3 MLB FanDuel Studs to Target on Monday 9/12/22

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.

Framber Valdez, SP, Houston Astros ($11,000)

One of the best pitchers in the league, Framber Valdez has quietly been flying under the radar this season. In 170 2/3 innings pitched, the southpaw has dominated for a 3.31 FIP, 23.1% strikeout rate, and a microscopic 29.0% hard-hit rate.

Here's what's something else we have to consider for today -- the Detroit Tigers have the lowest implied team total (2.89 runs), and they have really been poor at the plate. They rank as one of the league's worst offenses. While the Tigers are a little better against lefties (.300 wOBA), overall they clock in second-worst in team wOBA (.278). Their .112 isolated power (ISO) and 24.1% strikeout rate are numbers we can attack.

Framber leads the charge among pitchers, per our model, with a projection of 40.9 FanDuel points, and he makes too much sense tonight.

Freddie Freeman, 1B, Los Angeles Dodgers ($4,300)

Ryne Nelson sparkled in his debut this season. Throwing seven scoreless innings, he struck out seven and racked up a gaudy 34.5% CSW rate along the way. Can he keep it up?

All signs point to no, and oddsmakers have installed the Los Angeles Dodgers as heavy favorites with a 5.27 implied team total. Wowzers.

Let's peek at Nelson's minor league numbers. He allowed 1.65 HR/9 and 1.52 HR/9 in his last two minor league stops, and he also posted a 27.8% ground-ball rate in his first start. That's not good.

I'm gonna look at lefty swingers in this potent Dodger lineup, and my eyes gaze longingly at you, Freddie Freeman. He could go off in this spot, and our projections have four LA bats among the top five hitters on the slate.

Francisco Lindor, SS, New York Mets ($3,800)

Javier Assad hasn't been very good so far in his brief career, and he doesn't have a great track record in the minors, either, pitching to a 4.36 xFIP this year in Double-A.

As such, the New York Mets sport a 4.95 implied total, the night's second-best clip.

That leads me to Francisco Lindor, and the switch-hitter seems to make for a great target against the right-handed Assad. In a small sample in the bigs, Assad has allowed a .579 slugging percentage to left-handed batters to go along with 2.08 HR/9 and a 14.3% strikeout rate.

Lindor is our number-two shortstop tonight (trailing only Trea Turner).

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.