3 MLB FanDuel Studs to Target on Monday 8/15/22

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 Castillo, SP, Seattle Mariners ($11,200)

We are lucky on Monday's main slate -- we get not one, not two, but five (!) pitchers salaried at $10,000 or higher.

Gerrit Cole ($11,000) has been a bit up and down as of late. Targeting a pitcher facing the Tampa Bay Rays (.303 wOBA, 24.0% strikeout rate) always makes for a good play, though, and Cole is certainly that today. We could also go with Shohei Ohtani ($10,000), who is easy to like at his salary.

But Luis Castillo of the Seattle Mariners is where I'll be tonight. Castillo squares up with a Los Angeles Angels team that owns a .296 wOBA and 26.0% strikeout rate. Over the last month, with Mike Trout missing, the Angels sport only a .281 wOBA. They're bad.

Castillo has been good in his first two outings with Seattle despite facing the New York Yankees both times. He should dominate this one.

We project Castillo to score 35.3 FanDuel points, which is just behind what we have for Cole and Ohtani. But Castillo gets the nod for me -- and he will likely be the least popular of the three.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr, 1B, Toronto Blue Jays ($4,000)

The Toronto Blue Jays can continue their recent winning ways with a dreamy matchup against the Baltimore Orioles and Kyle Bradish. Toronto's 4.90 implied total is the night's highest.

Bradish has really struggled against same-sided bats this season. He's allowed a .604 slugging percentage, 2.50 HR/9, and a 38.8% fly-ball rate to righties. That should spell trouble versus the Jays' righty-heavy lineup.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is projected as the top hitter on today's slate, per our model. We have him scoring 17.4 FanDuel points. He can be a core piece to Toronto stacks or an elite one-off pick.

Wilmer Flores, 1B/2B/3B, San Francisco Giants ($3,000)

In the twilight of his career, Madison Bumgarner of the Arizona Diamondbacks will face his former team, and the San Francisco Giants (4.27 implied total) are a sneaky-good stack.

Bumgarner has been hurt by fly-balls -- allowing them at a clip of greater than 40% -- and righties, in particular, have been trouble for him at a 39.7% hard-hit rate and 1.34 HR/9 allowed in the split.

Wilmer Flores is a known lefty masher. For his career, the numbers are pretty staggering. In nearly 1,000 plate appearances (955 to be exact), Flores has slammed lefties for a 119 wRC+, .219 ISO, and 44.5% fly-ball rate.

Flores can give you stud production at a modest salary, making it easier to fit in a high-salary ace, and his multi-position eligibility makes him a handy piece on this slate.

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.