3 Under-the-Radar MLB FanDuel Plays for 9/13/19
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.
Andrew Heaney, P, Los Angeles Angels
FanDuel Price: $8,400
Andrew Heaney is a legitimately good pitcher, but he shouldn't be highly owned on this massive 13-game slate.
We have Gerrit Cole, Clayton Kershaw, Max Scherzer, Luis Castillo, and Noah Syndergaard on this slate -- just to name a few. There are fantastic options tonight, and Heaney at $8,4000 is a clear step behind some of those pitchers, but he has a great matchup. He comes in with a 29.2% strikeout rate this season -- the sixth-highest on the slate -- and that's something he should be able to us to his advantage tonight versus the Tampa Bay Rays. While Tampa might be on their path to the playoffs, they struggle against lefty pitchers, putting Heaney in a great spot.
The Rays come in with a 25.2% strikeout rate versus southpaws (fifth-worst in the league) with a .157 ISO (23rd), 100 wRC+ (14th), and a 37.7% hard-hit rate (18th) in the split. Their lineup is very non-threatening in this split. At his price point, Heaney might be the key pitcher to unlocking higher-priced stacks for your lineup.
Trey Mancini, OF, Baltimore Orioles
FanDuel Price: $3,600
The Baltimore Orioles aren't a good team by any means, but they are going up against a bad pitcher tonight.
A nearly full 13-game slate brings plenty of options to close out the week, and frankly, the Orioles shouldn't be too highly owned tonight. We have Coors Field on this slate along with the best offenses in baseball, so why go to the Orioles? Well, they are up against Jordan Zimmermann, who comes in with a 4.72 xFIP and is allowing 1.03 home runs per nine innings, a 38.7% hard-hit rate, and a 38.6 fly-ball rate versus right-handed hitters. Zimmerman has been a pitcher we've attacked for a number of seasons, and there is no reason to stop now.
For the Orioles, their best hitter is Trey Mancini, who comes in with a solid .224 ISO, 34.8% hard-hit rate, and a 21.1% home-run-to-fly-ball ratio versus righty pitchers. Those are strong numbers for being a same-sided matchup, and with Baltimore having an implied run total set at 4.65 tonight, we should see them scoring some runs off of Zimmerman.
Daniel Vogelbach, 1B, Seattle Mariners
FanDuel Price: $3,300
What can we expect from an average offense -- the Seattle Mariners -- going up against a bad pitcher in Dylan Covey?
The Mariners are at home, which means this is a bit of a pitcher's park, but they have an implied run total set at 5.11, the sixth-highest on the slate. An average offense in a pitcher's park but a higher implied run total -- something doesn't add up.
Well, that run total is due to the fact they are going up against Covey, who is someone we want to stack against. He comes in allowing a whopping 2.49 home runs per nine innings to lefty hitters from a 6.67 xFIP, 38.0% fly-ball rate, and a 20.0% home-run-to-fly-ball rare this season.
Those are some truly terrible numbers, but with this being a 13-game slate with Coors on it, it's tough to imagine too much ownership will be on the lowly Mariners today. That makes the M's perfect for GPPs, and Dan Vogelbach is at the top of the wish list. His .274 ISO versus right-handed pitchers is amazing along with a 26.6% home-run-to-fly-ball rate in the splot. While he also carries a 25.8% strikeout rate against them and can be boom or bust, the matchup with Covey gives Vogelbach a great chance to boom in this spot.
