3 MLB FanDuel Studs to Target on Monday 7/25/22
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.
Max Fried, SP, Atlanta Braves ($10,500)
Starting off this week's DFS slate, we can see that there aren't a ton of great options to go around tonight.
Sean Manaea ($9,900) faces a Detroit Tigers team that's been better than league-average (103 wRC+) against southpaws, and Tony Gonsolin ($10,200) has been solid this season for the Los Angeles Dodgers but doesn't provide that high-end strikeout upside we crave.
I'm going to go with Max Fried, who himself doesn't generate necessarily a ton of swings-and-misses (22.7% strikeout rate) but does nearly everything else well. He's allowed under 1.00 HR/9 and his 49.7% ground-ball rate is the bee's knees.
Projected for 33.7 FanDuel points, tops on the main slate per our projections, Fried could be primed to explode.
Mookie Betts, OF, Los Angeles Dodgers ($4,200)
An early glance at Paolo Espino's stat line doesn't reveal a bad pitcher whatsoever -- a 3.57 ERA in 58 innings pitched makes him actually a fairly solid option.
Don't be fooled, y'all.
Espino has some bad numbers lurking beneath the surface -- 1.55 HR/9 allowed, a 44.8% fly-ball rate, and a 36.1% hard-hit rate. That ERA is probably a bit too low because he has an 81% strand rate, by far well above league average.
I'm gonna ride with Mookie Betts tonight, who's been a stud per the usual. In 354 plate appearances this year, he's terrorized opposing pitchers for 22 long balls and a 146 wRC+.
With the Los Angeles Dodgers sporting a spicy implied team total, get Betts into your lineups.
Yordan Alvarez, OF, Houston Astros ($4,300)
When you write up DFS plays, you can kind of feel like a bully at times.
Picking on Adam Oller of the Oakland Athletics feels a little bit mean, but we gotta do it for DFS purposes tonight.
On the season, it's generally not a good sign when your walk rate (13.9%) surpasses your strikeout rate (13.1%). Nor is it a great sign when you sport only a 36.1% ground-ball rate. Oller's 7.92 FIP is one of the league's worst marks.
And pop? Yea, try on 2.63 HR/9 on for size. That's where Yordan Alvarez enters into the picture, and he's certainly known for his pop. While he didn't make his way into the lineup Sunday, if he's in there tonight, he should be ready to crush.
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.
