3 MLB FanDuel Studs to Target on Monday 7/11/22
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.
Aaron Nola, SP, Philadelphia Phillies ($10,100)
He may not be the priciest option on Monday's main slate -- both Max Scherzer ($10,700) and Max Fried ($10,400) will cost you more dough -- but I am rocking hardcore with Aaron Nola tonight.
Not only do I want to avoid that contest explicitly, but Aaron Nola has the far easier matchup on tonight's main slate. The St. Louis Cardinals had been rolling recently at the plate until about the last two weeks -- check out these horrific marks which include a .290 wOBA (sixth-worst), .141 isolated power (ISO) (seventh-worst), and an elevated 23.2% strikeout rate.
All of this makes Nola, who is our top projected arm, a great play.
Jake Cronenworth, 1B/2B, San Diego Padres ($3,800)
If you want some exposure to a game with a whopping 11.5 run over/under (and who wouldn't!), Jake Cronenworth is a guy you have to be seriously eyeing up tonight.
This is definitely based on a wild matchup for Cronenworth. Jose Urena has been resurrected like Lazarus and will get the unenviable task of throwing tonight in suburban Denver. Urena has allowed a .480 slugging percentage to left-handed batters, including 1.50 HR/9 for his career.
With those staggering numbers in mind, I'm going with the guy likely batting third for the San Diego Padres tonight.
Marcus Semien, 2B, Texas Rangers ($3,700)
Remember when we all left Marcus Semien for dead? Yea, me too. But the dude has been absolutely ballin' as of late, and I'm rostering him tonight.
Baseball is a long season -- so when Semien logged a .157 and .233 batting average in the first two months, respectively, we puked a little bit in our mouths. But in June? Try on a 139 wRC+ and .231 ISO, and he's backed that up to start July with marks of a 162 wRC+ and .316 ISO. This is one bad man.
Adrian Martinez of the Oakland Athletics doesn't really do much to impress us -- in 15 innings this year, he's allowed a staggering .647 slugging percentage to same-sided batters, including 4.32 HR/9 this season in the split.
You need some Semien exposure in your life and he has a great matchup worth exploiting.
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.
