3 Under-the-Radar MLB FanDuel Plays for Wednesday 6/30/21
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.
Dylan Cease, P, Chicago White Sox ($8,200)
The top pitching options on tonight's slate are so clear, many other pitchers should be going overlooked.
Aaron Nola against the Miami Marlins and Luis Garcia against the Baltimore Orioles. Two great pitchers and two easy matchups. That is where we should see the chalk fall tonight and if you are looking to pivot away from them, consider Dylan Cease against the Minnesota Twins. Cease comes in with a very solid 29.2% strikeout rate, a 52.6% medium-contact rate, a 3.79 SIERA, and a low 8.5% HR/FB ratio.
Those are very strong numbers from the young pitcher, who has flashed double-digit strikeout upside three times this season. The Twins have power upside in their lineup, but with Cease's strikeout upside that can match Nola or Garcia, look to him in tournaments at a much lower roster percentage.
Austin Riley, 3B, Atlanta Braves ($2,800)
The Atlanta Braves have a 4.92 implied run total tonight and they still won't be popular.
I know. It's weird that we could see the Braves fly under the radar tonight with an implied run total that high, but there are seven teams with higher implied run totals than them. This means we could be in for a very high-scoring slate but also a potentially chalky slate. This is what has me leaning towards the Braves' hitters since they have a solid matchup versus David Peterson of the New York Mets. This season, Peterson is allowing 1.51 HR/9 to right-handed hitters, an 11.5% walk rate, a 39.5% hard-contact rate, and a 22.9% HR/FB ratio.
Those are some dangerous numbers to have when you are facing a lineup with power such as the Braves and I'll turn to Austin Riley in this spot. Of course, Ronald Acuna is a great option but he is popular on most nights -- we want a player under the radar. That means targeting Riley and his .200 ISO and 101 wRC+ versus left-handed pitchers this season. The power is there for Riley and he'll likely be coming in at a very low rostership percentage.
Jared Walsh, 1B, Los Angeles Angels ($3,300)
The Los Angeles Angels have a sneaky great matchup tonight.
With Shohei Ohtani on the mound for the Angels, their lineup immediately becomes weaker, and a spot you may not want to stack. However, this doesn't mean we have to fully avoid all of their hitters. I will be turning to Jared Walsh as a one-off in tournaments due to his power potential against Domingo German. As of late, German is struggling on the mound, which is a big change compared to the consistency he brought earlier in the year. He is specifically struggling with allowing too many home runs to lefty hitters, to the tune of 1.89 HR/9, along with a 45.1% fly-ball rate and a 43.7% hard-contact rate.
Those are truly dangerous numbers to be carrying when you are pitching at Yankee Stadium, which is why I'm so interested in Walsh tonight. He comes in with a huge .321 ISO, a 186 wRC+, a 43.5% hard-contact rate, and a 34.1% HR/FB ratio versus right-handed pitchers this season. Those are massive numbers in this split and with the short porch at Yankee Stadium lurking, Walsh is an easy pick to hit a home run tonight.
