3 Under-the-Radar MLB FanDuel Plays for Wednesday 4/28/21
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's is the name of the game if you plan on taking down one of those highly lucrative DFS tournaments. Whether it's because of bookmaker totals, other options at a given position, or some gem you've found that everyone is overlooking, we can always find potential under-rostered plays if we look hard enough.
Here are three such players to consider branching out for on FanDuel's main slate.
Alex Cobb, P, Los Angeles Angels ($8,000)
Alex Cobb is a good pitcher, and his matchup versus the Texas Rangers is too good to pass up tonight.
There are six pitchers on tonight's slate who have a higher salary than Cobb's, which should cause him to be less rostered than those other options. This is good -- no -- great for tournaments because Cobb has a fantastic matchup you want to attack.
This season, the Rangers have a staggering 31.6% strikeout rate versus right-handed pitchers, which is the worst in the league. Not only is it the worst, but it's also 3.7 percentage points worse than the next team (27.9%). If Cobb isn't going to be chalky tonight, his value in tournaments could be significant if he can get the Rangers missing at the plate.
Cobb is off to a blazing start this season with a 30.9% strikeout rate in 14.1 innings pitched. While that is a very small sample size, the 30.9% strikeout rate is substantially higher than his 18.9% career rate. We have to wait and see if Cobb can sustain this higher strikeout rate for an entire season, but what is clear is that tonight's matchup against the Rangers can keep it afloat for now.
Eduardo Escobar, 3B/2B, Arizona Diamondbacks ($3,500)
If the Arizona Diamondbacks are going to be undervalued in tournaments tonight, they are worth taking a shot on.
The Diamondbacks could be the most interesting team on tonight's 10-game slate, yet they have only a 4.30 implied run total, which is the ninth-highest on the slate. They will be taking on the San Diego Padres, who will have Ryan Weathers on the mound.
Let's start with the basic stuff. This is Weathers' first season in the MLB, and he has a total of 15.1 innings pitched, which is nothing in the grand scheme of things.
What did he do last year? He didn't pitch last year. Okay.
What about prior years? In 2018, Weathers split time between the Rookie League and Single-A for a total of 18.1 innings pitched. In 2019, he pitched a total of 96.0 innings all in Single-A. That's it.
This is a pitcher who has essentially no experience at the Major League level and no experience in higher levels of the minor leagues, so why aren't we running to stack against him? I know I will be doing so -- likely with Eduardo Escobar firmly in the mix.
Since the start of the 2019 season, Escobar has a 116 wRC+, a .238 ISO, a 47.2% fly-ball rate, and a 42.4% hard-contact rate versus left-handed pitchers. He is on home run watch tonight, as are many of the Diamondbacks' hitters.
Didi Gregorius, SS, Philadelphia Phillies ($2,800)
If you are looking for some power upside under $3,000, Didi Gregorius could be an answer.
The Philadelphia Phillies are on the road in St. Louis with a modest 4.25 implied run total, but that could be too low. They are taking on Johan Oviedo, who has only 29.1 innings pitched at the Major League level while carrying a 5.44 xFIP and a 15.5% strikeout rate in that time -- truly nothing noteworthy in his short time at the Major League level. When a scenario such as this comes around, I'll side with the hitters over the pitcher in most cases.
Gregorius has always had some power versus right-handed pitchers, with a career .189 ISO, a .327 wOBA, and a 41.2% fly-ball rate. Finding power at lower salaries can be tough, but Gregorius can bring that to your lineups tonight at only $2,800.
