MLB

3 Under-the-Radar MLB FanDuel Plays for Thursday 6/10/21

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 who 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.

Anthony DeSclafani, P, San Francisco Giants ($7,000)

The pitching options on this slate are very top heavy, with the masses likely to use either Max Scherzer or Trevor Rogers.

This should open up the door for a pitcher such as Anthony DeSclafani to be a solid option who isn't highly rostered. DeSclafani comes in with a 21.4% strikeout rate, 49.2% ground-ball rate, and 53.9% medium-contact rate. He limits the damage by not permitting a ton of fly balls, and that should play well against the Washington Nationals.

Despite being known for their power, the Nationals don't have a ton of it this season versus right-handed pitchers. They come in with a .132 ISO (28th in the league), 85 wRC+ (26th), 29.4% fly-ball rate (30th), and 31.3% hard-contact rate (19th) in the split. The Nationals have been one of the worst offensive teams in the league versus right-handed pitchers and are worth attacking tonight.

Mark Canha, OF, Oakland Athletics ($3,900)

The Oakland Athletics have a modest 4.33 implied run total and shouldn't be popular.

That implied total is the fourth-lowest on the slate, but they could make a good tournament target due to their potential low rostership rates. They are going up against Mike Minor, who comes in allowing 1.59 homers per nine along with a 42.5% fly-ball rate, and 30.0% hard-contact rate versus right-handed hitters. Ideally, we'd like to see the hard-contact rate a bit higher, but too many fly balls is always good, especially when there is plenty of power on the other side.

That power can come from Mark Canha, who has a 144 wRC+, .244 ISO, 36.8% fly-ball rate, and a 36.8% hard-contact rate versus left-handed pitchers this season.

I'm very interested in Oakland's lineup tonight given how many fly balls Minor is allowing.

Jesus Aguilar, 1B, Miami Marlins ($3,600)

You may not want to stack the Miami Marlins, but finding a one-off play from Miami is a potential option.

The Marlins' game against the Colorado Rockies has the lowest (7.5) over/under on the slate, and that generally points to a game being unpopular in tournaments. Again, fully stacking the Marlins is not what I'm interested in tonight, but I'm looking to Jesus Aguilar as a one-off for his home run upside.

Aguilar is a bit of a reverse splits hitter, showing stronger numbers versus right-handed pitchers despite being a right-handed hitter. He comes in with a 130 wRC+, .226 ISO, 44.8% fly-ball rate, and 35.8% hard-contact rate versus righties this season.

He will be up against Chi Chi Gonzalez, who is struggling versus right-handed hitters this season, setting things up nicely for Aguilar. Gonzalez is allowing 1.25 homers per nine, a 4.82 xFIP, 37.7% fly-ball rate, and 44.3% hard-contact rate in the split. He's a great pitchers to pick on, and I like doing so with Aguilar.