MLB

3 MLB FanDuel Value Plays to Target on Friday 9/30/22

With production being highly variable on a night-to-night basis, daily fantasy baseball plays a bit differently than other sports.

As a result of this, the primary method of selecting hitters is to "stack" certain teams in good spots to produce. Most of the top stacks on a given day come with hefty salaries. In addition to that, a vast majority of pitchers with the upside to win tournaments are high-salaried hurlers.

Therefore, crushing your value plays -- whether it be a pitcher unexpectedly piling up strikeouts or a low-salaried batter racking up points -- can be the secret sauce to taking down a tournament.

Which budget options stand out today on FanDuel?

Logan Gilbert, P, Mariners ($9,800)

The salary is a little higher than the usual value play, but on this loaded pitching slate with five guys salaried at $10,500 or above, Logan Gilbert is a value play.

Gilbert is taking on the Oakland Athletics, and the A's are a matchup we've picked on all year. There's no reason to stop now. In the last 30 days, Oakland sits 28th in wOBA (.287) with the 3rd-highest strikeout rate (26.6%).

Gilbert doesn't have the same ceiling that some of the night's elite aces do. He can deliver a good output in this spot, though, and he's flashed more strikeout upside of late, recording a 32.5% strikeout rate over his past five starts. He's punched out at least nine in three of those outings with a high of 11 strikeouts.

We project Gilbert for 33.3 FanDuel points, and he's a fun pivot off Joe Ryan ($9,600), who figures to garner attention in a date with the Detroit Tigers.

Joey Gallo, OF, Dodgers ($2,200)

With so many good pitchers going, this slate doesn't have many clear-cut stacking spots. The one obvious exception is the Los Angeles Dodgers, whose 5.21 implied total laps the field on a night when just two teams sport implied totals of 4.50 or higher.

The Dodgers are taking on Chad Kuhl, and this really should be a nightmare evening for Kuhl. He's striking out just 18.1% of hitters and giving up 1.62 dingers per nine. We can go after Kuhl with lefties or rghties, but left-handed hitters have battered him for a 41.1% hard-hit rate and 40.3% fly-ball rate.

Joey Gallo is a helpful piece if you're trying to stack the Dodgers and get to an ace. While Gallo is a strikeout risk against any pitcher, that risk is lower than usual in this matchup. With the platoon advantage this season, he owns a 52.7% fly-ball rate.

We have Gallo going for 11.9 FanDuel points and rate him as the slate's best point-per-dollar bat.

Gary Sanchez, C, Twins ($2,200)

Gary Sanchez has a delightful matchup against lefty Tyler Alexander.

Alexander has struggled to a 4.92 SIERA and is striking out just 13.2% of hitters. Righties have tagged him for a .337 wOBA and 1.52 homers per nine while striking out 12.4% of the time. Yes, please.

Sanchez's .292 wOBA is an eyesore and he strikes out too much. But when he makes contact, it's usually loud as he's got a 40.3% hard-hit rate overall. Against lefties, he's amassed a 40.0% strikeout rate and 41.1% fly-ball rate.

The Minnesota Twins' expected lineup has no one salaried above $2,900, so they fit perfectly alongside a high-salary ace. Sanchez can be part of Minnesota stacks or a one-off dart throw at a homer.