5 Daily Fantasy Baseball Value Plays for Friday 4/23/21

With production being highly variable on a night-to-night basis, daily fantasy baseball plays a bit differently than other sports.

An 0-for-4 dud from a chalky high-salaried slugger is a lot more common than a total dud from a top-salaried NBA player or even than a stinker from a top quarterback or running back.

That means that it's not uncommon for value plays to end up doing the heavy lifting in carrying your lineup. The fact that they can be the difference between a good and a great lineup isn't much different than other sports, but value plays being able to make up for a whiff on a high-salaried play completely is somewhat unique.

Let's get right into it and take a look at the top value options on today's slate.

Sandy Alcantara, SP, Miami Marlins ($8,000)

On a slate with both Jacob deGrom and Tyler Glasnow, it will be tough to go with a value option at pitcher -- but this is a Coors Field slate, too.

Sonny Gray ($8,100) is one such option, but Sandy Alcantara is another guy we can look to. The young righty might finally be putting it all together this season, as he's compiled a 3.39 SIERA, 28.0% strikeout rate, and 7.0% walk rate through four starts.

That's certainly enough to get our attention, and while his matchup against the San Francisco Giants isn't the best for strikeouts, they're getting only a 3.99 implied total. Alcantara's workload has been solid, too, as he's exceeded 90 pitches in three straight starts and has gone at least six innings in all four.

Mitch Moreland, 1B, Oakland Athletics ($2,300)

Mitch Moreland finally busted out for a two-dinger game this week, and perhaps he can add to his home run tally tonight against Jorge Lopez.

Lopez has been consistently pummeled by lefty sticks over his career, with a 4.93 xFIP, 18.5% strikeout rate, and 8.9% walk rate in the split. He's also allowed a whopping 2.04 home runs per nine innings in the split.

Moreland has held a double-digit barrel rate in each of the past four seasons, so we should expect his usual power output this year.

Gleyber Torres, SS/2B, New York Yankees ($2,500)

I could list most of the New York Yankees' lineup here, as their sluggish start to the season has led to dips in quite a few salaries. Gleyber Torres is one such player, and there's no question he's struggled at the plate thus far.

But Torres now gets to face Logan Allen, a left-hander who held a strikeout rate below 13% versus righties across 28.1 innings from 2019-20. While Allen has seen a slight boost in punchouts early on, it's still been below average. Particularly against a predominantly right-handed Yankees lineup, Allen could have a rough evening at the office.

This could be a slump-busting matchup for the Bronx Bombers, and Torres is too talented to stay down for long. He's coming off a three-hit game on Thursday, too, which is perhaps a sign of things to come.

Josh Fuentes, 1B/3B, Colorado Rockies ($3,000)

(Editor's note: Fuentes is out of the lineup tonight. Raimel Tapia ($3,300) is a decent value out of the leadoff spot, while Yonathan Daza ($3,000) has the lowest salary and is batting sixth.)

There isn't a ton of value in the Colorado Rockies' expected lineup tonight, but Josh Fuentes is one guy we can roster to get cheap exposure to their juicy matchup against Vince Velasquez.

Velasquez has struggled with both walks and home runs over his career, both of which could spell trouble for him at Coors Field. He's already walked eight batters in just four innings of work this season and is allowing plenty of fly balls and hard contact, so more of the usual from Velasquez should be expected in 2021.

Fuentes isn't an especially notable hitter, but he owns a serviceable .144 career ISO and both of his home runs this season have come at home.

Hunter Renfroe, OF, Boston Red Sox ($2,500)

Yusei Kikuchi has carried over his improved strikeout rate from last season, but he's also already allowed three home runs. Dingers were an issue for him in 2019, and with some strong winds blowing out at Fenway tonight, this might be a spot for the Boston Red Sox to send a few balls into the outfield seats.

Hunter Renfroe is certainly the right candidate for that, as he's absolutely wrecked lefties over his career with a massive .314 ISO in the split. Boston has a 4.84 implied total, which is the best non-Coors mark on the slate.