5 Under-the-Radar Daily Fantasy Baseball Plays for 5/24/16

Justin Verlander, P, Detroit Tigers

FanDuel Price: $8,500

Why He Will Go Overlooked:

Chris Sale, Jeff Samardzija, and Stephen Strasburg have all been in excellent form recently and find themselves in terrific matchups tonight. Their opponents have the three lowest implied team totals on the slate, as each pitcher is expected to hold their opponent under 3.2 runs.

Justin Verlander has pitched better recently but still is the owner of an inflated 4.58 ERA (his SIERA is 3.72). With everyone focused on the safer options in Sale, Samardzija, and Strasburg, Verlander is likely to fly under the radar.

Why You Should Use Him:

After a shaky start to the season, Verlander is really appearing to hit his stride. He has strung together three consecutive starts and has shown big-time upside with a 31 percent strikeout rate during that stretch. He's had some bad luck in the win department during that stretch but still has averaged 49.3 FanDuel points due to his impressive peripherals.

There's a good chance his bad luck in the win department turns around tonight against Jeremy Hellickson and the Phillies, who Vegas has Detroit favored over by 0.9 runs. That makes Verlander the fifth-most likely starting pitcher to get the win tonight.

Vegas has Verlander and the Tigers holding the Phillies to just 3.8 runs, which seems actually seems a bit high considering Verlander's recent performance and Philadelphia's performance against right-handed pitching this season.

The Phillies rank 27th in wOBA against righties this season, after ranking dead last in that category last season. They also offer Verlander a fair bit of upside, as they have struck out the 12th-most against righties this season.

Verlander, a fly-ball pitcher, has been successful throughout his career by maintaining a low home run to fly-ball ratio. He has a career 40.2 percent fly-ball rate but has just a 26.5 percent career hard-hit rate, which helps him limit the damage. That bodes well against Philly, who has a relatively high 35.4 percent fly-ball rate against righties this season but just a 25.2 percent hard-hit rate against righties, which is the third-lowest mark in the league.

Verlander certainly doesn't come with the sense of security that the more expensive pitchers do, but he will come at a discounted ownership and price tag. Give him a look in tournaments!