3 Under-the-Radar MLB FanDuel Plays for 8/17/18

Lucas Duda, 1B, Kansas City Royals

FanDuel Price: $2,700

In spite of his poor peripherals and late-career track record, James Shields has denied us dingers far too many times this season, but he's starting to be far more generous with the long ball, allowing eight over his last four starts. Sitting on a 4.87 SIERA, 18.2% strikeout rate, and 35.3% ground-ball rate, we can only hope this trend continues. After all, Shields allowed 2.00 home runs per nine innings across the prior two seasons.

Given the size of the slate, the Kansas City Royals aren't likely to get much attention tonight, though, granting us plenty of incentive to go home run hunting in tournaments. Lucas Duda is one ideal candidate, putting up a robust 42.0% hard-hit rate and 44.9% fly-ball rate versus right-handed pitching this year. It's only translated to a .196 ISO in the platoon split, but keep in mind he owns a career .233 ISO when he has the platoon advantage, along with a potent 131 wRC+. He's an excellent contrarian target for some cheap pop.