Under-the-Radar MLB FanDuel Plays for Thursday 8/19/21

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.

Jorge Polanco, 2B/SS, Minnesota Twins ($3,700)

The Minnesota Twins are massive +220 underdogs against the New York Yankees, and they shouldn't be popular in tournaments. In DFS, we've often seen a strong correlation between teams being heavy underdogs and their players not being popular in tournaments, which makes players on 'dogs very interesting if you are trying to be contrarian.

You should consider Jorge Polanco for your lineups. He comes in with a strong .223 ISO, 130 wRC+, and 43.5% fly-ball rate versus right-handed pitchers. That kind of power potential can certainly be beneficial in Yankee Stadium.

He'll be up against Jameson Taillon, who has been better as of late but is still allowing 1.73 homers per nine to left-handed hitters this season. Taillon also has an 11.1% walk rate and a 5.28 xFIP in this split. There is a clear there's a path to upside for Polanco.

Brandon Nimmo, OF, New York Mets ($2,900)

The New York Mets are another squad that shouldn't be popular.

It's no secret that the Mets' offense has been struggling, and they should largely go overlooked on this slate. Fully stacking the Mets is not the route I'd be going -- rather looking for a bit of value here or there could be the answer. We're also dealing with a bit of a question mark in terms of pitching from the Los Angeles Dodgers since they could be going with a bullpen game tonight.

Evan Phillips could be on the mound for some innings tonight, and if that is the case, he is certainly a pitcher you can attack. He comes in with a career 20.7% walk rate versus left-handed hitters along with a a 6.30 xFIP, and 20.7% strikeout rate in the split. Phillips is just not a good pitcher.

Brandon Nimmo is an option to consider with his .326 wOBA, 107 wRC+, and big 15.3% walk rate. Nimmo doesn't bring massive power upside, but him getting on base multiple times and exceeding value based on his $2,900 salary is definitely possible.