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FanDuel MLB Value Plays: Wednesday (5/16)

FanDuel MLB Value Plays: Wednesday (5/16)

Tonight offers a very unique slate, with three of baseball’s best pitchers taking the mound, but only five games to parse through. This is a value plays article, so you won’t see any recommendations for Max Scherzer, Chris Sale or Justin Verlander, though all are obviously fine plays. Instead, let’s try and focus on cheap, unique offerings with potentially low ownership. Throughout the season this article will primarily focus on players on the teams with the highest implied team totals for the day.

As always, you must pay close attention to batting lineups when they are released in addition to monitoring weather reports leading up to game time. For reference throughout the season, be sure to bookmark our overview of MLB Park Factors and how to Use Weather to Your Advantage in MLB DFS. Also, check out our GPP and Cash Games Primers to learn more about different daily fantasy game types specific to MLB. Play ball!

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Pitcher

Walker Buehler (LAD): $9,500 @ MIA

The sensational rookie doesn’t even have a photo on FanDuel yet, but that doesn’t matter for our DFS purposes. Buehler’s been dealing, displaying a safe six-inning floor with some solid strikeout upside. While Scherzer, Sale and Verlander are all in great situations tonight, they’re all likely to have high ownership. Buehler offers a way to distinguish your lineup while saving a little extra quiche for the heavy hitters that further help you differentiate. In a super pitcher-friendly park, Buehler gets a strikeout-heavy Miami team that has an absurdly low 2.75 implied team total, easily the lowest on the slate. Trust the rookie tonight.

Catcher/First Base

Mitch Moreland (BOS): $3,300 vs OAK

While not overly cheap, Moreland is still a nice value given his delectable .330/.404/.626 slashline that is forcing manager Alex Cora to keep him in the lineup when possible. Tonight is surely one of those nights with righty Trevor Cahill on the mound. Mentioned below, this is Cahill’s first start coming off a sting on the DL. Moreland has been absolutely raking yesterday, putting up double-digit FD points in seven of his last ten starts. We’re wheels up on the Red Sox offense (duh), especially with their 4.75 implied team total. Moreland’s homered twice off Cahill in his career.

Second Base

Eduardo Nunez (BOS): $2,800 vs OAK

As always with a utility infielder like Núñez, make sure to double back when lineups released to make sure he’s getting the start. But if Alex Cora is smart, Núñez will be in the lineup. Even though he’s been struggling lately, he owns a 7-for-16 career line against the righty Trevor Cahill. The Oakland starter might be shaking off some rust as this is his first start after a stint on the DL, and Boston is a good team to target at home with the second-highest implied run total of the slate.

Shortstop

Addison Russell (CHC): $3,200 @ ATL

Like usual, there aren’t any glaring value plays at shortstop. Let’s play the numbers game with Russell, as he gets the fortuitous edge of batting in a Cubs lineup with an astronomical 5.5 implied team total, about as high as I’ve seen all season. Don’t let Brandon McCarthy‘s four wins fool you; his ERA is over 5.5 and he’s given up double-digit hits in his last two performances. Russell’s low floor makes him more of a tournament option, but we’ve seen his ceiling displayed several times, like when he went off for 40 FD points last week.

Third Base

Justin Turner (LAD): $3,000 @ MIA

Welcome back, Mr. Turner. Similar to highlighting Jonathan Schoop last week, this is a clear case of a player returning from injury and his market hasn’t caught up to his pricing. In other words, Turner will undoubtedly be more expensive later in the season if he even comes close to repeating last year’s numbers. Turner will face young lefty Caleb Smith, and the bearded redhead absolutely mashed lefties to a .380/.477/.704 line in 2017. Turner had one hit in yesterday’s season debut, which came against a lefty. Might as well get on the Turner train now while he’s affordable.

Outfield

Josh Reddick (HOU): $2,700 @ LAA

Reddick has doubled and scored in three consecutive games, so he’s been helpful lately. He’s more than palatable at this price, and his career numbers against Garrett Richards make him a sneaky play tonight. Across 25 at-bats, a solid sample size, the left-hitting Reddick is slashing .360/.400/.429 against the righty Richards. With Houston implied for 4.5 runs, here’s betting Reddick gets in on the action.

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Eli Weiner is a correspondent at FantasyPros and a contributor and editor for SconnieSportsTalk. For more from Eli, you can view his archive or follow him @eweiner_bball.

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