MLB

3 MLB FanDuel Studs to Target on Tuesday 7/5/22

Matt Kupferle  —  @MKupferle Jul 5th, 2022
George Springer and the Jays are facing Adrian Martinez, who has really struggled with righty bats. Who else should we think about?

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.

Luis Garcia, SP, Houston Astros ($10,000)

If I am looking for an anchor on the pitching side, Tuesday's main slate has me all verklempt with Luis Garcia and his delightful matchup against the Kansas City Royals.

Garcia is not without his faults or warts. He's allowed 1.53 HR/9 this season, including a 44.4% fly-ball rate that's led to quite a few home runs this season.

But, focusing only on the long balls is not fair. The Houston righty has logged a quite low 32.5% hard-hit rate, including solid marks of a 25.7% strikeout rate and only a 6.8% walk rate. His 13.7% swinging-strike rate is on pace to be a career-best mark, too.

The Royals ain't an attack we need to fear, either. They rank at the bottom of the league in terms of wOBA (.300) and isolated power (.135, ISO). He's our top-rated hurler on the day, making him a great play.

George Springer, OF, Toronto Blue Jays ($4,000)

With Adrian Martinez rocking the bump tonight for the Oakland Athletics, the Toronto Blue Jays sport an inflated 5.07 implied team total. Unfortunately, the Baby Jays are certain to be plentifully rostered, and at the top of that list has to be outfielder George Springer.

Martinez has really had a hard time retiring same-sided batters this season -- like a really hard time. He's allowed a .625 slugging percentage in the split, and while it's been a minimal sample size, we can't ignore the 4.50 HR/9 allowed.

Perhaps surprisingly, Springer has been league average against southpaws (101 wRC+), but he's rocked righties for a 137 wRC+ mark, including a .245 ISO.

It all adds up to Springer being a wonderful play tonight.

Jose Ramirez, 3B, Cleveland Guardians ($4,200)

One expensive star we really need to be considering is Jose Ramirez, who's turning in another mega season for the Cleveland Guardians.

In 326 plate appearances, Ramirez has logged a 166 wRC+, slamming 16 home runs to go along with 12 steals on the year. His .289 ISO is on pace to be one of the top marks in his career, and his 54.1% fly-ball rate is by far and away the best mark of his career.

Going up against Ramirez is Drew Hutchison of the Detroit Tigers, who owns the distinction of nearly walking more batters than he's whiffed. He may have only allowed 0.74 HR/9 this year, but his 5.57 SIERA belies the fact that he's posted a batted-ball profile that shows there's some ugly in here (42.7% fly-ball rate and 36.4% hard-hit rate).

A monster night for Ramirez could be on the horizon.


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.