MLB

3 MLB FanDuel Studs to Target on Monday 8/1/22

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.

Jon Gray, SP, Texas Rangers ($10,000)

I am probably going to make a unique recommendation tonight.

Instead of going with the chalky play in Max Scherzer, I am going to pivot to Jon Gray of the Texas Rangers.

Gray is not only a little bit cheaper, but he's got plenty of upside in tonight's matchup. While Scherzer faces his old mates in the Washington Nationals, who whiff at only a 19.4% rate, Gray faces a Baltimore Orioles team that strikes out at a 23.5% clip.

The Orioles also sport the worse offense between the two, clocking in 25th in team wOBA (.301). I like Gray big time tonight, and he's projected for the second-most FanDuel points on the day.

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

If you're not rostering the Polar Bear (Pete Alonso), do you really even DFS, bro?

Facing southpaw Patrick Corbin, New York Mets players are certain to be heavily rostered this evening. Their 5.09 implied team total indicates they'll be a popular choice, and the 14-loss Corbin has been rough this season. He's allowed 1.54 HR/9 this season and a 37.6% hard-hit rate, including a .521 slugging percentage allowed to right-handed batters.

For his career, Alonso sports a .303 isolated power (ISO) mark against southpaws -- get him into your lineups tonight

Aaron Judge, OF, New York Yankees ($5,000)

The guy with the highest salary among hitters tonight is one I want to rock with -- Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees.

The front-runner for the AL MVP, Judge takes aim at Marco Gonzales. This season, against righties, Gonzales has allowed 1.26 HR/9, including a 36.4% fly-ball rate and a .443 slugging percentage.

During his major league career, Judge has possibly been at his best at home against southpaws, logging a 171 wRC+ spanning 382 plate appearances. He is in line for another big game.



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.