3 Under-the-Radar MLB FanDuel Plays for 8/21/19
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.
Mike Fiers, P, Oakland Athletics
FanDuel Price: $7,700
It's not often you want to look at a pitcher going up against the New York Yankees, but tonight could be the spot for Mike Fiers.
The Yankees are on the road, which means they have a substantial negative park shift going against their hitters, as they are at Oakland Coliseum to take on the Oakland Athletics. Fiers is by no means an overpowering pitcher, with only a 16.5% strikeout rate this season, but he has shown the ability to limit the damage while pitching at home this season. He is allowing a .275 wOBA, 36.9% hard-hit rate, and a super low 11.3% home-run-to-fly-ball rate while pitching at home this season, which would make you think he could be up for the Cy Young.
His pitching style of mainly allowing medium contact, along with a mix of ground balls and a few fly balls isn't conducive to run-scoring for the opposing team, which is why he has allowed three or fewer earned runs in 22 of his 26 starts this season. The veteran simply gets it done, especially while at home this season.
Corey Dickerson, OF, Philadelphia Phillies
FanDuel Price: $3,200
The Philadelphia Phillies are on the road to take on the Boston Red Sox, who are -178 favorites. Will being an underdog keep people away from the Phillies?
Boston will have Rick Porcello on the mound tonight, and simply put, he has been flat out terrible this season. Against lefty hitters this season, he comes in with a 6.08 xFIP, allowing 1.46 home runs per nine innings, a 34.8% hard-hit rate, and a 47.2% fly-ball rate.
Fenway Park is a fantastic hitting environment and that fly-ball rate can be very dangerous for a pitcher, giving us an opportunity to attack Porcello.
Corey Dickerson brings some legit power to this matchup, and he is a hitter who we could see go deep tonight. Dickerson is carrying a .283 ISO, .391 wOBA, a 38.6% hard-hit rate, and a 41.2% fly-ball rate versus righty pitchers this season. The price and the matchup for Dickerson are fantastic tonight and as a heavy road dog, should go overlooked.
Kolten Wong, 2B, St. Louis Cardinals
FanDuel Price: $2,700
A modest 4.30 implied run total for the St. Louis Cardinals tonight doesn't have them projected as a top team. Can we look to them as a viable tournament option tonight?
The Cardinals find themselves in a very tight division race and are hosting the Milwaukee Brewers, who are just a few games behind them. The Brew Crew will have Adrian Houser on the mound tonight, who has a decent 24.7% strikeout rate this season versus lefty hitters but is also allowing 1.67 home runs per nine innings to them. A bit of good, a bit of bad, and allowing a 44.7% hard-hit rate and 37.2% fly-ball rate doesn't help his cause.
Kolten Wong is a player who doesn't bring a ton of power to the party -- only a .126 ISO versus righty pitchers -- but he has a few things going for him in this split. First off, he has a super low 15.6% strikeout rate, rarely wasting chances at the plate, which is something I personally love. Next, he only has a 19.6% soft contact rate, meaning the overwhelming majority of his hits are either medium or hard contact (45.3% and 35.1%, respectively). Finally, he has a 43.6% fly-ball rate, which can always pose a home run threat and plenty of fantasy points.
