MLB

3 Under-the-Radar MLB FanDuel Plays for 7/2/19

Reynaldo Lopez has dominated the Tigers this season, can he keep it going tonight while also offering low ownership?

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

Reynaldo Lopez, P, Chicago White Sox

FanDuel Price: $6,600

A loaded 15-game slate which features Coors Field has almost too many options to go through, but let's find some lower owned tournaments options.

With five pitchers above $10,000 tonight, it can be tough to drop down the list and find options, but if you are looking for some savings and plan on getting big name hitters into your lineups, consider Reynaldo Lopez. He comes in with a lower 20.0% strikeout rate this season, but he is in a spot to increase it a bit since he is up against the Detroit Tigers, who have a 26.3% strikeout rate this season, which is the worst in the league. His recent starts haven't been amazing, but Lopez has dominated the Tigers this season, posting 22 strikeouts in 12 innings pitched with only two earned runs allowed.

He can come close to that level of production tonight since the Tigers roster is flat out bad versus right-handed pitchers this season, carrying a 73 wRC+ (30th in the league) and a .145 team ISO (29th in the league). The salary savings on Lopez are fantastic if you are looking to get hitters from Coors Field.

DJ LeMahieu, 3B, New York Yankees

FanDuel Price: $4,500

This might be a bit of a hot take, but the New York Yankees could be under-owned tonight, and with their power, that presents massive upside.

As of now, there are 10 teams who have higher implied run totals compared to the Yankees, who sit at 4.82 tonight. The Yankees will also have a negative park shift against them, which should cause most DFS players to stay away from them when you are paying elevated prices. DJ LeMahieu is in the midst of what could be his best season yet and comes in with a .386 wOBA, .192 ISO, super low 13.4% strikeout rate, and a 37.1% hard-hit rate versus right-handed pitchers.

There is no doubt that this is a tougher matchup going up against Zack Wheeler, but the Yankees got to him a few weeks ago with 10 hits and five earned runs in 4.2 innings pitched. The Yankees stack is no doubt expensive and you don't want to go all-in, consider adding just LeMahieu, who is posting a multi-hit game nearly every night.

Justin Smoak, 1B, Toronto Blue Jays

FanDuel: $2,900

Can the Smoak Monster get it done tonight and keep his hot streak going?

The Smoak Monster is, of course, Justin Smoak of the Toronto Blue Jays, who come in with a 4.35 implied run total tonight. That isn't too low in reality, but it seems low on a full slate with over 15 teams ahead of them. Smoak is up against David Price, who has shown to be solid this season, but can get hit hard at times. Price is allowing a modest 1.03 homers per nine innings to righty hitters, along with a 36.6% fly-ball rate.

By no means are those bad numbers, but the fly-ball rate jumps up to 40.9% when Price is on the road this season versus right-handed pitchers.

Smoak comes in with a 53.7% fly-ball rate versus left-handed pitchers while at home, so it appears things line up nicely for Smoak to potentially knock one over the fence tonight.