3 Under-the-Radar MLB FanDuel Plays for 9/20/19
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.
Mike Foltynewicz, P, Atlanta Braves
FanDuel Price: $7,700
With a loaded slate of games, pivoting off the top tier of pitchers offers salary relief, along with potentially lower ownership.
A larger 14-game slate should see ownership spread out immensely since we have no Coors Field in action, along with some of the best offenses in fantastic spots. Paying up for top-tier pitchers is great, but it limits the expensive stacks that you can roster like the Houston Astros tonight. Those are the hitters I want in my lineup and to fit them in, we need a cheaper pitcher -- cue Mike Foltynewicz.
He comes in allowing two or fewer earned runs in six straight starts, picking up the quality start in three of those outings. Folty isn't a big strikeout pitcher -- only a 20.8% rate -- so his ability to limit the damage and get those extra fantasy points via the quality start are important.
He is up against the San Francisco Giants, who carry an 84 wRC+ (27th in the league), a .160 ISO (26th), and a 38.5% hard-hit rate (17th) versus right-handed pitchers. This is a very soft matchup for Folty, who should be able to extend this recent stretch of strong outings.
Eduardo Escobar, 3B, Arizona Diamondbacks
FanDuel Price: $3,300
A modest 4.18 implied team total for the Arizona Diamondbacks should keep DFS players away from them in terms of stacking, but I like one of their players tonight.
That player is Eduardo Escobar, who saw a slight dip in production earlier in the month, but now has three multi-hit games over his last six outings and is in a spot to extend that tonight. He comes in with a .272 ISO, 44.6% fly-ball rate, and a 48.7% hard-hit rate versus left-handed pitchers, giving him home run potential tonight. While a full-on stack for the Diamondbacks isn't my favorite option tonight, using Escobar as a one-off for that power should be considered.
He is up against Eric Lauer, who couldn't be more average as a pitcher and isn't someone we need to be afraid of. Lauer has a modest 22.8% strikeout rate versus righties, while allowing 1.19 home runs per nine, a 39.6% fly-ball rate, and a 41.8% hard-hit rate this season.
Willie Calhoun, OF, Texas Rangers
FanDuel Price: $3,000
Despite this game being in a bit of a pitcher's park, the Texas Rangers are in a spot to score some runs tonight.
The Rangers are up against Mike Fiers, who, if I'm being honest, really isn't a good pitcher. He's got a sub-20% strikeout rate and 39.0% fly-ball rate, along with a 4.89 xFIP against lefties. He has allowed three or more earned runs in four of his last six starts and hasn't made it past the second inning in either of his last two. He is in the midst of a rough stretch right now, and we want to attack him with what should be lower-owned Rangers hitters.
Willie Calhoun should be the player to target since he has a very modest price tag, along with a surprising amount of power in this split. First off, his 14.8% strikeout rate is super low, and he simply doesn't waste opportunities at the plate, which is something I personally love. Next, he has a .223 ISO, 40.5% hard-hit rate, and 42.4% fly-ball rate versus right-handed pitchers. He has power, gets the ball in the air, and is now facing a struggling pitcher. Sign me up.
