MLB

FanDuel MLB 3-Man Challenge Helper: Wednesday 7/24/19

Sometimes, you just don't have time to track the weather, check the splits, and wait for the batting order to be posted to build a full nine-man FanDuel MLB roster. It happens. But that no longer means you can't build some lineups, thanks to FanDuel's MLB 3-Man Challenge game style.

The premise is simple: build a three-player roster for a $7 salary cap, and only hits and RBI count toward netting FanDuel points. One player is your MVP, and his points are multiplied by 1.5, and you just need to roster players from at least two different teams. That more or less covers it, but you should familiarize yourself with the basic strategy for the new game style to help you in tonight's marquee 3-Man Challenge contest.

That being said, which options stand out at each price range for today's 3-Man Challenge slate?

$3 Tier

Aaron Judge - Tonight's 3-Man slate is missing the two teams with the highest implied totals on the main slate, but we still have a couple of very high-powered offenses to choose from here. This includes the New York Yankees, who rank third on the main slate and first on the 3-Man slate with a strong 5.67-run implied total against righty Jake Odorizzi and the Minnesota Twins. Odorizzi's 3.18 ERA may look good on the surface, but it comes with a 4.43 SIERA that isn't much better than the 4.55 mark he posted in 2018. He's not looking especially dangerous against same-sided bats either, with an ugly 4.90 xFIP, 44.0% hard-hit rate and 46.8% fly-ball rate. That is not contact you can afford to allow against Aaron Judge, who has throttled righties for a career .404 wOBA and .294 ISO.

Freddie Freeman - The Atlanta Braves aren't far behind the Yanks with a 5.60-run implied total against righty Brad Keller and the Kansas City RoyalsThe 23-year-old Keller has only managed a 5.27 SIERA across 21 games this year, and a matchup with a struggling righty will almost always make Freeman worth a look. Freeman's overall production has bounced back after a bit of a down year in 2018, and he's up to a .393 wOBA and .263 ISO across 455 plate appearances this season. Just looking at his work against right-handed pitching, those marks jump to a .412 wOBA and .276 ISO, which has come on a batted-ball profile that includes a ridiculous 52.7% hard-hit rate and a 9.5% soft-hit rate.

$2 Tier

Aaron Hicks - Back to the Yankees and that appealing implied total, the switch-hitting Hicks should also have little trouble taking advantage of this matchup with Odorizzi. Hicks does his best work against southpaws, admittedly, but since 2017 he's still flexing a strong .361 wOBA and .221 ISO on 34.7% hard-hits and 38.5% fly-balls against right-handed pitching.

Miguel Sano - Per Baseball Savant, Sano ranks in the 97th percentile in average exit velocity in 2019. and his 92.8 mile-per-hour mark is right in line with his career average of 92.3. His hard-hit and fly-ball rates are actually slightly lower against southpaws than in same-sided matchups this season, but those marks still sit at 46.0% and 37.8%, respectively, and he adds to those a terrific 5.4% soft-hit rate. That contact has earned him a .415 wOBA and massive .410 ISO, making him a terrific play against Yankees lefty J.A. Happ, who has been tagged for a career-high 39.3% hard-hit rate in 2019.

Yoan Moncada - Our models project Moncada for the most fantasy points of any of tonight's $2 hitters, as well as the third-most fantasy points for anyone on the slate. Moncada is crushing baseballs this season, and he ranks 98th percentile in average exit velocity, 81st percentile in expected wOBA and 86th percentile in expected slugging percentage. Miami Marlins righty Zac Gallen isn't a huge threat to slow him down either, as the 23-year-old has a 4.81 xFIP across his first five major league games, getting tagged for a 39.0% hard-hit and 39.0% fly-ball rate in that sample.

$1 Tier

Marwin Gonzalez - Going after J.A. Happ again, Gonzalez is our top-projected $1 bat tonight. Happ's got an especially poor 5.07 xFIP with a 41.9% hard-hit and 44.7% fly-ball rate against right-handed sticks this season, and the switch-hitting Gonzalez is on pace for career-best marks in both hard-hit (42.9%) and soft-hit (13.3%) rate in 2019.

Brian Anderson - His fantasy point projection might not matchup Marwin's, but we project Brian Anderson for the highest home run total among Wednesday's $1 bats. He draws a fairly soft pitching matchup, with Chicago's Reynaldo Lopez getting smacked for a 4.97 SIERA on the year, bringing his career average to 4.93. Anderson's only managed a modest .180 ISO this year, but his 43.0% hard-hit rate is very encouraging, and Lopez' career 45.5% fly-ball rate allowed gives Anderson a good shot of lifting one of those hard-hit balls into the stands.


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