3 MLB FanDuel Studs to Target on Wednesday 6/16/21
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.
Jacob deGrom, SP, New York Mets ($12,200)
There's no reason to sell you on the brilliance of Jacob deGrom -- if you are spending the time reading this piece, you know the dude is a baller. I am pretty sure he could still win the Cy Young award if he actually injured his UCL. He's that good.
But, why deGrom over an ace-filled slate? Let's peep it. Clayton Kershaw faces off against Zack Wheeler, and while I think both are due for solid nights, a win, an important point-scoring category, could be a crapshoot in this contest.
Another mega arm we could consider is Gerrit Cole -- but he locks horns with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and the league's best offense, and in Sahlen Field, no less. I'm not touching that.
Over the last 14 days, the Chicago Cubs, deGrom's opponent, clock in third-worst in team wOBA (.280) with a whopping 27.7% strikeout rate. Play deGrom and fill in the other spots.
Giancarlo Stanton, OF, New York Yankees ($3,900)
When there are four mega aces firing on a main slate with 14 pitching options total, we have to be quite prescient on who we need to roster.
And if you want to fade the top arms and look elsewhere, that provides a great opportunity to roster some big-time bats. So why Giancarlo Stanton? Peep Ross Stripling's numbers, which aren't great against same-sided bats. He's logged a .554 slugging percentage allowed to righties, including seven of the nine homers he's surrendered this season.
Don't sleep on Sahlen Field in Buffalo, either -- this park ranks fifth in home run factor this year, and was second in the abbreviated 2020 season.
Pete Alonso, 1B, New York Mets ($3,500)
With Adbert Alzolay hitting the Injured List due to a nasty blister he developed in his last start, journeyman Robert Stock will be called up -- and it could be an opener type of situation for Stock, who's made nine appearances with only two starts for the Triple-A Cubs this year.
Stock's main issue? Getting slammed by dingers, which is where Pete Alonso enters the conversation. Stock has allowed 1.83 home runs per nine (HR/9) innings pitched this year, and that follows up other stops in his professional career with 1.69 and 1.91 HR/9 in recent seasons.
The Mets have quietly been slamming the baseball -- in the last 14 days, they rank seventh-best in team wOBA (.336) and have plenty of pop (.190 isolated power). Expect a big night from Alonso.
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.
