3 MLB FanDuel Studs to Target on Thursday 6/30/22
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.
Logan Gilbert, SP, Seattle Mariners ($10,400)
These small slates certainly make starting pitching interesting, and that's reflected in FanDuel's salaries, with show only two arms above $9,000 along with a bevy of options in the middle tier.
One top-shelf option we need to pay attention to is Logan Gilbert of the Seattle Mariners. A large part of this is due to Gilbert's matchup with the Oakland Athletics. The A's rank as the league's worst or second-worst offense against right-handed pitching in a number of categories, including team wOBA, wRC+, and isolated power.
Gilbert has been pretty darn impressive so far this season. Spanning 88 2/3 innings pitched, he's logged a 24.9% strikeout rate and allowed only a 6.3% barrel rate.
We peg Gilbert for 34.9 FanDuel points, a slate-best mark, and he makes a ton of sense tonight.
Isaac Paredes, 3B, Tampa Bay Rays ($3,200)
Hotter than the surface of the son, Isaac Paredes has been slamming long balls with zero regard for human life (and opposing pitchers).
Paredes was named American League Player of the Week thanks to a scorching offensive attack. He's hit seven home runs in the last month, and he's been more than just a home-run hitter. In the past week, he's logged a .462 batting average and a 1.379 OPS.
Tonight, he travels north to the hitter-friendly Rogers Centre to face Yusei Kikuchi, who has allowed 2.06 HR/9 this season and a 41.6% hard-hit rate.
Paredes is a great play at a salary that hasn't caught up to his red-hot production.
Willson Contreras, C, Chicago Cubs ($3,700)
It's summer in Chicago, and that's something to monitor. Why is that? A massive wind (14 MPH to straight center) is blowing out tonight, making this a great spot to zero in on.
Taking the weather out of the picture, rookie Graham Ashcraft of the Cincinnati Reds may be flirting with danger a bit. The righty has struck out only 15.8% of hitters and sports a mediocre 25.3% CSW rate.
Same-sided righties have really taken Ashcraft for a whirl. While it's not the largest of sample sizes (78 total batters faced), they've definitely gotten the better of him, recording a .459 slugging percentage and 1.62 HR/9.
All of this makes Willson Contreras a top-three stick tonight, per our projections.
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.
