MLB

3 Under-the-Radar MLB FanDuel Plays for 4/22/19

With Coors Field on the slate tonight and ownership likely high in that game, where can we look for lower-owned tournament options?

When being contrarian in daily fantasy sports, there's a fine line between taking a calculated risk and being reckless. But differentiating your lineups from everyone else is the name of the game if you plan on taking down one of those highly lucrative DFS tournaments. Whether it's because of Vegas totals, other options at a given position, or some gem you've found that everyone is overlooking, we can always find potential under-owned plays if we look hard enough.

Here are three such players to consider branching out for on FanDuel's main slate.

J.A. Happ, P, New York Yankees

FanDuel Price: $8,000

J.A. Happ isn't off to the best start this season, but he's facing a weaker lineup and is inexpensive tonight.

Happ has four starts under his belt this year and has allowed three or more earned runs three times. Those are rough numbers to look at, but the good news is that he went 6.1 innings and got the quality start in his most recent outing, which is hopefully a sign of things to come. Tonight, he is up against the Los Angeles Angels, whose current roster carried a 91 wRC+ and a .134 ISO last season versus left-handed pitchers, both of which were bottom-10 in the league. Sure Mike Trout is always going to be a threat, but he's only one hitter and the rest of the lineup isn't all that dangerous.

Happ will also be getting a positive park shift in his favor tonight being away from Yankee Stadium as well, which has the Angels coming in with a very modest 4.23 implied run total. Happ's lack of consistency to start the season should keep his ownership lower when there are safer options in his price range tonight.

Yolmer Sanchez, 2B, Chicago White Sox

FanDuel Price: $2,500

The Chicago White Sox are in a great spot tonight, but how can you be different when approaching stacking their lineup tonight?

The White Sox have an implied team total set at 5.15, which is third highest on the slate which should make them one of the more popular options tonight. They are up against David Hess, who allowed a .352 wOBA, 2.55 homers per nine innings, and a 45% fly ball rate to left-handed hitters last season, making him one of the worst pitchers on this slate. The top of the White Sox lineup should be the most popular since that's where a lot of power is, but Yolmer Sanchez, who hits near the bottom of the lineup, should be a solid option tonight.

First off, he is cheap and the savings are great when we have Coors Field in action tonight. Second, he's actually decent against right-handed pitchers, finishing last season with a .314 wOBA, .152 ISO, and only an 18% strikeout rate against them. We might not be looking at explosive power from Sanchez, but using him in a wrap around stack offers savings and helps differentiate your exposure to what should be a popular team tonight.

Travis Shaw, 3B, Milwaukee Brewers


FanDuel Price: $2,400

Travis Shaw is off to a very slow start this season, there is really no other way to put it, but in a great spot for GPPs tonight.

The Milwaukee Brewers come in with an implied team total of only 3.80, which seems very low since they are up against Jack Flaherty, who allowed five earned runs in just 2.2 innings to them last week. The Brewers have a great offense, and while they will have a negative park shift against them, Flaherty is struggling to start the year and fine to stack against. As mentioned, Shaw is also having plenty of struggles this season, but he was able to post multiple hits against Flaherty last week and still carries a 46% hard contact rate against right-handed pitchers to start the season.

The platoon advantage is there for Shaw tonight and makes a great addition to a Brewers stack, which should go largely overlooked on this 10-game slate to start the week.


Thomas Vecchio is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Thomas Vecchio also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username TomVec629. 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.