3 MLB FanDuel Value Plays to Target on Wednesday 10/5/22
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?
Aledmys Diaz, 2B/SS/3B, Astros ($2,000)
Aledmys Diaz checks a lot of boxes today.
He'll have the platoon advantage against lefty Bailey Falter. In the split this season, Diaz has put up a .341 wOBA and 45.8% fly-ball rate.
Falter has decent numbers, including an 11.1% swinging-strike rate, but he's permitted a 44.4% fly-ball rate and 1.73 dingers per nine. Righties have tagged him for a .351 wOBA and 1.81 homers per nine.
Diaz is salaried at the minimum, can be deployed at three positions, and is projected to hit second for a Houston lineup with a solid 4.24 implied total. There's a lot to like here.
Jake Fraley, OF, Reds ($2,800)
Jake Fraley has been hitting leadoff for the Cincinnati Reds whenever they face a righty. They'll see one today in Adrian Sampson.
Sampson has the kind of profile we love to pick on. Namely, he doesn't miss many bats (16.9% strikeout rate) and gives up too many fly-balls (39.7% fly-ball rate). He's been dodging bullets for most of the season thanks to an 8.0% homer-to-fly-ball rate, which is miles below his 15.0% career average.
Fraley has really good numbers with the platoon advantage, posting a .369 wOBA and 37.3% fly-ball rate in the split. He's raked overall in the second half, recording a gaudy .388 wOBA.
He can end the year on a high note in this matchup, and Cincy has some sneaky stacking appeal as they hold a 4.09 implied total.
Ji-Man Choi, 1B, Rays ($2,000)
Ji-Man Choi can deliver the goods this afternoon against Nick Pivetta.
With the platoon advantage in 2022, Choi has just a .313 wOBA, but he's been a monster in this split before, including when he had a .366 wOBA and 42.7% hard-hit rate against righties in 2021.
Pivetta has had a tough time with left-handers this season, giving up a .344 wOBA, 44.7% fly-ball rate and 1.47 jacks per nine in the split.
Choi is a nice one-off salary-saver who can help you load up elsewhere.
