3 MLB FanDuel Studs to Target on 5/1/18

Chris Sale, P, Boston Red Sox

Price: $11,300

On a slate absolutely loaded with elite pitching options, our models (as of early Tuesday afternoon) have Chris Sale and Max Scherzer tied as the day's top-ranked arm.

The Boston Red Sox are the main slate's biggest favorites by a significant margin (-295 moneyline), and that leaves the Kansas City Royals with the day's lowest implied total (3.02). The Royals haven't been anything special against left-handed pitching this season, ranking 15th in wRC+ while also striking out at a top-10 rate.

Sale has been doing usual Sale things this season. His 32.7% strikeout rate ranks seventh among qualifying pitchers, his 15.4% swinging-strike rate ranks fifth and his 2.80 skill-interactive ERA (SIERA) ranks fifth. Those marks are not small-sample flukes, either -- in 2017, he posted a 36.2% strikeout rate, 14.9% swinging-strike rate and 2.58 SIERA

He offers a great floor, being projected to give up very little offense while also being an overwhelming favorite to net a win, and the strikeout potential he has against the Royals gives Sale a monster ceiling.