MLB

3 Under-the-Radar MLB FanDuel Plays for 5/7/19

Thomas Vecchio  —  @Tom_Vecchio1 May 7th, 2019
Despite a dope matchup with Miami, Jon Lester isn't likely to see a ton of ownership on such a stout pitching slate. Which other players are worth targeting in tournaments?

When being contrarian in daily fantasy sports, there's a fine line between taking a calculated risk and being reckless. But differentiating your lineups from everyone else is the name of the game if you plan on taking down one of those highly lucrative DFS tournaments. Whether it's because of Vegas totals, other options at a given position, or some gem you've found that everyone is overlooking, we can always find potential under-owned plays if we look hard enough.

Here are three such players to consider branching out for on FanDuel's main slate.

Jon Lester, P, Chicago Cubs

FanDuel Price: $8,500

We have another loaded 13-game slate that includes Coors Field, so looking for some options who are lower owned could be key in tournaments.

Jon Lester comes in with a strikeout rate sitting at 26.5%, which is the seventh highest on today’s slate, putting him just a step below the top-tier options. Despite being on the back nine of his career, Lester has been legit good this season, allowing two or fewer earned runs in each of his five outings. (It should be noted that in one of those starts he went only two innings before being pulled due to injury.)

The matchup for Lester is one of the best on the slate as he is up against the Miami Marlins, whose current roster carried an 82 wRC+ and a .115 ISO versus left-handed pitchers last season. Those are among the worst numbers in the league, setting up Lester for another strong start since the Marlins have an implied team total set at only 2.89 tonight.

Andrelton Simmons, SS, Los Angeles Angels

FanDuel Price: $3,000

Andrelton Simmons and the Los Angeles Angels are visiting the Detroit Tigers, which has the Halos coming in with an implied team total set at 4.81, the fourth-highest on the slate.

The Angles are up against Daniel Norris, who has been hit hard by right-handed hitters his entire career and that isn’t stopping anytime soon. Last season, Norris allowed a .332 wOBA, 1.53 homers per nine innings, and a 42.4% hard-contact rate to right-handed hitters. This should line up perfectly for Simmons, who is currently in the top-50 of the league for hard-contact rate this season at 44.4% overall.

Simmons is very affordable tonight, and if you are looking for a stack outside of Coors Field, the Angels' right-handed hitters could be the spot to go. With his price tag at only $3,000, you could add Mike Trout in that Angels stack, giving it some huge upside while also maintaining the platoon advantage versus Norris.

Yasiel Puig, OF, Cincinnati Reds

FanDuel Price: $2,700

The Cincinnati Reds' offense has turned a corner recently, scoring nine or more runs in three of their last four games -- a drastic change from where they were earlier in the season. Of course, they won’t be scoring nearly 10 runs every single game, but hopefully this is a sign of more consistency from them.

They are facing off against Mike Fiers, who showed to be a reverse-splits pitcher last season, allowing a .335 wOBA, 1.84 homers per nine innings, a 43.1% fly-ball rate, and 38.6% hard-contact rate to right-handed hitters last season. We know that Yasiel Puig can be a bit of a boom-or-bust hitter, but that is perfect for tournaments since you want to embrace his upside, especially at this cheap price.

Last season, Puig showed to be a reverse-splits hitter, being better against right-handed pitchers than he was versus left-handers. In 2018, Puig carried a very impressive .390 wOBA, .267 ISO, and 41.8% hard-contact rate versus righties. This is also a sizable negative park shift for the Reds, which should keep most people away from them today.



Thomas Vecchio is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Thomas Vecchio also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username TomVec629. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in his articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.