3 Under-the-Radar MLB FanDuel Plays for 7/22/19

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.

CC Sabathia, P, New York Yankees

FanDuel Price: $7,800

We have an 11-game slate to kick off our MLB week and there are three legitimate aces on the mound tonight, which should leave plenty of opportunities in the mid-tier.

CC Sabathia has started 15 games this season and has allowed over four earned runs just four times. The level of consistency he brings is what you would expect from a veteran, but he is often a player to be passed on in tournaments for a few reasons. He is allowing 1.98 homers per nine innings this season, which isn't great by any means, and always puts him in a tough spot since it seems inevitable the long ball is coming from opposing hitters.

He is also only carrying a modest 22.3% strikeout rate, which is the other reason he is passed on by most DFS players. The potential upside isn't always there for him in terms of raw points and couple that with the home runs being allowed, he doesn't move the needle. That lack of upside does come at a very modest price tonight along with the fact he has posted 31 FanDuel points or more in seven of his last nine starts.

Garrett Cooper, 1B, Miami Marlins

FanDuel Price: $2,800

While the Miami Marlins aren't a good team by most measures, they are up against a bad pitcher tonight who we should be targeting.

That bad pitcher is Ivan Nova, who comes in with a 4.74 xFIP, a 15.4% strikeout rate, and allowing 1.74 homers per nine innings to right-handed hitters this season. Nova is simply a pitcher you don't need to be afraid of by any means and with him holding a 22.2% home-run-to-fly-ball ratio this season vs righties, there is a bit of upside for the Marlins bats.

Garrett Cooper is a player to take note of tonight since he is holding a .390 wOBA, .177 ISO, 45% fly-ball rate, and a whopping 31.6% home-run-to-fly-ball ratio this season versus right-handed pitchers. Cooper clocks in under $3K, and if you are looking for a tournament play, the Marlins likely won't attract too much ownership on a slate this size. This is a positive park shift for the Marlins tonight, which could prove to be the benefit their hitters need.

Shin-Soo Choo, OF, Texas Rangers

FanDuel Price: $3,400

While this is a bit of a negative park shift for the Texas Rangers, they have a 4.87 implied run total tonight and in a spot to score some runs.

While a lefty versus lefty matchup might be something most people shy away from at first glance, Shin-Soo Choo has some plenty of success against Marco Gonzales. While batter versus hitter might not be the most accurate showing of things, Gonzales is struggling with lefty hitters this season and that is where Choo should be able to continue the historic success against him. Gonzales has a 5.30 xFIP, allowing 1.23 homers per nine innings, and a 47.1% hard-hit rate to lefty hitters this season.

Choo has a respectable 41.4% hard-hit rate versus lefty pitchers this season and while the power numbers might not follow all the time, he is in a spot to add a few more hits to his total versus Gonzales tonight.