3 MLB FanDuel Value Plays to Target on Tuesday 6/7/22
With production being highly variable on a night-to-night basis, daily fantasy baseball plays a bit differently than other sports.
As a result of this, the primary method of selecting hitters is to "stack" certain teams in good spots to produce. Most of the top stacks on a given day come with hefty salaries. In addition to that, a vast majority of pitchers with the upside to win tournaments are high-salaried hurlers.
Therefore, crushing your value plays -- whether it be a pitcher unexpectedly piling up strikeouts or a low-salaried batter racking up points -- can be the secret sauce to taking down a tournament.
Which budget options stand out today on FanDuel?
Bobby Dalbec, 1B, Red Sox ($2,000)
Bobby Dalbec should be in the lineup tonight against a lefty, and he's a minimum-salary way to get a piece of the Boston Red Sox.
Boston will see Reid Detmers, and Detmers has allowed a 46.4% hard-hit rate to righties in his career while also recording a meager 17.6% strikeout rate in the split. He's permitted eight earned runs and four homers over his last three outings, a span that covers just 14 innings.
Dalbec has solid numbers against southpaws in his career, including a .367 wOBA and 47.9% fly-ball rate.
We rate him as the top point-per-dollar bat of the night, and he hit seventh the last time Boston took on a left-hander.
Christian Arroyo ($2,000) is another minimum-salary righty who might get into the Boston lineup, and his multi-position eligibility (second, third and outfield) is handy.
Nick Castellanos, OF, Phillies ($3,100)
Nick Castellanos' salary is a little higher than that of a typical value play, but he's an under-salaried guy I wanted to highlight.
Castellanos has been hampered by some bad luck early on this season. His .313 wOBA is way below his .359 expected wOBA, and his 11.7% homer-to-fly-ball (HR/FB) rate is miles away from the 23.1% HR/FB rate he amassed across 2020 and 2021 despite a 39.0% fly-ball rate this year that is actually a smidge above his career average (38.3%).
In short, he's going to be just fine, and he's easy to love at this salary, especially in a date with Jason Alexander, who mustered only a 17.5% strikeout rate this year over 47 2/3 frames in Triple-A. Castellanos pummeled left-handers for a .390 wOBA last campaign.
We have Castellanos scoring 13.7 FanDuel points, making him our eighth-ranked point-per-dollar hitter.
Jonathan Schoop, 2B, Tigers ($2,400)
The Detroit Tigers are a sneaky-good place to look for one-off plays today for their matchup with Jose Quintana.
Quintana sports a tidy 2.32 ERA, but it's mostly a mirage. His SIERA is 4.26, and his strikeout rate is just 19.5%. Quintana is lucking into a .284 BABIP and 4.2% HR/FB rate. His HR/FB rate from 2020 through 2021 was 21.0%. In a smallish sample (206 batters faced) last season, righties had a .421 wOBA and hit 2.21 homers per nine off Quintana.
Jonathan Schoop is sputtering so far this season. But a .214 BABIP hasn't helped, and he can come through in this spot. He got to lefties for a .392 wOBA a year ago.
You can also take a look at rookie Spencer Torkelson ($2,200). Torkelson will have the platoon advantage, too, and these two hit second and third versus a lefty on Sunday.
