4 Daily Fantasy Baseball Value Plays for 5/19/16

Brandon Phillips, 2B, Cincinnati Reds

FanDuel Price: $2,800

If Brandon Phillips were a pitcher, he'd be Josh Tomlin. Tomlin happens to be the Cleveland Indians' starter today. Their minuscule walk rates are nearly identical, but so are their reduced strikeout rates. I'm not totally convinced they're not the same person. Either the universe will collapse on itself as Phillips walks to the dish, or he'll have a shot to pick up some extra-base hits. It's hard to say which is more likely, so let's chat Phillips up just in case a matchup between these two doesn't result in total destruction.

Phillips has become a much more interesting DFS option this year thanks to some positive shifts in his batted-ball profile. His 32.0% hard-hit rate is the highest he has posted since 2007, and he hasn't had a fly-ball rate as high as his current 36.4% since 2005. That gives him extra-base upside in a tremendous park, and, again, it aligns him well with Tomlin.

Tomlin has had reverse platoon splits the past few years, sporting a higher xFIP against righties than lefties. He hasn't been able to keep the ball on the ground when facing right-handed batters as evidenced by their 47.8% fly-ball rate against him. This is the perfect recipe for a solid game out of Phillips, even if Tomlin's overall numbers aren't too terrible.