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?

Mike Mayers, P, Angels ($5,800)

There are a lot of really good pitchers on this slate -- six guys salaried at $10,000 or above -- so it's not the ideal night to risk it with a dart throw on the bump. But if you want to load up on high-salary bats, Mike Mayers is worth a look.

This is pretty much all about the matchup.

Mayers gets the dream matchup as he hosts the Detroit Tigers. Detroit has been awful against right-handers this season, holding a .265 wOBA -- which is dead last by a sizable margin -- and 25.2% strikeout rate in the split. The Tigers' 3.98 implied total is a number we can feel good about.

Mayers' numbers aren't bad, either; he owns a 21.3% strikeout rate and 12.2% swinging-strike rate. He's tossed at least 89 pitches in two of his last three outings, so the workload is solid.

The $5,800 salary is so low that I think it's worth tossing Mayers into a few lineups and having some fun with bats. I wouldn't get carried away, though.

Rowdy Tellez, 1B, Brewers ($3,100)

Rowdy Tellez is a little higher in salary than our typical value bat, but he's still a smashing value.

Tellez is at Coors against Chad Kuhl. In 2022, Kuhl has struggled to a 4.89 SIERA and 17.4% strikeout rate. He's permitted 1.60 dingers per nine. He figures to be in a ton of trouble tonight, and the Milwaukee Brewers' 6.32 implied total is nearly two runs above any other team's.

Tellez is a great way to get exposure to the Brew Crew. He's posted a .346 wOBA, 40.9% hard-hit rate and 43.9% fly-ball rate against righties this season.

We project Tellez to score 13.6 FanDuel points, and he has huge upside.

Corey Dickerson, OF, Cardinals ($2,200)

The St. Louis Cardinals are one of my favorite stacks tonight in their clash with Paolo Espino.

Espino has pitched to an 18.5% strikeout rate. He's got a major gopher-ball issue, allowing a 42.0% fly-ball rate and 1.69 homers per nine. The Cards' 4.49 implied total might be a touch low.

Corey Dickerson will have the platoon advantage, and he's been on fire, recording a .429 wOBA since the break. He's projected to hit fifth, and if he's right behind Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt, that obviously enhances his outlook.

Dickerson and Nolan Gorman ($2,500) are a fun low-salary mini-stack that makes it a lot easier to get to St. Louis' big two.