3 MLB FanDuel Studs to Target on Wednesday 5/11/22
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.
Miles Mikolas, SP, St. Louis Cardinals ($9,600)
Shohei Ohtani is an outstanding choice at pitcher tonight, but if you want to bypass the chalk, check out Miles Mikolas.
By traditional metrics and some more advanced ones, Mikolas has been a really good starting pitcher in 2022. Spanning 35 1/3 innings pitched, the righty owns a 1.53 ERA, 2.75 xERA, and 3.02 FIP.
Mikolas's sparkling profile is built on several very strong metrics, which include a 0.51 HR/9 allowed, a 5.0% walk rate, and a 21.2% hard-hit rate. He isn't giving out a ton of free passes, and he isn't getting hit very hard.
That marries well against a Baltimore Orioles offense that took game one of the series but has struggled at the plate. They have recorded the sixth-worst strikeout rate (24.4%) and isolated power (ISO, .115) on the year, and they all have the 10th-worst wOBA (.301).
Keeping with the theme of sixes, Baltimore has scored the sixth-fewest runs on the season, and it's no surprise we project Mikolas for the fourth-highest score on the slate. With a little bit of strikeout upside, he could easily smash that mark.
Paul Goldschmidt, 1B, St. Louis Cardinals ($3,900)
Hitting into a bit of bad luck to start the 2022 season, Paul Goldschmidt has really turned things on as of late. His .123 ISO still leaves quite a bit to be desired, but there are a lot of metrics in Goldschmidt's profile for us to be bullish on, which include a 13.0% walk rate, 40.2% fly-ball rate, and a 19.5% strikeout rate.
Spenser Watkins opposes the Cardinals tonight, and one thing the young righty has struggled with throughout his career is same-sided righties. They've bombed him for a staggering .653 slugging percentage, including a whopping 2.70 HR/9.
The Birds are pushing the envelope of five projected runs scored (4.99 implied team total), one of the highest marks on the main slate. That should have Goldschmidt and his fellow teammates primed for a big night.
Francisco Lindor, SS, New York Mets ($3,500)
New York Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor has been a steadying force for the surging squad, and he's been a thumper in the middle of that lineup. On the season, Lindor has already tallied five dingers and four steals, logging a solid .334 wOBA on the year.
The switch-hitter will swing from the left side of the plate tonight against Aaron Sanchez of the Washington Nationals. Since the start of the 2021 season, Sanchez has been solid overall, but he's been hit significantly harder by lefties, including a 40.6% fly-ball rate and 41.4% hard-hit rate.
Lindor has shown impressive pop as a lefty (.206 ISO), and against a righty who struggles in this split, he could make for a very solid play.
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.
