MLB

3 MLB FanDuel Studs to Target on Tuesday 5/31/22

Matt Kupferle  —  @MKupferle May 31st, 2022
Facing a struggling Patrick Corbin, Pete Alonso has huge upside tonight. Which other high-salary players need to be in your lineups?

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.

Kevin Gausman, SP, Toronto Blue Jays ($10,200)

It seems at this point that it doesn't really matter where Kevin Gausman pitches, the dude is gonna be ballin'. Despite a move to the hitter-friendly environment of Toronto, Gausman has been pretty unreal. His 1.31 FIP showcases his prowess, which includes a ridiculous 26.9% K-BB% walk rate and 44.4% ground-ball rate. That will play anywhere.

Now, fold in a Chicago White Sox lineup that's really been bad at the plate, although it looks like Luis Robert will be returning from the COVID-19 Injured List today. The White Sox, while they don't strike out a lot (19.9%), are among the league's worst offenses in terms of wOBA (.288), walk rate (6.3%), and isolated power (.123, ISO). That's a hot mess.

All of it means Gausman could go nuts tonight, and we are projecting the righty to blow the field away with 40.1 FanDuel points.

Pete Alonso, 1B, New York Mets ($4,100)

Yesterday, Pete Alonso said: "I'm always in scoring position when I come up to the plate." That will be true today versus the struggling Patrick Corbin.

The wheels have fallen off the Corbin train this season, and righties have really had their way with him. On the season, they have slammed Corbin for a .479 slugging percentage and 39.5% hard-hit rate.

In his career, Alonso has shown off major pop in this split, including a massive .315 ISO with a 12.8% walk rate. With a keen batting eye and plenty of juice to pair with it, Alonso should be ready to rock tonight.

Tommy Edman, 2B, St. Louis Cardinals ($3,800)

The St. Louis Cardinals are the league's best offense against left-handed pitching, which could be a bad sign for Blake Snell.

For a guy like Snell, the splits between lefties and righties are pretty staggering in his career. While same-sided bats have basically stood no chance (.251 wOBA, .305 slugging percentage), righties have enjoyed far more success, including a .380 slugging percentage and 37.4% fly-ball rate.

Tommy Edman has been a big reason this Cards offense has been so prolific against left-handed pitching. The switch-hitter has been incredible as a righty, logging a .374 batting average, 174 wRC+, and .957 OPS.

On a slate with a lot of good offensive spots, the Cardinals probably won't be all that popular, but Edman is worth a look.


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.