MLB

3 Under-the-Radar MLB FanDuel Plays for 8/23/19

Randal Grichuk has plenty of power versus lefty pitchers and now has negative park shift against him. Will that cause him to be lower owned tonight?

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.

Anthony DeSclafani, P, Cincinnati Reds

FanDuel Price: $7,200

With so many aces on the mound tonight, it can be tough to look at the mid-tier options, but there could be some gems in here.

Sitting at only $7,2000 tonight is Anthony DeSclafani, who is in the midst of an up-and-down season but has a super favorable matchup we can attack. DeSclafani is up against the Pittsburgh Pirates, an offense that has simply been awful this season -- especially as of late. In their last eight games, the Pirates have scored four or fewer runs in each game and one or no runs in five games. Their offense is nonexistent right now, regardless of who they are facing.

DeSclafani comes in with a decent 24.1% strikeout rate this season to go with a 4.36 SIERA. This is a positive park shift for him, and with the Pirates' offense producing next to no runs, DeSclafani has a chance to put a strong start on the board.

Randal Grichuk, OF, Toronto Blue Jays

FanDuel Price: $2,800

The Toronto Blue Jays have a 4.75 implied team total tonight, and they could be a sneaky-good stack.

Toronto finds themselves with the eighth-highest implied team total, which could have some DFS players passing on them. They also have a bit of a negative park shift against them, since they are on the road to take on the Seattle Mariners. They will be facing off against Justus Sheffield, who only has 5.5 innings pitched in his entire Major League career, so we can't look at that sample size. But we can rely on a hitter like Randal Grichuk, and his power numbers in this split.

Grichuk comes in with a .203 ISO, 43.0% hard-hit rate, and a 36.8% fly-ball rate this season versus left-handed pitchers. Those are some strong numbers for a player who is under $3,000 tonight.

Brian Anderson, OF, Miami Marlins

FanDuel Price: $2,900

It's not often that the Miami Marlins have many viable options in DFS, but tonight could be one of the rare times.

A few things are true -- the Marlins aren't a good team, and they are up against Vincent Velasquez, who isn't a good pitcher. When I say Velasquez isn't a good pitcher, I really mean it, and it's shown by him allowing 2.29 home runs per nine to right-handed hitters, stemming from a 52.9% hard-hit rate and a 51.1% fly-ball rate this season. Those are some horrible, horrible numbers, and while you might not want to fully stack up the Marlins, picking a player or two for a home run could be a good call.

Brian Anderson is a player to keep an eye on tonight since he comes in with a .207 ISO, 44.7% hard-hit rate, and 35.0% fly-ball rate versus righty pitchers this season. At his cheaper price tag, Anderson has a chance to hit one over the fence against a home-run prone pitcher.