3 Under-the-Radar MLB FanDuel Plays for 9/18/19

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.

Adrian Houser, P, Milwaukee Brewers

FanDuel Price: $6,500

At only $6.5K tonight, can we trust Adrian Houser in tournaments?

Houser has under 100 innings pitched this season, but comes in with a 25.1% strikeout rate, putting him as the fifth-highest on the slate. That should interest you since he has a very favorable matchup tonight, which is worth attacking. He is facing off against the San Diego Padres, who own a 26.3% strikeout rate versus right-handed pitchers, which is the second-worst in the league. This has a been a trend for the Padres in recent years -- they strike out a ton. There is no reason we shouldn't be looking at them for a bit of upside tonight

The potential issue for Houser is that he has only picked up the quality start points twice in his last nine starts and hasn't gone past six innings pitched in any of his last five starts. Fantasy points are being left on the table simply for the fact he doesn't go deep into the game.

A sub-20 FanDuel point game out of him and a nearly 40 FanDuel point game are both in the range of outcomes for him tonight, which is why most DFS players won't be rostering him. But the potential upside in this matchup and his cheaper price tag are worth the risk tonight.

Bryan Reynolds, OF, Pittsburgh Pirates

FanDuel Price: $3,400

A modest 4.85 implied team total might have the Pittsburgh Pirates as a team who doesn't move the needle tonight, but you should have an interest in some of their players.

Bryan Reynolds is having a monster rookie season and should be a player to keep an eye on for many years to come. This season against righties, he is boasting a .198 ISO and 46.5% hard-hit rate but a lower 29.1% fly-ball rate. He isn't necessarily a home run hitter, but he puts the ball in play as shown by his .396 wOBA in this split. A solid 21.9% strikeout rate in the split also means he isn't wasting opportunities at the plate and often puts up multi-hit games.

Reynolds will be up against Seattle Mariners pitcher Justin Dunn, who has a grand total of 0.2 innings pitched at the Major League level, which came last week. He won't be in the game long -- as he is the opener -- and Tommy Milone will pitch after him. This should be another solid matchup for Reynolds, since Milone is allowing a 4.96 xFIP to righties this season.

Roberto Perez, C, Cleveland Indians

FanDuel Price: $ 2,800

The Cleveland Indians have the second-highest implied team total set at 5.87, but will any of their hitters be lower owned tonight?

Getting exposure to one of the top projected offenses is always a good idea in MLB DFS, but the ownership game can be an issue. Dropping off the top few hitters can see a dramatic difference when it comes to ownership, which is how we want to look at things tonight, specifically, for a player like Roberto Perez.

First off, catchers are always lower owned on FanDuel, since you don't actually need to be rostering them and they produce fewer fantasy points on average compared to other positions.

Next, the power Perez brings is surprisingly strong considering it's a righty versus righty matchup. He has a .213 ISO, a 39.9% hard-hit rate, and a 26.8% home-run-to-fly-ball rate in this split. You would think he was a borderline power hitter with stats like that, but no, he is under $3K tonight and comes in with four multi-hit games over his last eight outings. Regardless of his position, Perez is putting up fantasy points right now and facing off against Spencer Turnbull tonight, which should allow him to continue that trend.