3 MLB FanDuel Studs to Target on Wednesday 8/31/22
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 ($11,100)
Lapping the field in terms of pitcher projection, according to our model, Gerrit Cole is forecasted to score a whopping 40.6 FanDuel points.
The Los Angeles Angels may possess plenty of star power in players like Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout, but overall, it's a pretty dreadful offense. Inexplicably, they rank fifth-worst in team wOBA (.296), and they lead major league baseball with a 26.2% strikeout rate. Their 3.19 implied total is a slate-low clip.
Cole averages 39.5 FanDuel points per game this season, and he's logged a 3.18 FIP in 157 2/3 innings pitched, striking out 32.0% of batters. Cole's 27.9% hard-hit rate is the second-best mark of his career, and his 2.88 second-half FIP shows he's been at the top of his game in recent starts.
With Jacob deGrom ($12,000) at a significantly higher salary in a brutal matchup with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Cole is the top play on the mound.
Austin Riley, 3B, Atlanta Braves ($3,900)
The Atlanta Braves are surging at the right time -- and it should make for a very interesting stretch run. They will need Austin Riley to be at the peak of his powers tonight against Ryan Feltner of the Colorado Rockies.
Quite honestly, there are a plethora of options we could have selected from Atlanta. Feltner has been hit in all ways, but righties have enjoyed a ton of success against him. In 131 plate appearances in the split, he's allowed a .513 slugging percentage and 1.57 HR/9, and he's actually given up more home runs on the road (1.69 HR/9) than he has at Coors.
Riley has smacked righties this season for a 124 wRC+, .225 ISO and 39.9% fly-ball rate. Riley leads our hitter projections at 17.3 FanDuel points on Wednesday.
Bryce Harper, OF, Philadelphia Phillies ($4,200)
Sporting the highest implied total on the slate, the Philadelphia Phillies are an offense to get a piece of.
Bryce Harper is a guy I just can't ignore despite a lefty-lefty matchup against Tommy Henry.
While he's logged only 295 plate appearances in 2022 due to various maladies, Harper has posted a 163 wRC+ this year with a .587 slugging percentage. Lefties have been no issue for him as Harper owns a .405 wOBA in the split.
Get Harper into those lineups if you can.
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.
