MLB

3 MLB FanDuel Studs to Target on Thursday 8/18/22

Matt Kupferle  —  @MKupferle Aug 18th, 2022
The Yankees finally nabbed a big win, and with Jose Berrios on the mound, Anthony Rizzo looks like a great play. Who else is worth their high salary?

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.

Yu Darvish, SP, San Diego Padres ($10,600)

When Jacob deGrom takes the mound, it is really hard to not recommend him as your starting pitcher play for DFS purposes.

Today is going to be one of those days where we don't recommend him.

Now, part of it is because Yu Darvish's salary is $1,400 cheaper (and who doesn't love a good sale!), but the matchup is downright awesome. He faces a Washington Nationals offense that ranks in the bottom third of the league in team wOBA and isolated power (ISO). Although they've been one of the league's toughest teams to strike out this year, that's less of a concern with Juan Soto no longer in town.

Also, deGrom has had limited pitch counts since returning this month, making him a tougher sell at $12,000.

In fact, we peg Darvish, not deGrom, to lead the way at 39.6 FanDuel points, and he could be a big scorer for DFS squads on Thursday.

Anthony Rizzo, 1B, New York Yankees ($3,700)

I'm pretty sure when the Toronto Blue Jays traded for Jose Berrios, they weren't expecting these kinds of numbers. He's allowed 1.92 HR/9 this season, and he has a career-worst 40.5% fly-ball rate and only a 20.3% strikeout rate.

He's been bashed by nearly all hitters, but lefties with the platoon advantage have really given him fits. This season, they've bopped him for a .538 slugging percentage, 43.7% fly-ball rate, and 2.47 HR/9.

For all of those reasons, members of the New York Yankees are sure to be popular, but Anthony Rizzo really sticks out for me tonight. Rizzo may not be hitting for average, but he's posted an amazing .277 ISO at the dish this year.

Manny Machado, 3B, San Diego Padres ($4,500)

Generally speaking, taking an entire year off of baseball (not because of injury) generally isn't a very good thing. And the early results for veteran Anibal Sanchez coming back to the Majors haven't exactly been stellar.

This season, spanning 30 innings, Sanchez has allowed 3.00 HR/9 off a 40.8% hard-hit rate and 46.4% fly-ball rate. Same-sided righties have particularly vexed the seasoned arm, producing a .696 slugging percentage in the split.

That opens the door wide open for Manny Machado, who already has 21 homers, 7 steals, and a .227 ISO to his name in 2022. Expect the third baseman to add to those marks tonight.


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.