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.
Merrill Kelly, P, Arizona Diamondbacks
FanDuel Price: $7,600
Merrill Kelly hasn't been putting up massive numbers this season but makes a good point-per-dollar option on tonight's small slate.
Kelly is up against the Pittsburgh Pirates, who have an implied run total set at only 4.13 tonight, showing they aren't in a spot to pose a threat to Kelly. The current Pirates roster finished last season with a .154 ISO and a 101 wRC+ versus right-handed pitchers, showing that their offense truly isn't that threatening.
Kelly isn't an elite pitcher, which is why he will go overlooked, but five or more strikeouts in three straight starts and a modest 31% hard contact rate should allow him to keep this Pittsburgh offense in check.
Most of the ownership should be centered around Justin Verlander, Cole Hamels, and Walker Buehler tonight, leaving Kelly as a great tournament salary saver.
Rio Ruiz, 3B, Baltimore Orioles
FanDuel Price: $2,300
Rio Ruiz is priced down near the minimum salary tonight, and he makes a great stacking option along with the rest of the Baltimore Orioles.
Ruiz is facing off against Ervin Santana, who allowed a .372 wOBA, 2.25 homers per nine innings, and a 55% fly ball rate to left-handed hitters last season. The struggles are real for Santana over the past few seasons, which is why we see the Orioles coming in with an implied run total set at 5.21 tonight despite clearly being one of the weaker teams in the league.
They are at home in a great hitter's park and with Ruiz being so cheap, you can potentially afford to pay up for Justin Verlander, who is one of the highest projected pitchers on the slate.
Rafael Devers, 3B, Boston Red Sox
FanDuel Price: $3,000
Rafael Devers and the Boston Red Sox are struggling right now but their left-handed hitters are in a good spot tonight.
They are up against Tyson Ross, who allowed a .368 wOBA, 1.16 homers per nine innings, and a 34% hard contact rate to left-handed hitters last season making him a pitcher to target.
Boston comes in with an implied run total set at 5.56, which is the second highest on the slate, showing that the expectation for them (both in terms of real scoring and potential fantasy points) is high. Devers could be the player to go overlooked on Boston simply for the fact he hasn't shown much power this season, with no home runs and a .060 ISO versus right-handed pitchers, compared to last season where he had a .220 ISO against righties.
Devers is a better hitter than he is currently showing and in a spot to prove that tonight against a pitcher who has struggled against left-handed hitters.
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.