3 MLB FanDuel Studs to Target on Friday 6/24/22

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.

Alek Manoah, SP, Toronto Blue Jays ($10,400)

By the slimmest of margins on his chinny chin chin, Alek Manoah of the Toronto Blue Jays is the arm I'm most into on this slate.

The young righty will square off against the Milwaukee Brewers, who have struggled a little bit at the plate in 2022. Their team wOBA ranks them smack in the middle of the pack, as does their .169 ISO, and their 23.5% strikeout rate checks in as the ninth-highest.

Manoah has been sensational this season. In 81 innings pitched, he's logged a 2.91 FIP with an 18.2% K-BB rate and 19.2% hard-hit rate. Clearly, hitters are not finding it easy to square up Manoah.

You can make a case for a few pitchers on this slate -- including Aaron Nola ($10,300), Justin Verlander ($10,500), Luis Severino ($10,000) and Jeffrey Springs ($8,300) -- but Manoah is the top hurler for me. We project him for 32.2 FanDuel points.

Corey Seager, SS, Texas Rangers ($3,500)

Texas Rangers are an offense that usually doesn't get a lot of love in DFS -- and for good reason. They rank only 23rd in team wOBA (.301), and their .155 isolated power (ISO) and 23.5% strikeout rate are less than impressive.

But Paolo Espino should provide some offensive help to the Rangers. He's struck out only 19.6% of batters this season and sports a 36.2% hard-hit rate and 42.9% fly-ball rate.

For his career, Corey Seager has blasted right-handers for a 136 wRC+, .214 ISO and .512 slugging percentage.

With the Rangers boasting an implied team total of 4.94 runs, they're on the stacking radar, and Seager is a great way to get in on the fun.

Luis Robert, OF, Chicago White Sox ($3,800)

As long as Luis Robert is good to go tonight, he and the Chicago White Sox could put up some very crooked numbers.

Sussing through the details of hurler Austin Voth, we can see that he's really struggled with the long ball throughout his career, permitting 1.77 jacks per nine. He's been awful so far this season, as well. His 8.39 ERA is belied by a .577 slugging percentage and 2.45 homers per nine allowed to righties. That's not good, my friends.

While Robert has slammed lefties in his brief major league career, he ain't been no scrub against righties. He's logged a career 115 wRC+ in the split, and he offers a power/speed combination that isn't matched by many.

Robert has massive upside and is a great way to get exposure to Chicago's 4.97 implied total.


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.