MLB

3 MLB FanDuel Value Plays to Target on Monday 9/12/22

Austan Kas  —  @AustanKas Sep 12th, 2022
Tyler Naquin has been good against righties and is a low-salary way to get a piece of the Mets. Which other value bats make sense on Monday?

With production being highly variable on a night-to-night basis, daily fantasy baseball plays a bit differently than other sports.

As a result of this, the primary method of selecting hitters is to "stack" certain teams in good spots to produce. Most of the top stacks on a given day come with hefty salaries. In addition to that, a vast majority of pitchers with the upside to win tournaments are high-salaried hurlers.

Therefore, crushing your value plays -- whether it be a pitcher unexpectedly piling up strikeouts or a low-salaried batter racking up points -- can be the secret sauce to taking down a tournament.

Which budget options stand out today on FanDuel?

Jake Fraley, OF, Reds ($2,700)

Jake Fraley has been raking.

The Cincinnati Reds' outfielder owns a .416 wOBA overall in the second half, and he's mauled right-handers all year, posting a .386 wOBA in the split.

He's projected to hit fourth today against Bryse Wilson. A righty, Wilson has been pretty bad this year, recording a 14.6% strikeout rate. He really struggles against left-handers, permitting a massive .415 wOBA and 2.21 dingers per nine in the split.

The Reds carry a solid 4.76 implied total in this one, and Fraley checks all the boxes.

Tyler Naquin, OF, Mets ($2,200)

The New York Mets are a great stacking option today versus Javier Assad, and Tyler Naquin is a low-salary way to get in on the fun.

Assad, a righty, has a middling 4.73 SIERA over his first 15 1/3 MLB frames. In 71 2/3 innings this year in Double-A, he registered a meh 4.36 xFIP. The Mets should have plenty of success, and their 4.99 implied total is the second-highest of the slate.

Naquin has played almost exclusively against righties since being dealt to New York. He's projected to hit fifth, and he's put up a .354 wOBA and 45.4% fly-ball rate this year with the platoon advantage.

We project Naquin for 13.1 FanDuel points and rate him as the night's best point-per-dollar hitter.

Joey Gallo, OF, Dodgers ($2,100)

Joey Gallo is $2,100 and gets you exposure to the Los Angeles Dodgers' slate-high 5.28 implied total.

The Dodgers are facing Ryne Nelson, a right-hander who has spent nearly all of 2022 in Triple-A. In 136 innings down on the farm, Nelson mustered only a 21.6% strikeout rate and surrendered 1.65 homers per nine. He should have a really rough time with the Dodgers' high-powered offense.

Gallo has a 44.7% hard-hit rate in 83 plate appearances with LA, although he's striking out 41.0% of the time. We know he has big-time pop, and Gallo is a viable low-salary dart who can help you get to the Dodgers' top sticks.