This article is part of our FanDuel MLB series.
The season is winding down, but value plays still exist. The group of undervalued players below will leave you with a few thousand dollars extra to upgrade where you see fit and still provide you with enough upside to feel good about cashing in 50/50s. We have a full fifteen-game slate today and a full complement of value play ideas to help you make your way to the top in large field tournaments as well.
Starting Pitcher
Lance McCullers, HOU ($6700) – The FanDuel algo must really hate this guy, because he always seems under-priced. The difference today is drastic as he is a top-10 pitcher by salary everywhere but here, so that alone makes him stand out. In his first start in about a month, McCullers went seven innings with eight hits and eight strikeouts against a pretty solid-hitting Dodgers team. He earned 13 fantasy points for his efforts and has done that numerous times before. He faces a Twins team that has struggled against right-handed pitching, although they do not have a particularly high strikeout rate. McCullers has been very good with the exception of the start he left with an injury after recording only one out to begin August. He has strikeout upside and can give you seven innings with a chance for a win, so there is really little to complain about with him.
Catcher
Matt Wieters, BAL ($2200) – I always love a good bargain and Wieters is a minimum-priced one today. He was given the day off Saturday, so I am confident he gets the start Sunday. He faces Derek Holland who has been horrendous to both sides of the plate in limited innings this season. In fact he has allowed right-handed bats to hit .311 already with five homers in 11 innings of work against them. Wieters should be in the five hole for the Orioles and owns a .368 wOBA with a .200 ISO score against left-handed pitching this season. For $2200, that is a lot of bang for your bucks.
First Base
Ryan Howard, PHI ($3400) – Howard is a top option for a home run today. He faces James Shields who has a .277 batting average allowed to left-handed batters with 17 homers in 75 innings of work already. Howard has his wOBA up to .257 and a robust ISO score of .248 to go with it. He has hits in each of his last six starts and a total of 32 fantasy points during that stretch. That means he is averaging over five fantasy points per start as the power bat in the middle of that red-hot Philly offense. The negative park shift for Shields is the icing on the cake and the friendly price on a surging slugger in a good matchup seals the deal here.
Second Base
Logan Forsythe, TB ($3300) – Forsythe is a left-handed pitcher's worst nightmare. He has a .406 wOBA with a .317 ISO score which is absolutely huge for a second-base eligible player. He has nine homers in 126 at-bats against southpaws, so the numbers have a lot to do with that power. He faces Danny Duffy who is worse on the road and already allows right-handed bats to hit .270 against him with a WHIP of 1.43. Forsythe homered again two days back against a left-handed pitcher and should be able to do damage from his normal cleanup role here today.
Shortstop
Wilmer Flores, NYM ($3200) – Flores is not the only one is happy he was not traded. Mets fans have been rejoicing as well, since he has been the team's best hitter against left-handed pitching. Travis d'Arnaud in only 30 at-bats is the only guy with better numbers. Flores has a .383 wOBA and a .250 ISO score against left-handed pitching, which are both great numbers for a guy not named Correa or Tulowitzki. With Correa banged up and Tulo having a tough matchup though, Flores really stands out today. He faces Wade Miley, who has allowed right-handed bats to hit .281 against him with a WHIP of 1.52, so he has struggled big-time to get them out. Flores has hit safely in eight of his last 10 games with two of them having been three-hit games, and four of the remaining six have been two-hit games, so he is putting up great numbers. He is averaging over 3.4 points per start recently and that would be a great return for his price.
Third Base
Evan Longoria, TB ($2500) – Longoria is way too cheap to ignore here. He has the same matchup against Duffy as we discussed with Forsythe and his numbers are just as good, with a long history of being solid against left-handed pitching. Longo has a .402 wOBA with a .190 ISO score, which fits nicely with his .352 batting average and five homers in 105 at-bats against southpaws this year. While the power numbers may be down a tad, he is still producing at an elite clip against left-handed pitching this season. The Rays as a team are sneaky good against left-handed pitchers, so they provide a lot of upside for a team that always has low ownership.
Outfield
Carlos Gonzalez, COL ($3900) – Gonzalez has a good matchup on Sunday. He has hit safely in eight of his last 10 with four home runs during that stretch. He is averaging about four points per game over this stretch. CarGo smashes right-handed pitching. Charlie Morton has allowed a .286 average to left-handed batters with a WHIP of 1.57 and an ERA of 5.87, while CarGo has a .411 wOBA with an ISO score of .327. He is under $4K and it will be tough to find someone with better splits for less.
Franklin Gutierrez, SEA ($3700) – The price has finally risen on Gutierrez, but he is still a good value with the insane numbers he has thrown up recently. He has a .469 wOBA and a .351 ISO score against left-handed pitching. He faces Jose Quintana, who has allowed right-handed batters to hit .297 against him with a WHIP of 1.38. Gutierrez has been on fire with nine hits in his last 17 at-bats including three homers, three walks, four runs scored and nine RBI. He is averaging 6.8 fantasy points over his last five games, so even at $3700 he is still a bargain.
Adam Jones, BAL ($3400) – Jones has probably been hitting left-handed pitching well since he was a little leaguer. This season has been no different as he sports a .379 wOBA and a .250 ISO score. Derek Holland has a .311 batting average allowed to right-handed batters and has given up five homers in only 11 innings of work this season. The matchup could not get any sweeter for Jones here and the price of $3400 is very friendly. Jones has a .310 average with six homers in 100 at-bats against left-handed pitching this season and Holland is nowhere near the top of the list of left-handers he has faced. He should be in line for a good upside game today at a price that is friendly to most roster constructions.
