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
Dylan Bundy, P, Baltimore Orioles
FanDuel Price: $7,200
A full 15-game slate has every team in action tonight, leaving plenty of opportunities for lower owned tournament options, so let's take a look.
The Detroit Tigers come into tonight winning only one of their last 10 games and the Baltimore Orioles will have Dylan Bundy on the mound looking to continue that trend. There is no doubt that Bundy is struggling this season, which is shown by his 4.90 xFIP and allowing 2.08 homers per nine innings, but this matchup gives him a chance to right the ship. The Tigers currently have a .136 ISO (second worst in the league) and a 71 wRC+ (tied for worst in the league) against right-handed pitchers, making this an ideal spot to target them.
The struggles might be there for Bundy this season but there are some signs of hope for him with only allowing a 26.0% hard-contact rate (a career best) and producing 9.00 strikeouts per nine innings. Bundy comes into this game allowing three or fewer earned runs in six of his last seven starts, which is firmly in play tonight against the Tigers, who are flat out bad.
His reasonable price, favorable matchup, and some underlying strong stats make him a great tournament option on a slate which features Coors Field, potentially leaving you looking to save money at pitcher.
Joey Gallo, OF, Texas Rangers
FanDuel Price: $4,100
At face value, a lefty versus lefty matchup might be one to avoid, but this is actually a spot to attack tonight.
Joey Gallo has all the power you could possibly want in a hitter, and even with him facing off against a southpaw you should be looking to roster him as a solid tournament option. He comes in with a staggering 39.3% strikeout rate this season versus left-handed pitchers, which is unbelievably bad. But with that downside, he also brings a .348 ISO versus lefty-pitchers, which is almost unmatched by anyone in the league. A near definition of boom or bust and wit the negative park shift against him tonight being in Seattle, which should see lower ownership.
If you are a believer in batter versus pitcher (BvP) note that Gallo has four hits in 13 career at-bats versus Marco Gonzales, where two of those hits have gone for home runs.
Kolten Wong, 2B, St. Louis Cardinals
FanDuel Price: $2,800
The St. Louis Cardinals will be up against Nick Pivetta tonight, who will be making his first start since being recalled from Triple-A.
Pivetta had a very, very rough start to the season and was sent down to the minors after only four starts, which was back in the middle of April. The end of May is here and he seemed to get things going during his time in the minors, posting 12.16 strikeouts per nine innings and a 4.06 xFIP, albeit against a lower level of competition. Even with things turning around for Pivetta, we still want to look towards some of the Cardinals hitters tonight with their 5.07 implied run total.
Kolten Wong is a player who often stands out for me since he is cheaper, hits near the bottom of the order (which brings lower ownership), but most importantly, comes in with a 16.1% strikeout rate versus right-handed pitchers. He doesn't waste appearances at the plate by swinging free which is great, though that does often come with a lack of power, only showing a .153 ISO versus righty pitchers this season.
That lack of power and hitting near the bottom of the lineup often combines as a key reason he goes under-owned, but in a situation like this, up against a pitcher jumping back to the majors, we want to roll with the Cardinals lefties who can produce every time at the plate.