3 Under-the-Radar MLB FanDuel Plays for 3/28/19
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.
Hyun-Jin Ryu, P, Los Angeles Dodgers
FanDuel Price: $8,500
With Opening Day upon us, we have a bevy of aces on the bump, which makes them the top options, but spending down at pitcher can allow you to spend up at hitters and truly pile on the points.
Hyun-jin Ryu will be getting the nod for the Dodgers today and comes in at a very reasonable price tag considering he carried a 27.5% strikeout rate last season, which is higher than Aaron Nola and Corey Kluber, who are both on the mound today and more expensive than Ryu.
Today, he will be facing off against the Arizona Diamondbacks who had a 23% strikeout rate last season versus left-handed pitchers, which was 10th worst in the league. This is a solid spot to attack early in the season since the Diamondbacks lineup got weaker in the offseason, losing Paul Goldschmidt and A.J. Pollock, two of their better hitters.
Ryu will also have Dodgers Stadium behind him, which is considered among the better pitcher's parks in the league over the past few seasons. This is in part why we see the Diamondbacks coming in with an implied run total sitting at just 3.37 today, which is the fifth lowest on the entire day. All of this should lead to Ryu having a solid start to the season against a lineup which is a massive downgrade when it comes to their offensive power.
Mike Moustakas, 2B, Milwaukee Brewers
FanDuel Price: $3,300
Mike Moustakas will be hitting out of the sixth spot today for the Milwaukee Brewers, who come in with a very solid implied run total of 4.25 today, which is in the top 10 for today's slate. He has a very reasonable price tag with the platoon advantage, and the Brewers and their powerful lineup are in a spot to pile on some runs.
He will be facing off against Miles Mikolas aka "The Lizard King" for the St. Louis Cardinals, who allowed a 36.6% hard contact rate to left-handed hitters last season and will have a negative park factor against him today, since Miller Park is one of the best hitting environments in the league and won't be subject to any weather issues in a dome.
Moustakas has always been known as a power hitter, especially against right-handed pitchers, which is why he carried a .337 wOBA and a very impressive .230 ISO against them last season. With most people looking towards the New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs, and Texas Rangers for stacking options today, Moustakas and the Brewers at home present a solid option on this loaded slate.
Jung-Ho Kang, 3B, Pittsburgh Pirates
FanDuel Price: $2,500
Jung Ho Kang only played in three games last season and didn't play at all in 2017, so we have to look back to 2016 to get some solid numbers on him, but they are promising given his very cheap price tag and the matchup in front of him.
In the 2016 season, he had a super solid .378 wOBA, a .275 ISO, and a whopping 39% hard contact rate versus right-handed pitchers in a 251 at-bat sample size. Those are promising numbers to rely on considering he is up against Luis Castillo, a young pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds who certainly had his struggles last season. Castillo gave up a 34.6% hard contact rate to right-handed hitters last year, along with 0.99 HR/9, according to FanGraphs. For his price, Kang offers great point-per-dollar value against a pitcher who has been known to give up the long ball, especially at home, where he had an 18.9% home-run-to-fly-ball rate last season.
Kang will be hitting in the sixth hole today, which should make him one of the lower-owned options on the slate, something that can be crucial in tournaments in order to get to the top of the leaderboard.
Thomas Vecchio is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Thomas Vecchio also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username TomVec629. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in his articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.
