MLB
3 MLB FanDuel Studs to Target on Friday 6/17/22

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 who are likely to produce, as well, increasing our chances for runs and RBI. For pitchers, we want strikeout prowess, while the ability to go deep in a game and pick up a win and/or quality start 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.

Carlos Rodon, P, Giants ($10,700)

In my eyes, it's a difficult choice at the top of the pitcher pool today between Frankie Montas ($10,200) and Carlos Rodon. You can make a strong case for each, and both have matchups against light-hitting offenses -- the Kansas City Royals for Montas and the Pittsburgh Pirates for Rodon.

I side with Rodon due to his superior strikeout upside.

Rodon owns a 30.6% strikeout rate, and the Pirates' 25.1% strikeout rate is the second-highest in baseball. Rodon's strikeout prop at FanDuel Sportsbook is at 6.5 with -140 juice on the over. Montas, meanwhile, boasts a 26.1% strikeout rate and is facing a KC offense that has a 20.6% strikeout rate.

Rodon's bugaboo most starts is inefficiency. He's tossed at least 98 pitches in five straight outings but has completed six innings in just two of those starts. Pittsburgh can help in that department, though, as they see the 12th-fewest pitches per plate appearance (3.92).

Our algorithm has Rodon (35.5 FanDuel points) and Montas (36.4) about even, but Rodon is where I'll be.

Luke Voit, 1B, Padres ($3,600)

The San Diego Padres offer a massive -- and slate-high -- 6.65-run implied total for their Coors Field date with Kyle Freeland.

San Diego bats litter the top of our projections -- four among the top nine -- and the best one of that foursome is Luke Voit, who also happens to be the lowest-salaried one of the four. Yes, please.

Voit started horribly this year, but he's rebounded and has blasted three taters over the past five games. He slugged his way to a .344 wOBA last month and has a .346 wOBA so far in June. He'll have the platoon advantage today against Freeland, a lefty who has struck out only 15.7% of right-handed hitters in 2022.

We project Voit for 15.2 FanDuel points, the fourth-most of the slate and tops among Coors bats. At his fairly modest salary, Voit will likely be chalky, but there's a lot to love with him tonight.

Rafael Devers, 3B, Red Sox ($4,500)

With Coors bats and a couple of top-end arms on the slate, high-salary bats outside of Denver could slip through the cracks a bit. But I want me some Rafael Devers.

Devers and the Boston Red Sox are in a great spot versus Adam Wainwright. Their 5.30 implied total is the top non-Coors clip, and the wind is blowing out to right at Fenway.

Wainwright's 4.30 SIERA and 18.4% strikeout rate are middling marks. Left-handed hitters are striking out just 17.5% of the time against him this season. His 2.84 ERA is mostly a mirage.

Devers can take advantage. He's mauled righties to the tune of a .434 wOBA this season and is striking out just 14.7% of the time in the split. He's also scorching hot, donging four times in the last five games.

Our model projects Devers for 13.8 FanDuel points, and stacking Boston might not be as popular of a move as it should be.

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