3 Under-the-Radar MLB FanDuel Plays for 4/18/19
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.
Tanner Roark, P, Cincinnati Reds
FanDuel Price: $7,300
Tanner Roark and the Cincinnati Reds are on the road against the San Diego Padres, giving him a solid positive park shift.
Being away from home is always great for a Reds pitcher and puts him in a spot to limit the damage against the Padres, who have an implied team total set at 4.17, one of the lowest ones on the slate. The Padres' current roster had a 103 wRC+ versus right-handed pitchers last season, which is barely above average, showing they aren't a very dangerous lineup on this slate.
Roark has never been a big strikeout pitcher and only has a 19.4% K% this season, but he's been good at limiting hard contact over the years, allowing a career rate of just 26.0%, showing the easy outs will always be there for him. Roark has given up three or fewer earned runs in each of his three starts this season, making him a very safe option on this slate.
Mike Zunino, C, Tampa Bay Rays
FanDuel Price: $2,200
Mike Zunino is near the minimum salary tonight and is in a great spot versus Andrew Cashner, a pitcher we want to stack against tonight.
The Tampa Bay Rays come in with an implied team total set at 5.17 tonight, which is high considering they are at home in a very pitcher-friendly park. That total is so high since they are up against Andrew Cashner, who allowed a .370 wOBA and 1.20 homers per nine innings to right-handed hitters last season. You should love seeing numbers like that for the potential upside they bring.
Zunino isn't an elite hitter by any means, but he did finish with a .305 wOBA and a surprising .221 ISO versus right-handed pitchers last season, which should get you interested at his cheap price tag.
Aaron Altherr, OF, Philadelphia Phillies
FanDuel Price: $2,500
We should see Aaron Altherr drawn into the starting lineup tonight since the Philadelphia Phillies are dealing with a few injuries right now.
Odubel Herrera left yesterday's game early due to a hamstring injury, which puts Altherr in line to get the start tonight over Nick Williams, since he'll have the platoon advantage against left-hander Kyle Freeland.
The Phillies have an implied team total set at 5.50 at Coors Field, the best hitter's park in the league. It shouldn't come as a surprise that most of them will be popular, but with Altherr likely batting near the bottom of the lineup, ownership on him may be far lower compared to someone like Bryce Harper.
Altherr had a modest 92 wRC+ versus left-handed pitchers last season but also had a solid .190 ISO. That might make him a boom-or-bust option, but it's Coors Field, where the home runs can come easily.
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.
