Sometimes, you just don't have time to track the weather, check the splits, and wait for the batting order to be posted to build a full nine-man FanDuel MLB roster. It happens. But that no longer means you can't build some lineups, thanks to FanDuel's MLB 3-Man Challenge game style.
The premise is simple: build a three-player roster for a $7 salary cap, and only hits and RBI count toward netting FanDuel points. One player is your MVP, and his points are multiplied by 1.5, and you just need to roster players from at least two different teams. That more or less covers it, but you should familiarize yourself with the basic strategy for the new game style to help you in tonight's marquee 3-Man Challenge contest.
That being said, which options stand out at each price range for today's 3-Man Challenge slate?
$3 Tier
Anthony Rizzo - Just like last night, Rizzo is a tough fade against a righty at Coors Field. His matchup is even better than it was on Monday, taking on Peter Lambert, who has only one game of major league experience and struggled with a 4.82 xFIP in 11 Triple-A starts this season. Rizzo's sporting a career-high 43.5% hard-hit rate on the year, and he has thrashed right-handed pitchers for a .418 wOBA and .401 ISO on the season. Those are dreamy numbers at Coors Field, and it would be no surprise to see him go yard for the second straight game.
Nolan Arenado - Also like last night, Coors Field dominates this 3-man slate. The clash between the Colorado Rockies and Chicago Cubs has a 12-run over/under, while none of the other games on the slate has a total over 9.5 runs. That gives the Cubs (6.24) and Rockies (5.76) the two highest implied totals on the slate. Chicago will roll with a southpaw in Jose Quintana, and with Arenado's absolutely absurd .501 wOBA and .406 ISO at home against lefties since 2016, he's a tough fade here.
Trevor Story - With the Cubs favored and Arenado an obvious play, we might get Trevor Story at some reduced ownership today. He's not going to be contrarian by any stretch, but with such a clear advantage in Coors Field, you don't necessarily want to get too cute with your $3 plays on Tuesday. Story has also slaughtered southpaws at home over his career, with a .460 wOBA and .422 ISO. He's shown a bit more power against righties than Arenado has (career .385 wOBA and .294 ISO against right-handers at Coors, compared to a .386 wOBA and 259 ISO), making him a bit safer a play if the Cubs bring a righty out of the 'pen.
$2 Tier
Kyle Schwarber - Like Rizzo, it's probably no surprise to see Schwarber in this piece, considering he was a great play yesterday at $2 with a worse matchup. He owns a 37.1% hard-hit rate, 11.3% soft-hit rate and 38.2% fly-ball rate against right-handed pitching this season, and since 2017, he's converted a 39.4% hard-hit rate and 41.6% fly-ball rate to a stout .262 ISO against right-handed pitching. That power should mean big things against Lambert at Coors Field.
Max Kepler - We project Kepler just behind Schwarber tonight, with only a 0.40 fantasy-point gap, while they're tied for the highest home run projection in the $2 tier (and third-highest among all hitters) at 0.26. Kepler has broken out this season, turning in a .364 wOBA and .273 ISO over 252 plate appearances. This jump in production is backed up by some of the hardest contact of his career (40.3% hard-hit rate, 45.7% fly-ball rate), hitting barrels the most frequently we've seen from him (9.7% barrel rate) and his .464 expected slugging percentage destroys his previous career-high mark of .404.
Miguel Sano - Sano is a riskier play than Kepler, but we do have him tied with Kepler and Schwarber with a projection of 0.26 home runs. Sano has looked great in the majors this year, but that's only over a 75 plate-appearance sample, so it's hard to fully trust a bounce-back from his 2018 struggles. His contact numbers are phenomenal, though (50.0% hard-hit rate, 5.3% soft-hit rate, 44.7% fly-ball rate), and his .504 expected slugging percentage is right in line with his .505 clip from 2017. Seattle Mariners righty Mike Leake also makes for a plus matchup as Leake has struggled to the tune of a career-worst 4.68 skill-interactive ERA (SIERA) in 2019, giving up career-high marks in both hard-hit rate (39.5%) and fly-ball rate (35.9%). With Kepler and Schwarber looking much safer, Sano can give you comparable home run upside while likely seeing reduced ownership.
$1 Tier
Brian Dozier - The Washington Nationals are in a great spot tonight, with the Chicago White Sox starting Manny Banuelos. Banuelos owns a 5.14 SIERA over his young major league career, and in 2019 (11 games), he has an especially ugly 5.29 SIERA. Dozier has a .318 wOBA and a solid .191 ISO so far in 2019, which comes on a career-high 40.1% hard-hit rate and 45.2% fly-ball rate. He's only had 55 plate appearances against southpaws but owns a huge .479 wOBA and .367 ISO in the split. With an ISO of at least .300 against lefties in two of the last three seasons, we know that power is for real, too.
Brendan Rodgers - One of the only $1 ways to get exposure to Coors tonight, don't let Rodgers' awful .251 major league wOBA scare you off. That's over just 59 plate appearances, and he showed some serious promise at the Triple-A level with a .438 wOBA and .289 ISO over 152 plate appearances in 2019. Jose Quintana's 35.7% fly-ball rate and 4.40 xFIP against right-handed bats over the last two seasons is hugely exploitable when he's pitching in the thin air in Denver, and with the platoon advantage, Rodgers is an easy source of upside here.
Christin Stewart - The Detroit Tigers' offense should be super contrarian on this slate, and that makes Christin Stewart intriguing as we project him for 0.21 home runs, which is the most for anyone priced at $1 tonight. Kansas City Royals righty Jake Junis is no killer, carrying a 4.64 SIERA this season, and over his career, he's given up a 41.0% hard-hit rate, .350 wOBA and 4.53 xFIP to left-handed bats. The left-handed Stewart has had only 214 cracks at right-handed pitchers in the majors, but in that sample, he's turned a 37.1% hard-hit rate and 45.7% fly-ball rate into an encouraging .343 wOBA and .201 ISO.
Jason Schandl is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Jason Schandl also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username Jaymun. 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.