3 Under-the-Radar MLB FanDuel Plays for 4/19/21
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.
Jack Flaherty, P, St. Louis Cardinals ($8,800)
If Jack Flaherty isn't going to be popular tonight, he makes a great tournament target.
Flaherty is the fifth-most expensive pitcher on tonight's slate and it's reasonable to make a case for each of the pitchers ahead of him. Flaherty is also up against the Washington Nationals, who are "known" as a strong offense but this season things are starting off a bit different. Yes, it's a small sample size, but the Nationals are carrying a .129 ISO versus right-handed pitchers, which is 25th in the league. They also have a modest 33.6% hard-contact rate (11th) and a low 34.4% (22nd) fly-ball rate.
Flaherty has a solid 25.4% strikeout rate to start the season, allowing a super-low 25.6% hard-contact rate, and a 4.37 xFIP. Flaherty has shown plenty of strikeout upside throughout his career and if he can get that going tonight, his appeal in tournaments should be very high.
Mike Brosseau, 2B/3B, Tampa Bay Rays ($2,500)
The Rays could fly under the 'ray-dar' tonight, does that make them a viable stack in tournaments?
Tampa Bay is on the road to take on the Kansas City Royals, who will have Danny Duffy on the mound. Has Duffy been off to a hot start this season? Yes. Is Duffy a pitcher you need to be afraid of? No. From 2018-2020, Duffy allowed a 43.9% fly-ball rate, a .333 wOBA, and 1.5 HR/9 to right-handed hitters. Those are truly some average numbers and they should make you want to stack against him.
That is where Michael Brosseau and the Rays come into play tonight. Brousseau is very affordable so if you are looking to pay up for one of the top stacks or a top pitcher, you will still have the salary available. You also get plenty of power upside with Brosseau, who carries a career .256 ISO, 149 wRC+, 40.4% hard-contact rate, and 44.7% fly-ball rate versus left-handed pitchers.
David Dahl, OF, Texas Rangers ($2,700)
If you are really looking to get weird in tournaments tonight, consider the Texas Rangers.
Going for upside in tournaments means you need power and that is what David Dahl can bring to your lineups. He can swing and miss a lot versus right-handed pitchers, but he also has a career .224 ISO. So yes, this could be viewed as a pure risk-reward type scenario, but the whole point of this is to find players who aren't going to be popular in tournaments.
His matchup is surprisingly good against Dylan Bundy, who has a career 5.14 xFIP, 1.48 HR/9, and a 43.1% fly-ball rate versus left-handed hitters. So yeah, the home run potential is there for Dahl and going to him would certainly make your lineups different tonight.
