MLB

3 Under-the-Radar MLB FanDuel Plays for Tuesday 6/22/21

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 who 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.

Charlie Morton, P, Atlanta Braves ($8,300)

There are five pitchers over $10,000 tonight and no Coors Field on the slate, so they should be very popular options.

Paying up for pitching tonight shouldn't be an issue and since we have so many elite options to choose from, thus resulting in pitchers in the mid-tier getting passed up. This is where I'd turn to Charlie Morton, who has a solid 3.75 SIERA, a 26.2% strikeout rate, 8.3% walk rate, and a solid 47.9% ground-ball rate. He has always been known for his ability to limit the damage from the opposing teams, something he can certainly do tonight.

Morton will be up against the New York Mets, with this game being at Citi Field, meaning a positive park shift for Morton. The Mets aren't an offense to really fear, since they come in with a 95 wRC+ (15th in the league), a .142 ISO (24th), a 23.5% strikeout rate (17th), a 31.7% hard-contact rate (16th), and a 33.9% fly-ball rate (23rd). They simply aren't a good offense in this split and with Morton's skill set, he should cruise in this matchup.

Andrew Vaughn, 1B/OF, Chicago White Sox ($2,200)

The Chicago White Sox have plenty of power in their lineup but could be going overlooked tonight.

There are seven teams with implied run totals at 4.50 or higher tonight and then the White Sox are sitting at 4.20. That slots the White Sox as the 11th-highest team on the slate and puts them in an ideal spot to be a solid tournament target. They are taking on Tyler Anderson, who comes in allowing a .361 wOBA, 2.00 HR/9, a 40.3% fly-ball rate, and a 32.7% hard-contact rate versus right-handed hitters. Ideally, we'd like to see the hard contact rate a bit higher, but the home runs are very clearly an issue for Anderson this season.

Andrew Vaughn is a hitter worth targeting tonight since he has some big-time power numbers versus left-handed pitchers this season. He comes in with a .387 ISO, a 216 wRC+, a 39.5% fly-ball rate, a 41.9% hard-contact rate, and a 29.4% HR/FB ratio versus lefties. Yeah, that'll work in this matchup, and his salary is super affordable to top it off.

Jesus Aguilar, 1B, Miami Marlins ($2,500)

With a full 14-game slate tonight, the Miami Marlins shouldn't be a popular option in tournaments.

The Marlins hold a 4.10 implied run total tonight, which is the 15th-highest on the slate, likely drawing no attention tonight. Fully stacking them is not something I'm aiming for, but searching for some home run upside with Jesus Aguilar is in play. This season, and throughout his career, Aguilar has shown to be a reverse splits hitter, having strong numbers against right-handed pitchers, despite being a right-handed hitter. This season, Aguilar comes in with a .209 ISO, a 123 wRC+, a 43.8% fly-ball rate, and a 37.3% hard-contact rate versus righty pitchers.

He will be taking on Ross Stripling, who is a right-handed pitcher that struggles versus right-handed hitters more compared to lefties. Stripling is allowing 2.06 HR/9 to righties this season, along with a 4.46 xFIP, and a 42.6% fly-ball rate. It's the perfect match between the two of them and the home run upside for Aguilar is very clear tonight.