3 Under-the-Radar MLB FanDuel Plays for Friday 6/11/21

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.

Tyler Mahle, P, Cincinnati Reds ($8,500)

Tonight's pitching slate is loaded.

That's the easiest way to put it since we have Jacob deGrom, Brandon Woodruff, Max Scherzer, Lucas Giolito, and Clayton Kershaw all in action. Most everyone is going to get their pitcher from that group, so that gives us a chance to get anyone from rest of the pitcher at a low draft percentage.

That includes Tyler Mahle, who is having a very strong season and is still under $9,000. Mahle comes in with a 3.60 SIERA, 28.2% strikeout rate, and a 7.5% barrel rate. Those are strong numbers, and when we look at his matchup versus the Colorado Rockies, we have to view him as a quality option.

The Rockies come in with a 23.5% strikeout rate versus right-handed pitchers (19th in the league), 67 wRC+ (30th), .138 ISO (27th), and 33.1% fly-ball rate (28th). Yikes. Those are truly terrible numbers, and given Mahle's salary, he could be one of the best point-per-dollar options tonight.

Manuel Margot, OF, Tampa Bay Rays ($3,200)

The Tampa Bay Rays have a solid matchup tonight, but they shouldn't be too popular.

The Rays are taking on Baltimore and will be facing off against Keegan Akin, a pitcher worth attacking. They are coming in with a 4.15 implied run total, the 14th-highest on tonight's slate. They should go vastly overlooked. That would be a mistake since Akin comes in allowing 1.32 homers per nine and owns a 4.90 xFIP, 17.9% strikeout rate, and 46.5% fly-ball rate versus right-handed hitters.

This is why we should be looking to a power hitter from the Rays, such as Manuel Margot. This season versus left-handed pitchers, Margot is carrying a .176 ISO, 111 wRC+, 38.0% fly-ball rate, and 25.3% hard-contact rate. Ideally, we'd like to see much more hard contact, but at least Margot is hitting the ball in the air a lot.

The Rays are shaping up to be one of my favorite tournament stacks of the slate.

Omar Narvaez, C, Milwaukee Brewers ($2,500)

The Milwaukee Brewers certainly have had some ups and downs on offense this season, but they're worth a look tonight.

The Brewers' 4.64 implied total is the ninth-highest team on tonight's 13-game slate, putting them in the general discussion of stacks. However, going to Omar Narvaez likely isn't going to be a popular option in a Brewers' stack since he is the catcher, a position you don't actually have to roster on FanDuel.

I have a ton of interest in Narvaez as a potential one-off in tournaments. He comes in with a .212 ISO, surprising 158 wRC+ and 40.4% fly-ball rate. Umm...those are legit numbers this season, and given his salary, he is an awesome option on tonight's loaded slate.

Narvaez will be up against Chase De Jong, who has allowed a .355 wOBA to lefties in his career, along with a 6.30 xFIP, 13.0% walk rate, 1.39 homer per nine, a 47.2% fly-ball rate, and 34.3% hard-contact rate. Let's just call it what it is -- De Jong isn't a good pitcher. Sorry if there are any Chase De Jong truthers out there, but it's all Narvaez in this matchup.