3 Under-the-Radar MLB FanDuel Plays for 6/24/19
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
Steven Matz, P, New York Mets
FanDuel Price: $7,700
Only seven games on the slate tonight, with a few stud pitchers on the mound, should leave plenty of lower-owned options in the mid-tier.
One of those low-ownership options is Steven Matz, who is up against the struggling Philadelphia Phillies. Matz has a decent 23.1% strikeout rate this season, along with a 4.37 SIERA, all while continuing to be a bit inconsistent. That inconsistency should be able to find stable ground tonight since the Phillies lineup has been in free fall over the past few weeks.
Philadelphia comes in with a 75 wRC+ (27th in the league) along with a .148 ISO (24th in the league) versus left-handed pitchers since the start of June. That might not be the largest sample size, but this lineup has shown little to no threat over the past month against lefty hurlers and Matz should be able to dispatch them easily tonight.
Jorge Soler, OF, Kansas City Royals
FanDuel Price: $3,400
The Kansas City Royals come in with a 4.42 implied run total tonight isn't super high, but they are in a good spot to hit the over on that projection.
Adam Plutko is on the mound going against the Royals and with his splits against righty hitters, he is a pitcher you want to attack. He comes in with a 4.44 xFIP, 38.6% hard-hit rate, and a whopping 50.0% fly-ball rate versus right-handed hitters, which should put a player like Jorge Soler in a great spot to go deep tonight.
Soler comes in sporting some significant reverse splits, meaning he is better against righty pitchers compared to lefty pitchers. He has a .361 wOBA, .309 ISO, 42.9% hard-hit rate, and a 28.8% home-run-to-fly-ball rate versus right-handed pitchers, which are among some of the best numbers on this slate. With a bit of rain in the forecast for Kansas City, we should lower ownership here, but truly one of the best matchups for Soler.
Lourdes Gurriel Jr, OF, Toronto Blue Jays
FanDuel Price: $3,000
A lower implied run total of 4.26 should keep most people off of the Toronto Blue Jays tonight, but they have some power potential in their lineup.
Lourdes Gurriel is a player to keep an eye on tonight since he comes in with a very impressive .404 wOBA, .346 ISO, and a 33.3% home-run-to-fly-ball rate versus lefty pitchers. Those are some serious power numbers and with a positive park factor in his favor, the home run potential will be there for him.
He is facing off against CC Sabathia, who has a 5.33 xFIP, allowing 2.37 homers per nine innings, and a dangerous 43.4% fly-ball rate to right-handed hitters this season, which can spell trouble in a favorable hitters park. The lower implied run total for the Blue Jays shouldn't be too concerning and Gurriel should be firmly in the mix tonight.
