3 Under-the-Radar MLB FanDuel Plays for 4/10/19
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.
Robbie Ray, P, Arizona Diamondbacks
FanDuel Price: $8,100
Robbie Ray is nearly the definition of fire and ice when it comes to MLB DFS, but that often means some people will pass on him for safer pastures.
Last season, Ray ended with a scorching hot 30% strikeout rate versus right-handed hitters and a 34% strikeout rate versus left-handed hitters. Those are elite numbers, but he also carried a 15% walk rate to right-handed hitters, while allowing over 1.13 homers per nine innings overall. We get all of the strikeouts, or walks and eventually home runs.
That is not something you want in cash games, but embracing that variance in tournaments can be beneficial if he is able to pile up the strikeouts. He is facing off against the Texas Rangers tonight, whose current lineup finished last season with a 22.8% strikeout rate versus left-handed pitchers, which was ninth-worst in the league. The Rangers also ended with an 82 wRC+, which was 26th in the league, making this a legitimacy good matchup for Ray, if only in tournaments.
Odúbel Herrera, OF, Philadelphia Phillies
FanDuel Price: $3,000
The Phillies come in with an implied team total set at 5.2 tonight, which is the second-highest on the slate, so we should be looking towards them for some runs.
Odubel Herrera has been hitting in the middle or lower part of the Philadelphia Phillies lineup which generally makes him one of the lower owned options in a stack since the potential for that one extra at-bat is lower. He is, however, a great option tonight due to his reasonable price and power versus right-handed pitchers. He ended last season with a modest .313 wOBA but a strong .177 ISO versus righties, giving him some home run upside tonight. Herrera will be facing off against Jeremy Hellickson, who allowed 1.09 homers per nine and a 31% fly ball rate to left-handed hitters last season.
Tommy La Stella, 2B, Los Angeles Angels
FanDuel Price: $2,200
The Los Angeles Angels are going to be without Mike Trout for a few days, which lowers the power of their lineup greatly, but also means they can go overlooked tonight.
Tommy La Stella comes into this game with home runs in back-to-back games and if you are a believer in hot streaks, this is the time to ride it. He will be facing off against Brandon Woodruff, who allowed a 30% fly ball rate and a 34% hard contact rate to left-handed hitters last season. Yes, you can say that La Stella isn't a power hitter by any means, but a .313 wOBA and a super low 13% strikeout rate versus right-handed pitchers last year is nothing to shy away from when he is near the minimum salary. The savings La Stella offers your lineup should be embraced tonight when you want to pay up for pitching and have some expensive stacks to jam into your lineups.
