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.
Joe Musgrove, SP, San Diego Padres ($10,500)
Coming off a no-hitter (that was damn near a perfect game), Joe Musgrove of the San Diego Padres was limited to only four innings his next time out. That's no surprise after he tossed that 112-pitch gem in his previous outing.
But don't be overly worried about tonight. The highest-salaried pitcher on the slate today has been outstanding all year long (identical 0.47 ERA and WHIP), and he faces a Milwaukee Brewers offense that owns a 25% strikeout rate so far this season against right-handed pitchers.
Pay up for Musgrove and be ready to reap the benefits.
Jared Walsh, 1B, Los Angeles Angels ($3,500)
This may be the lowest salary point for Jared Walsh lately, so lock in the slugging first baseman while you can.
With playing time a bit uncertain to start the season, Walsh has been red-hot for the Los Angeles Angels with four home runs already this season.
That bodes well as he takes aim at Kohei Arihara. While Arihara has been solid so far this season, his 12.3% strikeout rate leaves fantasy owner wanting much more.
Expect Walsh and the rest of the Angels to post a monster day.
Justin Turner, 3B, Los Angeles Dodgers ($4,300)
It's likely the Los Angeles Dodgers will see high levels of popularity facing southpaw Justus Sheffield of the Seattle Mariners, and one bat that is nearly a must is Justin Turner.
Turner has been kind of what we had hoped he would be. He's produced a .404 batting average and has already slugged his way to 5 home runs and 16 runs batted in. Sunday's slate wasn't a huge effort from Turner, but he scored 18-plus FanDuel points in the four contests prior.
As heavy favorites, we peg the Dodgers for a slate-best 4.91 implied team total, so rostering some pieces of this lineup is a brilliant idea. Grab Turner and hope he continues to produce.
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.