MLB

3 Under-the-Radar MLB FanDuel Plays for 5/3/18

Kenyatta Storin  —  @KenyattaStorin May 3rd, 2018
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Nelson Cruz, OF, Seattle Mariners

FanDuel Price: $4,000

Pitching is lacking on tonight's slate, so there's a good chance everyone and their mom will be rostering Sean Manaea.

But if you have the guts to stay away and roster another pitcher, then you can go against the field and use Nelson Cruz versus the left-handed Manaea. Obviously, the matchup isn't the most ideal, but Manaea owns a middle-of-the-road 20.4% career strikeout rate against righties, while allowing a 36.2% hard-hit rate. Furthermore, despite Manaea's early season success, he's benefited from a .148 BABIP and 98.2% strand rate, so at some point, he could get his comeuppance.

Cruz's reputation against lefties precedes him, and the power is looking good so far in 2018 with a 46.9% hard-hit rate and .296 ISO overall. It's a risky maneuver, but it's one with a huge payoff if Cruz can knock one out of the park.


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

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