MLB

3 MLB FanDuel Value Plays to Target on Tuesday 9/13/22

Austan Kas  —  @AustanKas Sep 13th, 2022
Gavin Sheets is a low-salary way to get a piece of a White Sox offense that can feast on Chad Kuhl. Which other value plays should you zero in on?

With production being highly variable on a night-to-night basis, daily fantasy baseball plays a bit differently than other sports.

As a result of this, the primary method of selecting hitters is to "stack" certain teams in good spots to produce. Most of the top stacks on a given day come with hefty salaries. In addition to that, a vast majority of pitchers with the upside to win tournaments are high-salaried hurlers.

Therefore, crushing your value plays -- whether it be a pitcher unexpectedly piling up strikeouts or a low-salaried batter racking up points -- can be the secret sauce to taking down a tournament.

Which budget options stand out today on FanDuel?

Joe Ryan, P, Twins ($8,900)

I'll be honest -- I'm probably not messing around with a value pitcher today. Jacob deGrom ($12,000) is gong against the Chicago Cubs, and it's super hard for me to pass on that, even at deGrom's massive salary.

But if you want to be different, Joe Ryan checks some boxes.

He has a nice matchup with the Kansas City Royals, an offense that is 25th in wOBA (.290) over the last 30 days with the 11th-highest strikeout rate (23.4%) in that time. KC's 3.70 implied total is a number we can feel good about picking on.

Ryan has the tools to take advantage of the matchup. He's sporting a 24.2% strikeout rate and 11.3% swinging-strike rate for the season. He's upped his punchouts in the second half, producing a 28.2% strikeout rate across his last nine starts (47 innings).

We project Ryan for 32.3 FanDuel points and rank him as the SP5 on what is a stout pitching slate. While you can make a case for fellow value pitcher Michael Kopech ($8,200) at home versus the Colorado Rockies, Ryan is where I'll go in lineups where I'm tossing a dart at pitcher.

Kyle Garlick, OF, Twins ($2,200)

Kyle Garlick has been hitting leadoff against left-handers, and the Minnesota Twins are facing southpaw Kris Bubic tonight.

Bubic has been bad all around this season. He's pitched to a 17.5% strikeout rate and 4.94 SIERA. Away from home, he's been tagged for 1.54 jacks per nine. The Twins' 4.80 implied total is the night's second-best and has Minny firmly on the stacking radar.

Garlick is a great way to get a piece of the Twins, and he eats lefties for breakfast. In 2022, Garlick sports a.372 wOBA against southpaws, and he owns a .361 wOBA in the split for his career.

We project Garlick for 11.0 FanDuel points, and I like the idea of stacking him with Gary Sanchez ($2,100) and Gio Urshela ($2,100) as a way to get exposure to one of the night's top offenses while saving salary for deGrom.

Gavin Sheets, 1B/OF, White Sox ($2,600)

The slate's highest implied total belongs to the Chicago White Sox, who carry a 4.89 clip into their date with Chad Kuhl.

If it feels like we pick on Kuhl each time he starts, it's because it's mostly true. The Rockies' right-hander has a 4.87 SIERA and 17.7% strikeout rate. He's giving up a 41.0% fly-ball rate overall, and lefties have smashed him for a .362 wOBA, 40.6% hard-hit rate and 41.3% fly-ball rate.

Sheets, a lefty, has put up a .349 wOBA in the second half, and he has a 43.7% fly-ball rate this year with the platoon advantage. We project him for 13.0 FanDuel points. He, Yoan Moncada ($2,500) and Andrew Vaughn ($2,600) are all viable low-salary sticks from the Pale Hose.