3 MLB FanDuel Studs to Target on Friday 4/15/22
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.
Brad Keller, SP, Kansas City Royals ($9,400)
On Friday's main slate, there are four arms worthy of consideration with salaries above $9,000. I'm picking Brad Keller out of that group -- due to his matchup and the fact that the other aces have some potentially challenging landmines.
Carlos Rodon was scintillating in his first start for the San Francisco Giants, but he faces one of baseball's biggest surprises -- the Cleveland Guardians. They lead all baseball -- and by a wide margin -- in team wOBA (.397), which is paired with a very strong isolated power (ISO) of .216. Their sub-20% strikeout rate also leaves much to be desired.
Like Rodon, Freddy Peralta does not have a walk in the park coming, either. He faces a St. Louis Cardinals offense that clocks in second in team wOBA (.347) with a .226 ISO.
With those two possibly riding the struggle bus, I like Keller and his matchup against a Detroit Tigers team that isn't quite as scary (.294 wOBA), and they give us that strikeout upside (25.2%) that we so desperately crave.
Keller tamed the red-hot Guardians in his 2022 debut, going six scoreless innings with five strikeouts. He's where I'll land tonight on a slate that has some good pitching options.
Anthony Rizzo, 1B, New York Yankees ($3,700)
Another day, another matchup for the New York Yankees inside their division. While they just wrapped up a series against the Toronto Blue Jays, things should be slightly more palatable playing against the Baltimore Orioles in Camden Yards.
While much ado was made about the dimensions of the field changes to left-field in Baltimore, right-field remains untouched, which makes me bullish about a guy like Anthony Rizzo. No park played more homer-friendly for hitters a season ago than Camden Yards did, per ESPN's park factors.
And against the struggling Jordan Lyles? Yes, please. The righty allowed 1.90 home runs per nine last season, and the Bronx Bombers boast one of the highest implied team totals of the day. I can't get enough of Rizzo in my lineups.
Marcus Semien, 2B/SS, Texas Rangers ($3,300)
Coming off of an absolute monster 2021 campaign, Marcus Semien is looking to add to his resume as a member of the Texas Rangers. If this matchup against Reid Detmers plays out as it has historically, Semien could go nuts.
Detmers, an uber-prospect in the Los Angeles Angels organization, has really struggled with the long ball in his career, particularly versus opposite-handed hitters. For his career, in 87 total batters faced, Detmers has had a rough go of it so far -- a .573 slugging percentage, 13.8% walk rate and 2.50 homers per nine. Woof.
This slate features some great offensive spots, including Coors, but don't sleep on Semien and the Rangers.
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.
