This article is part of our DFS Baseball 101 series.
A few weeks ago I wrote an article about using DraftKings' salaries to find value on FanDuel. In addition to that strategy, I also take note of a player's salary in reference to their performance. If you are able to uncover a player who is mis-priced, it allows you to spend up on that ace starting pitcher and upgrade some of your bats. But not all value plays are created equally; there are plenty of hitters every night priced in the $2,000-$2,900 range, but sifting through the sand requires some legwork.
I spend a lot of time going through game logs and the salary histories of players to find those hidden gems. The great thing about daily fantasy baseball is that you would probably not roster most of these players in a standard 12-team or even 14-team mixed league, but in DFS everyone is in play.
Here are some of the most recent value hitters that I have been using on FanDuel:
CATCHER
Sandy Leon
Leon was basically a throw-away pickup last year when Christian Vazquez was out for the year. But now with Blake Swihart playing the outfield and Vazquez not hitting enough to stick, we find Leon actually having fantasy relevance.
While the sample size is small, you cannot ignore what Leon has done at a rock bottom salary. FanDuel has just recently bumped him up to $3,000, but you really want to take Leon against left-handed pitchers. He is averaging 14.7 FanDuel points per game against lefties, and being in a high-scoring lineup makes him more valuable than most hitters at the bottom of the lineup.
Jarrod Saltalamacchia
Salty got off to a hot start when James McCann went down with an injury, and he peaked at $3,300. But often times with FanDuel salaries, if you don't play much, your salary starts to drop. So when McCann came back, Salty dropped down to the minimum salary of $2,000. He has been playing more against right-handed pitching and mashing again, averaging 11.3 FanDuel points per game against right handers, and he is still only $2,200.
Jett Bandy
Bandy started getting steady playing time around June 22 and is another $2,000 punt special. He mashes left-handed pitching, is averaging 9.2 FanDuel points per game, and while he has had some pop against right handers as well, I mostly love to stream him against left-handers.
THIRD BASE
Ryan Schimpf
Schimpf was called up on June 14 and was priced at $2,200. He has proceeded to destroy right-handed pitching, averaging 11.2 FanDuel points per game through 20 appearances, yet his price has NOT moved in three weeks. I'll keep playing him in tournaments versus weaker right-handed pitching.
OUTFIELD
Brett Eibner
Eibner has not been playing every day, but when he does get in the lineup he's paid off very well. Eibner is 6-foot-4 and 225 pounds with good pop, especially against left-handed pitching. His FanDuel salary has been $2,000 almost every day since June 19, and his splits show he is averaging 13.6 FanDuel points per game against left-handers.
Travis Jankowski
Jankowski is a stolen base machine which provides great value in daily fantasy baseball, especially when it is cheap. His salary is now starting to creep up ($2,800, as of July 18), but when he is in the leadoff spot against right-handed pitching, it is hard to ignore him, especially when the rest of the Padres are also now starting to hit.
Albert Almora
Almora's salary sits there at $2,000 every day. It never changes. When he starts, he is averaging 8.0 FanDuel points per game, but against left-handed pitching it jumps to 10.0.
Michael Bourn
Signed off the street because the Diamondbacks' outfield defense was so bad, it is amazing how productive Bourn has been. I'm a huge fan of cheap speed, especially left-handed hitters at the top of the order. Bourn has hovered around the $2,000-$2,500 range most of the year, while averaging 10.6 FanDuel points per game. He spiked up to the $2,600-$3,100 range recently, but he is still providing value.
Matt Szczur
Another cheap Cubs right-handed hitting outfielder in which his salary seems to be stuck at $2,200. In the same situation as Almora, you want to use Szczur against left-handed pitching, as he is averaging 9.2 FanDuel points per game against them, albeit in a small sample (nine games).
Tommy Pham
The Cardinals seem to just keep rotating in outfielders on a recurring basis. It's now back to Randall Grichuk and Pham, whose salary was sitting around $2,000-$2,100 for weeks until he went on a power surge. The positive with Pham is that while his salary has adjusted to $2,700, the Cardinals have been batting him in the leadoff spot. Pham is also good against right and left-handed pitchers, making him more valuable.
