3 MLB FanDuel Studs to Target on Tuesday 8/30/22
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.
Aaron Nola, SP, Philadelphia Phillies ($11,000)
On Tuesday's main slate, we have six pitchers salaried at $10,000 or above. There are a few good picks, so how exactly do we figure out which pitcher we want to target?
One arm who doesn't have as many red flags is Aaron Nola. The matchup is definitely there. The Arizona Diamondbacks are only 19th in team wOBA (.306) and in the bottom third in terms of wRC+ (93). And Nola's numbers are outstanding -- 2.85 SIERA, 28.5% strikeout rate and 3.4% walk rate.
Nola ranks as the slate's top arm, per our projections. We forecast him for 39.8 FanDuel points.
Willy Adames, SS, Milwaukee Brewers ($3,600)
It can be confusing when you review the profile of Pittsburgh Pirates starter Mitch Keller.
He's posted a hard-hit and fly-ball rate that are both under 30%, and his .419 slugging percentage is a solid number. But he's striking out just 18.7% of batters, so he's far from overpowering. Uniquely, same-sided righties are the ones giving Keller problems. He's allowed 1.11 HR/9 in the split this season with only a 14.1% K-BB% rate.
Enter Willy Adames.
He has pounded righties for a 115 wRC+ and .249 ISO. His batted-ball profile in the split is juicy, too, as he owns a 46.9% fly-ball rate and 36.6% hard-hit rate.
The Milwaukee Brewers hold an implied team total of 5.03 runs, the second-best of the night, meaning we need some exposure to this team. Adames is a great way to get that.
Matt Olson, 1B, Atlanta Braves ($4,000)
In a very unique feat, over 58 1/3 innings pitched, Jose Urena has an identical strikeout and walk rate, posting an 11.6% rate in each category. As you may imagine, that's not great.
His 50.2% ground-ball rate limits some of the damage, but in the second half, he's been blasted for a .401 wOBA and 1.59 homers per nine. Lefties have really hit the ball hard versus Urena -- to the tune of a 34.6% hard-hit rate -- while walking 15.0% of the time.
Matt Olson has been rock solid this season, sporting a 127 wRC+ and .498 slugging percentage in 567 plate appearances. His .244 ISO is in line with career norms, and his 138 wRC+ at home versus righties is awfully impressive.
The Atlanta Braves are another team we should want exposure to as they show a slate-high 5.47 implied total. Olson can be a core piece of Atlanta 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.
