MLB

3 MLB FanDuel Studs to Target on Wednesday 5/12/21

Matt Kupferle  —  @MKupferle May 12th, 2021
Jose Abreu is finding his form, and with a southpaw on the mound, he seems primed for a big night. Which other high-salaried options should we hone in on?

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, SP, New York Yankees ($12,000)

It's come as a bit of a shock, but the Boston Red Sox -- not the New York Yankees -- are leading the AL East so far this season. That's right, the Red Sox, despite their pitching woes, sport a healthy +33 run differential, and the Yankees are in the process of playing catchup.

However, Gerrit Cole is not to blame -- dude has been ballin' so far this season, ranking as one of the league leaders in terms of strikeouts (66). And tonight, he faces a Tampa Bay Rays offense outside of Yankee Stadium that has been poor offensively, all while striking out at the third-highest clip in the game.

Cole tops our projections and is a pitcher to build around tonight.

Carlos Santana, 1B, Kansas City Royals ($3,400)

Normally, we try sticking to hitters priced at $3,500 and above, but one stud bat we have to consider tonight is Carlos Santana of the Kansas City Royals.

Let's peep why. Santana and crew square up with Casey Mize and the Detroit Tigers. Mize has been just okay this season -- over 32 2/3 innings pitched, he's logged 23 whiffs with a 4.41 ERA and 1.38 WHIP. Mize has had some gems (Houston Astros, Chicago White Sox) along with a few duds, but he's been very hittable.

And what settles in Santana as a premium play is the Tigers' bullpen. If the Royals can knock Mize out early -- and he's only exceeded six innings in one start -- Detroit's bullpen ranks last in baseball with a 7.06 ERA and has allowed 2.09 home runs per nine (HR/9) this year.

We peg Santana as a top-10 bat on the slate, per our model, so spend up for Santana.

Jose Abreu, 1B, Chicago White Sox ($3,900)

While it's been a bit of an auspicious start for Jose Abreu this season (.739 OPS), the Chicago White Sox have been absolutely torching left-handed pitchers yet again. So far this season, they've racked up a healthy 137 wRC+ in this split, and with J.A. Happ on the mound, that's great news.

But let's focus on the positives, as Abreu did show some signs of finding his form over the weekend. He smacked two doubles among his four base hits, and he still owns 26 runs batted in on the season.

Abreu is sure to hit with a plethora of runners on base yet again, so bet on a big night from the South Side slugger.


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.