3 MLB FanDuel Value Plays to Target on Thursday 8/4/22
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?
Nick Castellanos, OF, Phillies ($2,500)
Nick Castellanos is a low-salary way to get a piece of the offense with the slate's top implied total as the Philadelphia Phillies boast a slate-leading 5.31 implied total in a date with Paolo Espino.
Espino is the kind of pitcher we want to stack against. He is striking out just 18.0% of hitters and allowing a 46.5% fly-ball rate. That's led to 1.76 jacks per nine this season, and he's permitted five taters over his past three starts (14 innings).
Castellanos is having a tough year, but he might be snapping out of it. He's tallied six hits in the last three games, including one homer, and he should be penciled into the heart of the order.
Bobby Dalbec, 1B, Red Sox ($2,400)
Bobby Dalbec will have the platoon advantage today against Kris Bubic, and he's an economical way to get in on the 4.57 implied total of the Boston Red Sox.
In the split this season, Dalbec has recorded a .327 wOBA and 42.9% fly-ball rate. Meanwhile, Bubic has allowed 1.06 homers per nine to righties while striking out only 20.4% of them.
We project Dalbec for 13.6 FanDuel points and rate him as the slate's best point-per-dollar bat (as of early Thursday).
Yuli Gurriel, 1B, Astros ($2,400)
Yuli Gurriel continues to be under-salaried for his new role as the Houston Astros' number-two hitter.
Since making the move up the order, Gurriel has posted a .398 wOBA with 11 hits over seven games. He's also swiped three bags in that span after stealing three bases over his previous 40 games.
Gurriel will see righty Zach Plesac. Since a breakout campaign in 2020, Plesac has regressed heavily. He owns a 4.59 SIERA and 17.1% strikeout rate since the start of 2021, allowing 1.35 dingers per nine in that time.
The Astros are a high-upside stack, and Gurriel is a sweet value option.
