3 Under-the-Radar MLB FanDuel Plays for 8/6/19
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.
Anibal Sanchez, P, Washington Nationals
FanDuel Price: $7,700
Is Anibal Sanchez a worthwhile tournament option tonight? Or is passing on the elite pitchers too much of a risk?
There are four pitchers over $9,000 tonight -- highlighted by Zack Greinke making his first start for the Houston Astros -- and they all bring strong strikeout upside given their matchups. A few steps down, we find Sanchez sitting comfortably in the mid-tier, under $8,000, and he has a very soft matchup in front of him. This is a positive park shift for Sanchez, now that he is on the road to take on the San Francisco Giants. There is no doubt that the Giants have seen a nice improvement from where they were earlier in the season, but overall, they are still a weak offensive team versus right-handed pitchers.
The Giants are holding an 86 wRC+ (26th in the league), .167 ISO (25th), and a hard-hit rate of 38.1% (16th) versus right-handed pitchers this season. None of those stats are truly threatening, and with Sanchez is allowing a hard-hit rate at 31% or lower to both types of hitters, he is in a good spot tonight. He comes in with six quality starts in his last nine outings, a helpful boost to his fantasy points, which can lack due to his low 19.9% strikeout rate.
Bryan Reynolds, OF, Pittsburgh Pirates
FanDuel Price: $3,400
The Pittsburgh Pirates might have to deal with a bit of weather tonight, but they are still in a good spot against Chase Anderson.
A 4.43 implied team total has the Pirates with just the 12th-highest clip, essentially putting them in no-man's land. This can be an ideal spot to target teams or players for tournaments since they aren't among the most popular teams but still in a spot to generate some offense. The offense could be coming rather easily tonight since they are up against Anderson, who is allowing a 4.92 xFIP and 39.0% fly-ball rate or higher to both types of hitters this season. Allowing a ton of fly-balls to opposing batters is always dangerous, especially when there are power hitters on the other side.
One such power hitter is Pirates rookie Bryan Reynolds, who is having a great year, showing he can get it done from both sides of the plate. In this split versus righty pitchers, he is holding a .408 wOBA, .188 ISO, and a 48.5% hard-hit rate. That is some serious power, and he has shown it off lately with three home runs in his last eight games.
Jorge Soler, OF, Kansas City Royals
FanDuel Price: $3,200
The lowly Kansas City Royals are on the road to take on the Boston Red Sox, but they are in a spot to do some damage.
Andrew Cashner is on the mound for Boston tonight and just because he is a -194 favorite at home, don't believe that he is anywhere near a good pitcher. Cashner is holding a 5.10 xFIP, 18.6% home-run-to-fly-ball ratio, and a 38.5% hard-hit rate versus right-handed hitters this season. The same-sided matchups haven't been kind to Cashner this season, and lucky for us, Jorge Soler is hitting against him tonight.
Why Soler? Well, he has a great price, sitting just over $3,000 tonight, and comes in boasting a .290 ISO, 44.0% hard-hit rate, and massive 28.6% home-run-to-fly-ball ratio versus righty pitchers this season. He has 29 home runs on the year, 24 of which have come against right-handed pitchers, and with this being at hitter-friendly Fenway, Soler is in a great spot.
