The Daily Duel: Undervalued Orioles

This article is part of our The Daily Duel series.

This column will focus on players that are good values in FanDuel's salary cap contests. Typically, I'll try to cover a player or two at each position every week throughout the season. Remember a value here could be a minimum-priced player ($2200) or a higher-priced option that is still undervalued based on expected production.

Catcher

Salvador Perez, $2700 – Perez slumped to start the year and saw his batting average plummet to .203 Friday after the Royals played the Orioles. However, he appears to be breaking out of his slump and has gone 7-for-13 with two doubles and a home run in the three games since. Perez is a nice player to use in the Fanduel format since he doesn't strike out a ton for the position (12 percent) and has hit for a high average (.299 over the last three years). His BABIP right now is 40 points lower than last year, suggesting he's just been a little unlucky. Look for him to pick things up, especially as the weather gets warmer.

First Base

Mark Teixeira, $3300 – I read a lot of daily fantasy articles and seldom do you ever hear on a particular day "play Mark Teixeira tonight" from any expert. That's exactly the reason I'm going to recommend him: no one is taking him. He's better used in a GPP format over any cash game and could play nice dividends. Tex plays in one of the better hitter's parks and appears to be finally healthy for once. Since returning from the DL he's looked fantastic at the plate and has three home runs over his last five games. The Yankees are home this weekend, making it a nice time to deploy him.

Billy Butler, $2300 – I know I've talked about him in this column before and he hasn't done much so far this season as his zero home run, .221 batting average stat-line will say. He has heated up a little lately, going 6-for-18 over his last four games. Butler is too good of a player to keep slumping and his price will provide some salary cap relief.

Second Base

Scooter Gennett, $3100 – First off, I want to mention that Brandon Phillips is only $2700 and will rebound sometime soon. I wanted to talk a little about Gennett who I've already used multiple times this season. The second base position overall is largely unimpressive with players like Robinson Cano and Dustin Pedroia underperforming while Jason Kipnis appears headed to the DL. Enter Gennett who has hit .296 this season with one home run, nine RBI and three steals. This production coupled with his .324 batting average over 230 plate appearances has earned him the majority of playing time at second base for the Brewers. He's a very safe play in cash games going forward with his high batting average and positional scarcity.

Third Base

Nolan Arenado, $3400 – One of the hardest questions to answer in daily fantasy sports is how much recent success is a predictor of future success. Well, if you jumped on Arenado when he was four or five games into his 19-game hitting streak, you would be purchasing his Rockies jersey online right now. He's been absolutely fantastic so far this season with a .313 batting average entering Wednesday night's play. The only knock on him is he doesn't project to be a big power bat, but he should continue to hit for a good average in arguably the best hitter's park with a very potent lineup. While it's a small sample size, Arenado has hit for more power at home than away (4:0 homers) but has had a better average away than home (.344 to .275).

Pedro Alvarez, $3200 – This certainly is not a cheap price considering the elite players at the position go for only $4000 – 25 percent more. Alvarez to me is one of the best players at third that you can use in a GPP format or when he's on one of his hot streaks. He's capable any night of hitting multiple home runs, something he's done twice already this season. Just make sure to pass on him whenever the Pirates are up against a southpaw.

Shortstop

J.J. Hardy, $2600 – Hardy is your typical case of a player I talk about each week who has scored few FPs this season and seen his price drop drastically. In both season-long and daily formats I always feel he's ridiculously undervalued given his production over the last three seasons. Hardy has the most home runs (77) in the previous three seasons than any other shortstop. He's proven he can stay healthy and has pretty even splits home/away and vs. right/left handed pitching.

Outfield

Adam Jones, $3000 – Right here is my favorite value play over the next few weeks. Unless he's playing with an injury we don't know about, I think this is some serious value. For much of last season, Jones' price was $4000 if not more and he's still in the prime of his career. I'm not sure if the cold weather or extra days off are affecting his timing but he's going to get hot in the near future. He hits in a great park and has always hit better at home and, oddly, against right-handed pitchers. Look for him to break out soon.

Jackie Bradley, $2500 – I'll admit, I'm a little biased towards Bradley as I picked him up a couple of weeks into the season in my hometown, season-long league that is 18-teams. Needless to say, that's worked out good so far. With regular playing time and the leash growing longer every day, Bradley has gone 6-for-15 over his last four games with five of those six hits going for extra bases. He's playing great defense helping him solidify his spot in the lineup and has three steals and 12 RBI already this season. Bradley isn't an elite player but has the poor man's power/speed combo to make him a solid daily fantasy plug-in for this price.