3 MLB FanDuel Studs to Target on 8/16/19

Just like in other sports, the focal point of your daily fantasy baseball lineups will be your high-priced 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 pitcher, by far the highest floors for production.

For hitters, we're looking for guys with big numbers, strong matchups, and with players around them that are likely to produce well too, 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.

Taking up so much salary, and playing such a big role in your lineup's ceiling, you're not going to want to whiff on these guys, so lets take a look at a few top-end options that you can count on to anchor your lineup today.

Charlie Morton, P, Tampa Bay Rays ($11,300)

In one of the more under-the-radar offseason moves, Charlie Morton signed with the Tampa Bay Rays, staying within the American League. Boy, did that turn out to be a great signing.

All Morton has done in his age-35 season is post a 2.90 ERA and 1.09 WHIP over 149 innings pitched, whiffing a whopping 184 batters in the process. And he's ratcheted up his brilliance even more so as of late. Since the start of July, spanning 49 1/3 innings pitched, Morton has posted an average of 40.25 FanDuel points per start.

Getting around 40 points may be his floor tonight, taking on a poor Detroit Tigers offense. They rank second-worst in team strikeout rate (25.9%), fourth-worst in walk rate (7.0%), third-worst in ISO (.150), and second-worst in team wOBA (.290).

Attacking the Tigers is always a prime option with your pitching selection, especially with a hurler like Morton on top of his game.

Francisco Lindor, SS, Cleveland Indians ($4,200)

If Francisco Lindor were double his current price, he would be rosterable tonight -- that's how good his matchup is against Masahiro Tanaka.

First, let's peep the switch-hitting Lindor as a lefty this year -- a .929 OPS and .570 slugging percentage in this split. That ain't bad.

But this is more about how poorly Tanaka has been pitching as of late. Spanning Tanaka's last nine starts, he has not struck out more than five batters, and he has equalled that total only twice. He has allowed 10 home runs in 45 2/3 innings over those starts, good for a 7.50 ERA and a mere three quality starts.

With a hefty implied team total tonight, make sure to roster Lindor.

Raimel Tapia, OF, Colorado Rockies ($3,200)

It's a game with a Coors Field slate, where the Colorado Rockies boast an implied team total of 7.31 runs. So start your Rockies, right?

Yes, but for a stud in line for a big night that may not be as heavily owned, peep Raimel Tapia. After David Dahl suffered an ankle injury, Tapia has been the primary beneficiary of an uptick in playing time, and he's been a solid contributor, averaging 13.6 FanDuel points over the last eight days.

And the Rockies could be ready for an offensive explosion against Sandy Alcantara, especially keying in on the lefties. In 2019, the righty has allowed lefty bats to torch him for a 6.03 xFIP and 38.0% fly-ball rate, and he's walked (12.5%) nearly as many batters as he's struck out (13.4%).

Often manning the five-hole in this lineup, there could be plenty of run scoring opportunities for the outfielder, making him a fantastic option.

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.