3 Under-the-Radar MLB FanDuel Plays for 6/14/19
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
Kyle Gibson, P, Minnesota Twins
FanDuel Price: $8,300
A full 15-game slate and Coors Field in action tonight will have ownership spread out significantly, leaving plenty of spots to attack.
The aces are out in full force tonight and with five of them at $10K or higher, we should see most of the ownership concentrated around them. This leaves plenty of pitchers in the mid-range, like Kyle Gibson, who is moderately priced and a solid matchup versus the Kansas City Royals.
Gibson comes in with a strikeout rate sitting at 24.8%, which is nothing to write home about, but he has managed five or more strikeouts in eight of his last nine starts. The modest, but consistent volume of strikeouts from Gibson are great, along with the fact his salary will allow you to get hitters from Coors Field into your lineup.
Taking on the Royals tonight shouldn't be too much of an issue since they are around league average in several categories. They have a 22.9% strikeout rate (15th in the league), a 96 wRC+ (15th in the league), and a .171 ISO (17th in the league) versus right-handed pitchers. This lineup is not one to be afraid of and with the consistency Gibson has shown, he should be able to handle them tonight.
Jesse Winker, OF, Cincinnati Reds
FanDuel Price: $2,700
A great park factor and a bad pitcher should make the Cincinnati Reds a prime team to target tonight, but they could go overlooked with Coors Field is on the slate.
The Reds are at home hosting the Texas Rangers, who will have Jesse Chavez on the mound, a pitcher you want to attack. Chavez is a veteran pitcher with plenty of experience, but not a massive amount of innings under his belt this season, so if we look to his career numbers, we can get a better picture. He has a 4.14 xFIP, allowed 1.34 homers per nine innings, a modest 35.3% fly-ball rate, and a 19.6% strikeout rate versus left-handed hitters. This is a great pitcher to attack since he has shown he can get hit hard, give up home runs, and isn't a big strikeout pitcher.
This all leaves a hitter like Jesse Winker in a great spot tonight, since he comes in with a .339 wOBA, .235 ISO, and a 42.4% hard-hit rate this season. Those are very solid stats for a hitter who is under $3K tonight, in what is the third-best hitter's park on the slate.
Scott Kingery, OF, Philadelphia Phillies
FanDuel Price: $2,900
The Philadelphia Phillies have an implied run total set at 4.43 tonight and make a great team to target tonight.
One hitter on the Phillies to look at is Scott Kingery, who is under $3K and comes in with .188 ISO, 60.0% hard-hit rate, and a 32.0% fly-ball rate versus left-handed pitchers this season. Yes, those numbers come from a smaller sample size (only 36 games this season) but he has three home runs in his last eight games and we want to strike while the iron is hot.
His numbers are bound to regress at some point, but with a matchup versus Max Fried, that regression won't likely come tonight. Fried is allowing a .331 wOBA, 1.52 homers per nine innings, a 3.91 SIERA, and a 25.0% home-run-to-fly-ball rate to right-handed hitters this season. Some good numbers, some bad numbers, but overall, a bit inconsistent.
The hitting environment is favorable in Atlanta tonight and the savings Kingery offers can allow you to spend up on hitters in Coors Field.
