3 MLB FanDuel Studs to Target on Thursday 6/16/22
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.
Luis Severino, SP, New York Yankees ($10,400)
Like yesterday when we touted teammate Nestor Cortes, Luis Severino takes the ball today for the Bronx Bombers, and he has a solid matchup we want to think about.
We highlighted some pretty egregious batting statistics from the Tampa Bay Rays, the Yankees opponent, yesterday. They rank fourth-worst in all of baseball in terms of team wOBA, and their isolated power mark of .142 (ISO) and 23.4% strikeout rate are also among the league's bottom feeders. The numbers against right-handed pitching are even worse -- they rank inside the bottom five in the league in every metric mentioned.
Somewhat quietly, Severino has flown a bit under the radar and gone into beast mode this season. Over 61 innings pitched, he's struck out 28.9% while walking them at only a 6.1% clip, and he's allowed a microscopic 30.1% hard-hit rate.
We project the righty as the third-best hurler on the day (32.5 FanDuel points), making him a boss play.
Rhys Hoskins, 1B, Philadelphia Phillies ($3,600)
The Philadelphia Phillies are taking on Patrick Corbin tonight and they have to be giggling with joy.
The veteran southpaw has gotten off to a pretty rough start this year -- his 6.65 ERA is basically matched by his 6.02 xERA, and the lefty has struggled with what is careening towards a career-worst 17.5% strikeout rate.
Additionally, righties have rocked him for a whopping .490 slugging percentage, including 1.35 HR/9 this season. A 39.2% hard-hit rate from righties in 2022 shows there have been quite a few loud outs made.
After bopping two long balls a few days ago, Rhys Hoskins makes perfect sense in tonight's lineups. He's bashed southpaws this year for a 181 wRC+, including a 1.043 OPS and .359 ISO mark. He's gotta be in your lineups tonight against the struggling Corbin.
Adolis Garcia, OF, Texas Rangers ($3,900)
On a tiny main slate like tonight, and a plethora of excellent pitching options, there aren't a ton of stud hitters for us to consider. But, Adolis Garcia is locked and loaded as a great option for our rosters.
Tonight, Garcia will face Beau Brieske -- who's really been victimized by the long ball. This season, he's allowed 2.27 HR/9, and those numbers are actually inflated by same-sided bats like Garcia. This year, he's allowed the following numbers to righties -- a .557 slugging percentage, 2.54 HR/9, and a 40.3% fly-ball rate.
After a 31-homer campaign, Garcia has picked up right where he left off. He's slugged 12 long balls so far in 2022, including a .210 ISO mark, and he's been far more adept with a 124 wRC+ against righties (versus a mark of 85 against lefties).
Garcia should be in your OF queue this evening.
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.
