MLB

3 MLB FanDuel Studs to Target on Tuesday 6/7/22

Matt Kupferle  —  @MKupferle Jun 7th, 2022
Jose Altuve has been a monster this season, and he's got a tantalizing matchup tonight. Who else should you make sure you roster?

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.

Tarik Skubal, SP, Detroit Tigers ($10,400)

Normally, we can start to get pretty excited about rostering a starting pitcher when he's in a game with an over/under of a mere 7.0 runs, and that's definitely the case for Tarik Skubal today as the Detroit Tigers take on the Pittsburgh Pirates in a clash of two offensive titans.

OK -- maybe something less than titans is a bit more appropriate of a nomenclature.

We can be very bullish about Skubal in this matchup with Pittsburgh. The southpaw has been fantastic this season, firing his way to a 2.01 FIP in 58 2/3 innings pitched. By trading fastballs for sliders, Skubal currently sports a career-best 28.7% CSW rate in 2022.

And the Pirates? Their offense really stinks. They rank near the bottom of the league in quite a few metrics, including wOBA (.293), ISO (.134), and strikeout rate (24.2%). Skubal can crush in this spot, and he's the pitcher I'm prioritizing on this slate.

Jose Altuve, 2B, Houston Astros ($3,600)

The diminutive leadoff man for the Houston Astros, Jose Altuve has been really strong yet again this campaign. This season, he has logged a .386 wOBA, and his .255 ISO is a career-best mark.

He could add to some of those gaudy totals this evening against Chris Flexen, who has been a pitch-to-contact specialist for the Seattle Mariners.

Flexen has really struggled against same-sided bats this year, allowing a .500 slugging percentage and 1.64 HR/9 in the split. Flexen's batted-ball profile is a bit ugly, too, this year against righties. He's allowed a 47.3% fly-ball rate and 38.7% hard-hit rate in the split.

Altuve can go off in this matchup, and his salary is fairly modest.

Ronald Acuna, OF, Atlanta Braves ($4,000)

One player who will be in nearly all of my DFS lineups tonight is Ronald Acuna of the Atlanta Braves.

The Braves face off with Cole Irvin. While Irvin sports a beautiful 2.96 ERA, the advanced metrics are a lot more concerning. His 14.8% strikeout rate leads to a lot of balls in play, and righties have done the most damage with a 39.8% hard-hit rate and .391 slugging percentage on the season.

For Acuna's career, he has pounded lefties to the tune of a 149 wRC+, .956 OPS and .279 ISO.

I'll be loading up on the Braves' star.


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.