3 MLB FanDuel Studs to Target on Tuesday 4/19/22
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, as well, 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.
Corbin Burnes, SP, Milwaukee Brewers ($10,800)
It is a bit nutty to suggest that Corbin Burnes of the Milwaukee Brewers isn't the highest-salaried arm on today's slate, but here we are. Buckle up!
Burnes will oppose the Pittsburgh Pirates, who, to the surprise of many, are ranked 13th in team wOBA (.313) on the season. While they are a bit plucky at the plate, let's not pretend that this is an offensive juggernaut at the dish. Their .113 isolated power (ISO) shows they are nearly devoid of pop, and their 22.8% strikeout makes them targetable.
While Burnes got touched up a little bit in his first outing, he was downright nasty in his second with seven scoreless innings. He whiffed eight batters.
It all adds up to Burnes blowing away the competition in terms of starting pitching on Tuesday.
Xander Bogaerts, SS, Boston Red Sox ($3,500)
The Boston Red Sox are going to be a very popular stack today.
They are improving at the plate after a bit of a rough start, so their wOBA of .301 still doesn't rank them amongst the league's elite. That's okay; Yusei Kikuchi may provide the perfect elixir to cure those bats for the Sawx.
While it's his only start so far in 2022, the southpaw showed the same problems with the long ball (2.70 home runs per nine innings) that he did in 2021 (1.55). Woof.
X is going to be smack dab in the middle of that Boston offense, and the dude absolutely rakes at Fenway Park. Spanning 674 plate appearances in his career, Xander Bogaerts has logged a beautiful 131 wRC+ against lefties at home.
Fire him up tonight with supreme confidence.
Nick Castellanos, OF, Philadelphia Phillies ($4,100)
Of course, I recommended two plays from this Coors Field tilt, and it turns into a pitcher's duel -- with Chad Kuhl on the bump. I apologize regrettably.
I cannot fathom that this contest performs the same way again today, and let's peep the Rockies starter tonight, Kyle Freeland.
At home for his career against opposite-handed batters, Freeland has logged (wait for it): a .493 opposing slugging percentage, 4.91 FIP, 1.44 HR/9, and only a 16.8% strikeout rate.
Nick Castellanos tops the list for me, and this easily could have been a Rhys Hoskins recommendation as well. Castellanos gets the nod for me thanks to a career .376 wOBA against lefties, including an .896 OPS.
Start both if you've got the salary.
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.
