MLB

3 Under-the-Radar MLB FanDuel Plays for 9/16/19

Catchers are always lower-owned in MLB DFS, making them great tournament plays. Should we be considering Austin Hedges tonight against a home run prone pitcher?

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.

Pablo Lopez, P, Miami Marlins

FanDuel Price: $6,700

A smaller seven-game slate has limited options at starting pitching, but there should be a few options who are overlooked.

One such pitcher who shouldn't be highly owned tonight is Pablo Lopez of the Miami Marlins. They are on the road to take on the Arizona Diamondbacks, who come in with a 21.7% strikeout rate versus right-handed pitchers (22nd in the league), along with a .172 ISO (22nd), 86 wRC+ (23rd), and 35.7% fly-ball rate (18th). Arizona is a below-average offense in this split, and we should look to attack them tonight.

Now, this isn't to say that Lopez is some amazing pitcher -- he only has a 21.3% strikeout rate -- but a 4.35 SIERA and 46.6% ground-ball rate aren't that bad. While he lacks a bit of strikeout upside, he is under $7K tonight when we have Coors Field in action, along with the fact he has picked up five quality starts in his last eight outings. There is a path to 35-plus FanDuel points from Lopez -- it's just probably not coming via the strikeout tonight.

Austin Hedges, C, San Diego Padres

FanDuel Price: $2,600

The San Diego Padres get a sizable positive park shift for their hitters tonight and look to be one of the more interesting teams in action.

While the Padres aren't the most consistent team overall, we can look towards them in certain spots when they have a bit of power upside, and tonight might be that case.

They are on the road to take on the Milwaukee Brewers, who will have Zach Davies on the mound, a pitcher we can certainly attack. Davies struggles while at home this season, allowing 1.80 home runs per nine innings and a 40.3% fly-ball rate. This shouldn't be too much of a surprise since Miller Park is hitter-friendly.

Austin Hedges wasn't in the lineup for the Padres yesterday, so he should be set to rejoin them tonight, and this is a great spot for him. He comes in with a modest .157 ISO versus right-handed pitchers but a 47.5% fly-ball rate, which is the interesting part. We have Davies, who is home run prone while at home, added to Hedges, who can get the ball in the air versus righties, and we might be looking at a home run tonight.

Asdrubal Cabrera, 2B, Washington Nationals

FanDuel Price: $3,000

The Washington Nationals only have an implied run total set at 4.26, but are they a team to target tonight?

The Nationals are on the road to take on the St. Louis Cardinals in what should be a close series, as both teams are looking to secure playoff spots. On the mound for the home Cardinals will be Dakota Hudson, who is holding a 5.00 SIERA, 21.2% home-run-to-fly-ball ratio, and super-low 17.8% strikeout rate. He isn't a good pitcher, despite what some recent results would have you believe. You should be willing to attack Hudson on a slate this size, and the Nationals have plenty of power to do so.

After their top few hitters, Asdrubal Cabrera should be an interesting option tonight with his .196 ISO and solid 38.6% fly-ball rate versus right-handed pitchers this season. Cabrera brings a nice bit of savings compared to the Nationals' top hitters, but he still has home run potential against a pitcher who is worse than league average when it comes to his home-run-to-fly-ball ratio.