3 Under-the-Radar MLB FanDuel Plays for Tuesday 8/10/21
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.
Eduardo Rodriguez, P, Boston Red Sox ($8,000)
Eduardo Rodriguez is a very viable tournament option tonight versus the Tampa Bay Rays.
Tonight's pitching slate has a number of strong options in the top-tier along with no game at Coors Field. This should allow players to pay up for pitching, causing several of the options in the mid-tier to go overlooked. This is where Rodriguez comes into play with his 28.9% strikeout rate, which is the third-highest on tonight's slate. The lefty has the third-highest strikeout rate but he is just the eighth-most expensive pitcher on the slate.
If his strikeout rate is that high, he clearly has enough consistency and the ability to reach towards a high fantasy point ceiling, and thus, is somewhat under-priced tonight. Rodriguez's matchup against the Rays couldn't be better since they come in with a 25.3% strikeout rate versus left-handed pitchers with their current roster, which is the fifth-worst in the league. Rodriguez has posted eight strikeouts or more in four of his last seven starts, a level he can certainly reach tonight.
Ryan McMahon, 2B/3B, Colorado Rockies ($3,400)
Are the Colorado Rockies in a sneaky good spot tonight?
The Rockies are taking on Jake Odorizzi, who really isn't a good pitcher. His strikeout rate (21.4%) is below the league average, he's allowing 1.84 HR/9, and he has a 44.3% fly-ball rate. None of that is impressive and yet, the Rockies are +164 road underdogs. Listen, I totally get that the Houston Astros are the better team and are heavy home favorites, I'm not denying that. But it seems that the Rockies 3.88 implied run total is a bit undervalued given how bad of a pitcher Odorizzi is.
This is why I'll turn to Ryan McMahon, who has a .229 ISO, 113 wRC+, 37.9% fly-ball rate, and a strong 44.0% hard-contact rate this season versus right-handed pitchers. There's really nothing to be worried about when it comes to Odorizzi, so why aren't we targeting him tonight?
Kyle Seager, 3B, Seattle Mariners ($3,600)
Is Kyle Seager worth a shot in tournaments tonight?
Despite it being a lefty versus lefty matchup for Seager, he is actually in a good spot to hit a home run. Seager has hit 10 of his 24 home runs off of left-handed pitchers, proving he has power upside in his matchup. Speaking of power, Seager comes in with a .254 ISO, a 111 wRC+, a 48.0% fly-ball rate, and a 21.3% HR/FB ratio versus left-handed pitchers this season. That is some surprisingly strong power for this split and yet the lefty versus lefty matchup could have him going overlooked.
Seager will be up against Kolby Allard, who comes in allowing 2.25 HR/9 to lefty hitters this season, along with a 41.8% fly-ball rate and a 21.7% HR/FB ratio. If Allard is giving up too many home runs to left-handed hitters, and Seager is a lefty who is strong against lefty pitchers, do we have a match made in heaven?
