3 Under-the-Radar MLB FanDuel Plays for 7/3/19

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

Sonny Gray, P, Cincinnati Reds

FanDuel Price: $7,600

There is no doubt the Milwaukee Brewers have a great offense, but they also swing and miss a lot, so does that mean we can target a pitcher against them?

As a team, the Brewers have a .198 ISO versus righty pitchers, which is the sixth best in the league, but they also have a 25.1% strikeout rate, which is the fourth worst in the league. Plenty of power, but also plenty of wasted chances at the plate, presenting the opportunity to attack them in tournaments.

Sonny Gray is having a bit of a resurgence this season and comes in with a very solid 26.5% strikeout rate, which is the fifth highest on the slate among qualified pitchers. Gray is at home in a solid hitter's park against this Brewers lineup who have an implied run total set at 4.80. There is no doubt this could be a quick night for Gray if he gets hit early, but the strikeout upside is also there for him given the matchup against a strikeout-prone team.

Paul DeJong, SS, St. Louis Cardinals

FanDuel Price: $3,300

Over the past few weeks, it's been mentioned how bad the St. Louis Cardinals offense is, but that doesn't mean we have to fade every player.

The Cardinals had one of the worst offenses in June, but Paul DeJong still comes into today carrying a .332 wOBA, .195 ISO, and 44.4% hard-hit rate versus righty pitchers. Those are solid numbers for the individual, and you want to focus on targeting him rather than a full Cardinals stack. We have a full slate of games, and with the Cardinals getting a negative park shift going to Seattle, we should see them as one of the lower-owned teams.

While DeJong is good in his own right, the matchup versus Mike Leake is nothing to be afraid of since he is carrying a 5.27 xFIP, 41.7% hard-hit rate, and 46.0% fly-ball rate versus right-handed hitters this season. Leake is a pitcher you actively want to attack, regardless of how lackluster the Cardinals' offense might be right now.

Whit Merrifield, OF, Kansas City Royals

FanDuel Price: $3,800

If you like consistency, then you should be a fan of Whit Merrifield, simple as that.

Merrifield seemingly gets it done night in and night out, home or away, good matchup or bad, and he is out here producing fantasy points every single game. He comes in with hits in 12 of his last 14 games, where seven of those games have been multi-hit games. The matchup tonight certainly skews towards the tougher side since he is up against Mike Clevinger, who had a 25.6% strikeout rate last season, referring to 2018 since he only has a few starts under his belt this year.

After his injury, Clevinger has only 6.1 innings pitched, allowing 12 earned runs in that time. Yes, that is an extremely small sample size, but if he isn't back on his form from last season, shouldn't we be willing to attack him? I think the answer is yes in this situation, and with the consistency Merrifield brings, he is in a spot to continue posting strong fantasy numbers, regardless of who happens to be on the bump tonight.