MLB
3 Under-the-Radar MLB FanDuel Plays for 6/4/19

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

Madison Bumgarner, P, San Francisco Giants

FanDuel Price: $8,900

A loaded 15-game slate has four pitchers priced over $10,000 and a significant amount of guys in the mid-tier.

Madison Bumgarner comes in just under $9,000 tonight and has the 12th-highest strikeout rate of any pitcher on the slate. He is a clear step down from some of the elite arms -- both in terms of his overall consistency and upside -- which should cause him to be passed on to a certain degree since he hasn't hit nine strikeouts since his first start of the season. Bumgarner is also struggling when it comes to allowing earned runs, giving up three or more in five of his last eight starts, but his 3.72 xFIP suggests he is a bit better than what shows at face value.

The matchup is a sneaky good one for him tonight despite the fact the New York Mets have a 110 wRC+ versus left-handed pitchers, which is the sixth-best mark in the league. The Mets own a 26.2% strikeout rate in the split, which is one of the 10 highest in the league. A great park factor and a 3.74 implied run total for the Mets is nothing to be afraid of tonight and should be attacked with confidence.

Eugenio Suarez, 3B, Cincinnati Reds

FanDuel Price: $3,600

There are eight teams on this slate with implied run totals set at 5.00 or higher, which is where most of the ownership should be centered tonight, leaving a team like the Cincinnati Reds, with their 4.64 implied total, unlikely to be too popular.

The Reds are up against St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Genesis Cabrera, who has just 3.2 innings pitched in the Majors this season. But if we look to his minor league numbers, we see he had a 6.32 xFIP in 39.2 innings this season. He also carried a 21.4% strikeout rate and a very bad 49.6% fly-ball rate. By all accounts, he isn't a great pitcher, and you should comfortable attacking him with the Reds and Eugenio Suarez tonight.

Suarez comes in with a super strong .414 wOBA, .292 ISO, and 52.8% hard-hit rate this season versus lefty pitchers. Those are simply amazing numbers from Suarez, and with a negative park shift against the Reds tonight along with several teams having higher implied run totals, he is set to come in at lower ownership.

Curtis Granderson, OF, Miami Marlins

FanDuel Price: $2,400

Most DFS players don't often look toward the Miami Marlins for fantasy options, but Curtis Granderson is cheap and has a great matchup tonight.

The Marlins are facing off against Chase Anderson. Anderson has a 4.67 xFIP and 49.9% fly-ball rate while allowing 1.59 home runs per nine innings to left-handed hitters this season. Going to Milwaukee is a significant positive park shift for the Marlins' bats, who are not great overall but are certainly showing some juice recently, scoring at least nine runs in three of their last six games.

Against righties this year, Granderson has put up a .178 ISO, 38.7% hard-hit rate, and 48.6% fly-ball rate. He is in a nice spot to keep it going for the Marlins, and the savings he offers shouldn't be overlooked when we have a slate where paying up for pitching is looking like the standard path for roster construction.

Related News

Daily Fantasy Baseball Podcast: The Solo Shot, 6/4/19

Jim Sannes  --  Jun 4th, 2019

3 MLB FanDuel Studs to Target on 6/4/19

Jason Schandl  --  Jun 4th, 2019

Yesterday's Perfect MLB DFS Lineups: Monday 6/3/19

Jason Schandl  --  Jun 4th, 2019