3 MLB FanDuel Studs to Target on Friday 8/26/22
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.
Gerrit Cole, SP, New York Yankees ($11,000)
If you're looking to roster a high-salary pitcher, Gerrit Cole of the New York Yankees seems like a slam dunk tonight.
Cole squares up in the Bay Area against the Oakland Athletics, and this A's offense is in struggle mode. They rank second-worst in team wOBA this season (.276), fourth-worst in isolated power (.128), and their 23.1% strikeout rate is just outside the bottom 12. They're bad.
Cole has been brilliant in 2022. Spanning 150 1/3 innings pitched, the veteran right-hander sports a 3.20 FIP, 31.7% strikeout rate, and 27.6% hard-hit rate. He has the stuff to dominate this matchup.
He clocks in as the leader in our projections, and he could lap the field tonight at the pitching spot.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr., 1B, Toronto Blue Jays ($3,900)
The Toronto Blue Jays continue to lurk both in the AL East and AL Wild Card races, and if they are going to keep pace, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. needs to be a big part of the engine.
Tonight's matchup, as evidenced by their implied team total of more than 5.0 runs, is juicy as all get out as they're facing southpaw Reid Detmers. At the core of the Jays' lineup is Guerrero, who has smacked lefties to the tune of a 120 wRC+ and .184 ISO mark.
Detmers has been strong as of late, but his career 42.0% fly-ball rate and 32.3% hard-hit rate allowed to righties signal he could surrender a few homers today. Get Guerrero into your lineups where you can.
Pete Alonso, 1B, New York Mets ($3,700)
As much as pitchers have struggled inside of Coors Field this season, Colorado Rockies right-hander Chad Kuhl has actually had a harder time outside of Denver.
Over 103 innings pitched, the righty has logged a respectable 4.17 ERA and .323 wOBA at home, but those marks balloon to a 6.08 ERA and .388 wOBA on the road. His particular struggles on the road lie against righties -- he's allowed a whopping .608 slugging percentage in this split, including an .864 slugging percentage overall in August. Yikes.
Enter the Polar Bear -- Pete Alonso -- who is known for his prodigious power. The owner of a career .277 ISO, Alonso has ripped righties for career marks of a 138 wRC+ and .885 OPS.
Alonso is a great core piece to New York Mets (5.37 implied total) stacks.
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.
