MLB

3 MLB FanDuel Studs to Target on Wednesday 5/25/22

Matt Kupferle  —  @MKupferle May 25th, 2022
Ronald Acuna has a stellar matchup tonight against Ranger Suarez. Which other bats do you need to plug in on this slate?

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.

Kyle Tucker, OF, Houston Astros ($3,600)

Somewhat overshadowed by the superfluous amount of talent on the Houston Astros, Kyle Tucker is off to one heck of a start this season.

In 173 plate appearances in 2022, Tucker's posted a 137 wRC+, and he's picked up the pace quite a bit recently, including a tater last night. He's smacked eight dingers on the year, torching right-handed pitchers for a .252 ISO.

That's not good for Cal Quantrill, who's really struggled with lefties in his career. He's allowed a .404 slugging percentage in 708 total batters faced in the split, including a 37.4% hard-hit rate and 40.4% fly-ball rate.

Given the matchup, Tucker can erupt tonight.

Tyler Naquin, OF, Cincinnati Reds ($3,100)

While right-handed starter Kyle Hendricks has enjoyed a nice major league career, he's been blasted this season. Lefties have gotten the best of him, recording a .540 slugging percentage and a silly 2.48 HR/9 allowed so far in 2022.

Tyler Naquin may finally be ready to show the peak of his powers, and he's already enjoyed some outstanding success so far in 2022. His .222 ISO would be a career-best clip if he keeps it up, and while he's historically had a hard time with same-sided lefties, Naquin has smashed right-handed pitching in his career to the tune of a .810 OPS and .196 ISO.

It shouldn't come as much of a surprise that we have Naquin as a top-10 hitter today given the great matchup he has. At a modest salary, Naquin is tough to pass on.

Ronald Acuna, OF, Atlanta Braves ($4,200)

Boasting the highest implied team total (4.92) on the main slate, the Atlanta Braves are going to be a popular stack as long as the rain cooperates in Atlanta. It's righties like Ronald Acuna who we need to be focused on against Ranger Suarez.

While same-sided lefties have basically stood no chance against Suarez (.189 wOBA and .212 slugging percentage), righties have enjoyed a ton of success, logging a .472 slugging percentage and 1.47 HR/9 against him. The batted-ball profile stands out, as well. Righties' 33.7% fly-ball rate is far higher than the 20.2% mark lefties have knocked him for.

Acuna missed about the first month of the season recovering from a knee injury, but he's been on a tear since returning. He's posted a .371 wOBA, and the knee seems pretty fine with eight stolen bases to his name already. I like him a ton tonight as a core piece to Braves stacks.


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.