3 Under-the-Radar MLB FanDuel Plays for Thursday 7/29/21

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.

Eduardo Rodriguez, P, Boston Red Sox ($7,600)

It's a small slate and the pitching options are rough outside of the top-tier.

Freddy Peralta, Joe Musgrove, and Frankie Montas are all set to be super chalky tonight because we are dealing with a small five-game slate. This should make roster construction relatively straightforward tonight, but that means it leaves the door open to be very different in tournaments.

Is Eduardo Rodriguez the safest option? No, of course not. He's facing an always dangerous Toronto Blue Jays' lineup and is allowing 1.31 HR/9 this season. But, Rodriguez still holds a 27.4% strikeout rate this season, which is tied for the second-best on this slate. Rodriguez has consistently posted six, seven, or eight strikeouts per start this season, as well as being able to get into the sixth inning. It's no doubt risky but he the clear pitching option that will be under the radar.

Matt Olson, 1B, Oakland Athletics ($4,000)

With Dylan Bundy set to start for the Los Angeles Angels, we should look to stack against him.

It was reported that Bundy is expected to start tonight in place of Alex Cobb, which puts the Oakland Athletics and Matt Olson in a great spot tonight. Bundy comes in with a 4.99 xFIP, allowing 2.08 HR/9, a low 18.7% strikeout rate, and a 38.3% fly-ball rate versus left-handed hitters. Bundy is simply not a good pitcher, he can't strike hitters out, he allows too many fly balls, and that means there is home run upside.

Olson has a 143 wRC+, a .250 ISO, a 42.3% fly-ball rate, and a 39.9% hard-contact rate, exactly at the 40-40 line I look for to indicated home run potential. If the Athletics aren't going to be popular tonight, they will be the stack I have the most exposure to.

Bryan Reynolds, OF, Pittsburgh Pirates ($3,300)

The Pittsburgh Pirates aren't going to be popular tonight.

That's the one thing I can be sure about and this is due to the fact they are going up against Freddy Peralta, who is the most expensive pitcher on the slate. We could also argue that Peralta is the best pitcher on the slate with his 35.0% strikeout rate, 3.48 SIERA, and only allowing 0.88 HR/9 this season. Combine that with the fact the Pirates aren't a good team, and boom, we have the perfect recipe for a super chalky pitcher, and deservedly so.

However, this means there is a chance for massive leverage against Peralta tonight. I'm not saying to fully stack the Pirates but I'll look to Bryan Reynolds as a one-off tonight. Reynolds has solid numbers this season versus right-handed pitchers with a .211 ISO, 140 wRC+, 39.9% fly-ball rate, and a 34.7% hard-contact rate.