Happy Friday DFS players. We have an exciting full slate on the board tonight that is full of tremendous value. You can get pitchers like Sean Manaea, Dallas Keuchel, Aaron Nola, and Hyun-Jin Ryu all for less than $9,000. There are plenty of enticing value players to take advantage of in match-ups vs. the likes of Derek Holland, Phil Hughes, and Erasmo Ramirez. Plus, how could we forget? It’s another Wilmer Flores Friday! Let’s take a look at the value plays you should consider for tonight’s main slate on FanDuel to get an edge on your competition.
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Pitcher
Hyun-Jin Ryu (LAD): $7,800 vs. SFG
Ryu is off to a tremendous start, registering a 1.99 ERA and 2.69 FIP. The Dodgers’ lefty has a career-best 10.72 K/9 and 52.9% ground ball rate, which confirm that his success is fairly legitimate to this point. He has silently been one of the leagues very best this season and is currently undervalued in DFS. Ryu takes on a Giants’ team that is batting just .233/.292/.369 as a team. The current San Francisco roster is slugging just .377 against the southpaw, with only catcher Buster Posey having any kind of consistent success. There are a lot of high prices pitchers on the board, so Hyun-Jin Ryu is a great value play for $7,800 against a struggling offense
Catcher/First Base
Wilmer Flores (NYM):$2,500 vs SDP
This will be a consistent recommendation all season long. Wilmer Flores needs to be in your DFS lineup anytime the Mets are facing a left-handed pitcher. He has always been and likely always will be an undervalued asset and it is your opportunity to take advantage. Flores holds a lifetime .345 wOBA and .510 slugging percentage against southpaws and has is 2-for-5 with two home runs against Padres left-hander Clayton Richard. Flores has made a career out of smashing lefties and he makes for a strong value play anytime that situation presents itself.
Second Base
Gleyber Torres (NYY): $2,900 vs. LAA
The Yankees’ “super prospect” has all the hype in the world surrounding him.Torres shredded Triple-A this season before being promoted to the tune of a .347/.393/.510 slash line. This brand of hype causes fantasy players to overreact both positively and negatively. In standard fantasy leagues, he was dropped after his 1-for-8 start in his first two games because he was “overrated”. Fantasy players overreact. Always have, always will. However, since then he has gone 5-for-11 with a double and RBI. Does this mean he is legit? No, of course not. All this means is that Torres is a young player who has been up for only five games. The Yankees’ second baseman is going to have his ups and downs. So, on to the reason he is recommending as a value play this evening. The Friday night main slate does not hold a ton of value on the board for the second base position, but Torres stood out at $2,900 vs. Angels’ lefty Andrew Heaney. Right-handed hitters have been carving up the L.A. southpaw this season with a .462 wOBA and .688 slugging percentage. Why pay $4,100 for fellow rookie Ozzie Albies (vs. Aaron Nola) when you can get Gleyber Torres in a platoon friendly match-up for just $2,900?
Third Base
Colin Moran (PIT): $2,700 vs. STL
The Pirates’ rookie is off to a solid start this season and is delivering on the potential Pittsburgh hoped for when they traded for Moran this off-season for ace Gerrit Cole. The third baseman has a 40.4% hard contact rate to go with his 118 wRC+ in 2018 and will be facing off against Cardinals’ right-hander Miles Mikolas on Friday. Moran has handled righties very well in the early going, slashing .299/.351/.463 with only a 16% soft contact rate whereas Mikolas has allowed a 43.2% hard contact rate to lefties. $2,700 looks like a great price for the slugging third baseman.
Shortstop
Xander Bogaerts (BOS): $2,000 vs. TAM
Bogaerts has been sidelined with a small crack of the talus bone in his left ankle. In the nine games before going on the disabled list, Bogaerts was hitting .368/.400/.711 with two homers and nine RBI after making adjustments to his swing this off-season. The Red Sox’ shortstop also homered in his first rehab game and looks ready to pick up where he left off. Xander Bogaerts has been activated from the disabled list for Friday’s game and FanDuel has simply forgotten to update their pricing in a timely manner. Say thank you and throw him in your lineup for the rock-bottom price of $2,000.
Outfield
Chris Taylor (LAD): $3,100 vs. SFG
Derek Holland is awful. The Giants’ southpaw also happens to be twice as awful against right-handed hitters, allowing a .536 slugging percentage this season and .574 in 2017. This looks like a great time to deploy Dodgers’ outfielder Chris Taylor while he discounted for his slow start. Taylor is batting just .228 on the year but has shown signs of coming around, going 7-for-19 over the past week. He is not all the way out of his slump, but I will invest the $3,100 that he can break out of it vs. Holland.
Max Kepler (MIN): $2,800 vs. CIN
Max Kepler is doing well this season (.290/.364/.551 with a .394 wOBA and 147 wRC+), but this value play is more about his struggling opponent Luis Castillo. The Reds’ starter is having a rough season so far carrying a 6.51 ERA and 4.98 FIP in 2018. Most predicted a major breakout season for Castillo this season, but his strikeout rate is down, walk rate is up, and his line drive rate has jumped almost doubled to 21.2%. I am sure the promising right-hander will figure it out, but I will take advantage of his rough start and plug the hot hitting Max Kepler in my lineup for a great value at $2,800.
Matt Kemp (LAD): $2,700 vs. SFG
See Chris Taylor (Derek Holland is awful). Matt Kemp is off to a tremendous start, slashing .313/.348/.563 with four home runs and 12 RBI. The start is no fluke as made evident by his .389 wOBA and .250 ISO. He makes for a fantastic value play in this right vs. lefty match-up against the struggling Derek Holland at just $2,700.
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Matthew Williams is a correspondent at FantasyPros and featured writer for FakeTeams. For more from Matthew, check out his archive and follow him @MattWi77iams.
