3 MLB FanDuel Studs to Target on Tuesday 8/16/22

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.

Robbie Ray, SP, Seattle Mariners ($10,300)

Do we think that Robbie Ray can follow up Luis Castillo's wonderful performance for the Seattle Mariners?

It's probably a pretty good bet. The Los Angeles Angels have really struggled at the plate this season. They sit near the bottom of the league in all of wOBA (.295), strikeout rate (26.1%) strikeout rate, and ISO (.152). Without Mike Trout, this offense is pretty dang bad.

Ray can take advantage. In 136 innings this season, he has been very solid following his Cy Young season. He's recorded a 28.0% strikeout rate with a 41.0% ground-ball rate, and his 32.8% hard-hit rate is on pace for the lowest mark of his career. We know what kind of ceiling he offers when he's dialed in, and he could reach for that ceiling in this matchup.

We project Ray to score 36.1 FanDuel points, tops on Tuesday's main slate.

Willson Contreras, C, Chicago Cubs ($3,500)

The Washington Nationals keep running out left-hander Patrick Corbin, and when that happens, we gotta think about right-handed bats against Corbin in DFS.

So far this season, the marks have been downright ugly for the veteran. Against righties, he's allowed 1.88 HR/9, a .539 slugging percentage and a 39.1% hard-hit rate. In Corbin's last six starts, he's allowed four or more earned runs in all of them. Spanning those starts, which covers 21 2/3 innings pitched, he's allowed 30 earned runs and recorded two outings without a single punchout.

For all of those reasons, Chicago Cubs righties -- like Willson Contreras -- make for a great play. Contreras has the power to generate a huge FanDuel output on Tuesday.

George Springer, OF, Toronto Blue Jays ($3,800)

The profile of Dean Kremer is a bizarre one. Let's peek under the hood.

He owns a 3.69 ERA in 69 1/3 innings pitched, but that seems a bit like he's overperforming. He's struck out only 18.5% of batters, but he's allowed a 34.0% hard-hit rate and 44.6% fly-ball rate on the year.

Same-sided righties have been particularly challenging for Kremer. He's given up a .477 slugging percentage and a whopping 49.1% fly-ball rate. Fourteen of the 19 extra-base hits he's allowed this season have been to right-handed hitters.

With George Springer back in the leadoff role, he is a great option. Springer has mashed his way to a 134 wRC+ against right-handed pitchers, and the Toronto Blue Jays are certainly on the stacking radar with an implied total of 4.93, the slate's highest clip.

All signs point to Springer being a monster option, and we project him for a robust 14.1 FanDuel points.

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.