3 MLB FanDuel Studs to Target on Tuesday 6/8/21
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.
Shane Bieber, SP, Cleveland Indians ($11,500)
There are two monster arms on today's main slate, and it's a tough choice between Shane Bieber and Tyler Glasnow. I think you gotta go with Bieber, so let's dive into why I'm leaning toward the Cleveland Indians' ace.
Bieber has the better matchup against the St. Louis Cardinals while Glasnow gets the Washington Nationals. The Cards rank 20th in wOBA this season, and over the last 14 days, they are striking out at a hefty 26.2% clip.
The Indians' right-hander has a 35.6% strikeout rate and 17.2% swinging-strike rate. He's thrown at least 100 pitches in every outing but one. The combination of strikeout stuff and big workload gives him a massive ceiling.
Our projections have Bieber generating 43.1 FanDuel points, 5.9 more than anyone else. This is a pretty loaded pitching slate, so that's saying something.
Jesse Winker, OF, Cincinnati Reds ($4,400)
Death. Taxes. Jesse Winker bombs. That's what is consistent in our lives right now, and we are all just minions in Winker's world.
While it would be easy to cling to Winker because of his three yaks on Sunday, those are far from his only exploits this season. For the year, Winker is sporting a .665 slugging percentage and 17 home runs, and he's got just an 18.1% strikeout rate after putting up a 25.1% clip in 2020.
Tuesday, he is at homer-happy Great American Ball Park versus Adrian Houser. Houser has been decent this year -- with a 1.32 WHIP in 53 2/3 innings pitched -- but Winker could have another huge game with the platoon advantage.
Austin Meadows, OF, Tampa Bay Rays ($4,200)
After a slow start to the 2021 campaign, Austin Meadows has been straight cookin' as of late, and he could add to some impressive totals with Jon Lester on the bump.
Over the last 14 days, Meadows has been smashing the ball, going off for a .442 OBP with five long balls and 19 RBI over that time. And Lester has not been good this season -- pitching to a 4.60 FIP with a mere 16.9% strikeout rate. The twilight of Lester's career may be approaching quickly.
While Meadows usually isn't as potent versus lefties, he does have a 55.0% fly-ball rate in the split, and Lester isn't a left-hander to fear.
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.
