3 Daily Fantasy Baseball Value Plays for Tuesday 8/24/21
With production being highly variable on a night-to-night basis, daily fantasy baseball plays a bit differently than other sports.
An 0-for-4 dud from a chalky high-salaried slugger is a lot more common than a total dud from a top-salaried NBA player or even than a stinker from a top quarterback or running back.
That means that it's not uncommon for value plays to end up doing the heavy lifting in carrying your lineup. The fact that they can be the difference between a good and a great lineup isn't much different than other sports, but value plays being able to make up for a whiff on a high-salaried play completely is somewhat unique.
Let's get right into it and take a look at the top value options on today's 14-game main slate.
Luis Garcia, SP, Houston Astros
FanDuel Salary: $8,300
With a full 14-game slate, we have plenty of pitching options, and Corbin Burnes ($11,500) and Jack Flaherty ($10,300) look well worth their elevated salaries.
But this is the value plays article, so I can't talk them up!
That leads me to Luis Garcia in a matchup against the Kansas City Royals. Now, Garcia just faced the Royals in his last start and lasted only 18 batters and 70 pitches to generate 15.0 FanDuel points.
The better news is that the Royals boast a low implied team total of 3.43 (third-lowest on the slate) and that Garcia should provide a high floor at a reasonable salary. The Royals' active roster has a strikeout rate of just 21.1%, 3rd-lowest in the Majors, but that pairs with a weak wRC+ of 91 (ranking 22nd).
Garcia, since the start of June, has accumulated the second-best called-strike-plus-whiff-rate among main-slate starters (32.0%), and the win odds (40.0%, per numberFire's algorithm) rate out as third-best on the slate.
Jared Walsh, 1B, Los Angeles Angels
FanDuel Salary: $3,000
Only the Boston Red Sox' implied run total of 6.12 bests the Los Angeles Angels' 5.56 mark tonight, and that's a great sign for the hitting environment for Jared Walsh.
Walsh and the Angels will draw Spenser Watkins to start tonight's matchup. Watkins, since early June, among 28 main-slate starters, ranks 28th in strikeout rate (14.0%), 28th in called-strike-plus-whiff-rate (22.5%), and 27th in SIERA (5.53).
Walsh holds the platoon advantage against the right-handed Watkins, and against righties in his career, Walsh has a .260 ISO and 142 wRC+.
Walsh is +230 to hit a homer tonight on FanDuel Sportsbook, tied for the best odds among all players at a salary of $3,000 or below.
Anthony Santander, OF, Baltimore Orioles
FanDuel Salary: $2,900
On the flip side of the game, we've got another value bat with Anthony Santander.
The Angels will be starting Dylan Bundy back in Baltimore. Bundy, since early June, has a lot of concerning splits. For him. Not for those who want to roster hitters against him.
Bundy, among 28 pitchers on the slate, ranks 28th in hard-hit rate allowed (42.0%), 25th in strikeout rate (16.9%), and 25th in SIERA (5.17).
The switch-hitting Santander has maintained an ISO of at least .201 over the past three seasons when facing right-handed pitching. Santander's homer prop of +240 trails just Walsh's among players with salaries at or under $3,000.
