MLB

5 Daily Fantasy Baseball Studs to Target on 6/17/16

Use your ← → (arrow) keys to browse the slideshow

Lance McCullers, SP, Houston Astros

FanDuel Price: $8,700

If you’re looking to pivot from Harvey in GPPs tonight, Lance McCullers is another elite option. Last season, McCullers induced a swinging strike rate of 9.8 percent, but this year, it’s jumped all the way to 12.1 percent to help aid his marvelous 11.76 strikeouts per nine average.

His 4.54 ERA isn’t inspiring, but his 3.40 xFIP -- a full run lower -- suggests he’s pitching better than what we see on the surface. With a 59.3 percent groundball rate, we should soon see his ERA begin to decline.

Walks are his only issue, as he’s walking more than six batters per nine innings. But tonight he faces the Reds, who have trouble drawing walks and extending the opposing pitcher’s pitch count. Versus right-handed pitching, Cincinnati is 26th in the league in walk rate.

With two 54-point FanDuel performances in his last four starts, we’ve seen the tournament upside we so greatly covet. And as a -240 favorite with a great chance of earning that forever-elusive 12-point FanDuel win bonus, McCullers is a fantastic play at just $8,700.