MLB

3 Under-the-Radar MLB FanDuel Plays for Wednesday 5/12/21

Jorge Soler has a fantastic matchup tonight and shouldn't be too popular. Who else can you turn to in tournaments?

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's is the name of the game if you plan on taking down one of those highly lucrative DFS tournaments. Whether it's because of bookmaker totals, other options at a given position, or some gem you've found that everyone is overlooking, we can always find potential under-rostered plays if we look hard enough.

Here are three such players to consider branching out for on FanDuel's main slate.

Zac Gallen, P, Arizona Diamondbacks ($8,200)

The Miami Marlins aren't a good baseball team.

I know, scorching hot take, but that's the reality of their team every season this season, and we should be looking to attack them with Zac Gallen tonight. This season versus right-handed pitchers, the Marlins hold a 27.0% strikeout rate (4th worst in the league), a .132 ISO (26th), a 34.2 fly-ball rate (20th), and a 32.0% hard-contact rate (13th). They are truly an average to a below-average offensive team and one that we should be looking to attack every night.

With Gerrit Cole and Brandon Woodruff in a spot to be the two most popular pitchers on the slate, Gallen is primed for upside in tournaments.

It's not as if Gallen is some random pitcher because he's looking super solid this year. He comes in with a 27.8% strikeout rate while allowing 0.34 HR/9, a 43.9% ground-ball rate, and a 49.3% medium-contact rate. Gallen's salary is very affordable tonight and should allow you to pay up for the top hitting stacks.

Jorge Soler, OF, Kansas City Royals ($2,500)

If you need some power in your lineups, Soler can bring that tonight at an affordable salary.

Of course, that is Jorge Soler, a player with plenty of power upside in this matchup versus Casey Mize. Looking at Soler's numbers from this season or his entire career paint the same exact picture: he is better against right-handed pitchers compared to left-handed pitchers, even though he is a righty hitter. A reverse splits hitter is what Soler continues to show this season, with a .209 ISO versus righties and a .069 ISO versus lefties.

Mize has only been in the majors for two seasons, and in that time, he has allowed 1.06 HR/9 to right-handed hitters, along with a 4.46 xFIP, and a low 19.0% strikeout rate. I'll be looking to attack a young and unproven pitcher with power every day of the week.

Alec Bohm, 1B/3B, Philadelphia Phillies ($2,800)

The Philadelphia Phillies have the seventh-highest (4.22) implied run total tonight and could be overlooked in tournaments.

Since the start of the 2019 season, Nationals pitcher Jon Lester has allowed 1.5 HR/9, a 4.69 xFIP, a 38.3% hard-contact rate, and a 36.1% fly-ball rate versus right-handed hitters. This is who the Phillies will be up against tonight, and that doesn't sound like a pitcher we need to be avoiding. In fact, it looks like a pitcher that is worth attacking, especially if the home runs he has been known to allow are front and center tonight.

Alec Bohm has only been in the MLB since last year, and in that time, he has shown to be a very, very splits dependant hitter. In other words, you only look to him when he is facing a left-handed pitcher, as we have tonight. He carries a .258 ISO, 132 wRC+, 38.9% fly-ball rate, and a 37.0% hard-contact rate versus lefties since 2020.