4 Under-the-Radar Daily Fantasy Baseball Plays for 4/18/17
Alex Gordon, OF, Kansas City Royals
FanDuel Price: $2,600
Why He Will Go Overlooked:
There are eight outfielders on today's slate priced at $4,000 or more. That includes Ryan Braun, who is sure to see a ton of ownership after homering in consecutive games.
Kansas City Royals outfielder Alex Gordon has had a rough go of it to start 2017 -- over 52 plate appearances, he's batting a paltry .188 with virtually no pop (.042 ISO) and just an 18.9% hard-hit rate. He's surely to see low ownership on the day.
Why You Should Use Him:
Perhaps facing San Francisco Giants starter Matt Cain can get Gordon back on track. Cain has been a shell of his former self in recent years, and has begun 2017 by posting a 12.8% walk rate, a 34.4% hard-hit rate and just a 6.2% swinging-strike rate.
Meanwhile, Gordon has historically been far better against righties (.343 wOBA). In looking at last season, his OPS (.704), ISO (.167) and wOBA (.306) were all better against right-handed pitching than when he faced southpaws (.665, .143 and .296 last year, respectively).
He's mired in a bit of a slump lately, but if he continues to bat at the top of the lineup, don't let recency bias turn you away from a juicy matchup at a non-prohibitive salary.
