3 MLB FanDuel Studs to Target on 7/5/18

Bryce Harper, OF, Washington Nationals

Price: $4,300

The Washington Nationals' 5.10 implied total is Thursday's highest mark as they take on right-hander Pablo Lopez and the Miami Marlins.

Lopez has only made on Major League start, and while he fared decently there, one game doesn't tell us a whole lot. He only pitched four games at the Triple-A level before being called up, and he struggled to the tune of a 4.55 xFIP in those games. That's still a small sample, but a guy whose highest level of sustained success came in Double-A isn't exactly a scary matchup. That's especially so for someone as good as Bryce Harper.

Harper hasn't produced at his usual level this year, with a .353 wOBA, but he has still shown plenty of power, with a .263 isolated slugging (ISO). He has also continued to make outstanding contact against right-handed pitching, with a 43.3% hard-hit rate, 12.1% soft-hit rate and 40.7% fly-ball rate, which has translated to a .296 ISO.

Despite that great contact, he only has a .216 batting average on balls in play (BABIP) against righties, which goes a long way to explain why his production is down. His career-average clip sits at .313, despite a lower hard-hit and higher soft-hit rate. This means that Harper's drop in production is nothing to be concerned about, and he offers the same upside as in years past.