leave his last start early, Gerrit Cole seems ready to rock, following a bullpen session this week, and the matchup couldn't be more tantalizing.

Look, the numbers on Cole are staggering -- among the league-leaders in a traditional metric like ERA or even among advanced metrics like SIERA and FIP, here's what it boils down to -- Cole has recorded a 35%-plus strikeout rate, and he has limited free passes to only 5.4% this season.

Tonight, he does travel to hitter-friendly Camden Yards, but against an Orioles team that has recorded only a .320 wOBA paired with a 24.5% strikeout rate over the last 30 days. For all of those reasons, Cole seems definitely worth paying up for.

Bo Bichette, SS, Toronto Blue Jays ($4,100)

Winners of 12 of their last 13 contests, the Toronto Blue Jays have been absolutely torching opposing arms. Over their last 30 days, they lead the league with a .371 wOBA and .229 isolated power (ISO), and that's bad news for opener Drew Rasmussen tonight.

Scoring 114 runs over those 13 games (8.8 runs per game), Bo Bichette certainly seems like a great play. He's been front and center of this monumental attack, logging 21 runs, 4 homers, and 5 steals over the last month, including 3 long balls in the last week alone.

Pretty much any Blue Jay makes a lot of sense, but with Bichette's outstanding performance as of late, consider him.

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

If the New York Yankees are going to make a playoff push, they are going to need slugger Aaron Judge to step up in a big way tonight in Camden Yards.

Now, the outcome doesn't seem all that out of place. The Baltimore home digs rank in the top-five in terms of both park factor and home run factor, and Judge gets to face Alexander Wells, who hasn't been on top of his game. The lefty has unceremoniously been hit for 1.59 HR/9, and righties have bopped him for a .609 slugging percentage.

While some don't truly believe in platoon splits, that's hard to pass muster with a guy like Judge. For his career, spanning 632 plate appearances, the masher has bopped lefties for a .403 wOBA and 157 wRC+ marks.

With an exploding team total of almost six runs, Judge makes for a mighty fine play.


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.