3 MLB FanDuel Value Plays for Friday 7/7/23

Finding low-salary production is one way to get a leg up on the competition in MLB DFS.

Here are some low-salary players to target on FanDuel for tonight's main slate.

Advanced statistics courtesy of FanGraphs.

Hunter Brown, SP, Houston Astros ($9,000)

Hunter Brown has had a solid rookie season and could have one of his best starts all year today.

Brown has stepped up in a big way for the Houston Astros, helping fill the voids left by Justin Verlander's exit and Lance McCullers's injury woes. Through his 16 starts, the Astros' starting pitcher has put together a 27.5% strikeout rate, which is the same as he had in his 20.1 innings last season that ranked 13th-best in the league. Brown has shined with a 3.44 skill-interactive ERA, which is the eighth-best in the majors to this point in the year. It makes his $9,000 pricetag for today's DFS lineups a steal in many ways.

The matchup for Brown is just as appetizing as his numbers have been. The Seattle Mariners are seemingly a must-target these days because of how much they're striking out, but until they want to change that, we'll keep rocking with who is opposing them. Seattle still strikes out at an incredibly high rate, ranking second in the league at 25.8% overall -- only behind the Minnesota Twins. Their 23rd-ranked .308 weighted on-base average (wOBA) isn't anything to worry much about, either.

Brown should be able to thrive from start to finish if all follows the script. He is numberFire's highest projected pitcher of the day at 36.2 FanDuel points, making him a near-must-start even as a value plug.

Wilmer Flores, 1B/3B, San Francisco Giants ($2,700)

Wilmer Flores has been heating up over the past month and is a consideration for DFS lineups.

Overall, Flores has had a good season with a .340 wOBA and 114 weighted runs created plus (wRC+), but it's been since the start of June that he's really found his swing. The corner infielder smashed the baseball with a .450 wOBA in 13 games in June and has kept it up in July through his first four games with a .414 wOBA.

With Austin Gomber on the mound, Flores should have an even better day with his ability to take advantage of lefties. Gomber has been bad this season for the Colorado Rockies. The lefty is struggling with a 5.02 SIERA, which would easily be the worst of his career. He's also striking out batters at his lowest rate yet (16.0%).

numberFire's model has Flores projected for 12.4 FanDuel points.

Willson Contreras, C, St. Louis Cardinals ($2,700)

The first season of Willson Contreras taking over for Yadier Molina hasn't gone as expected for the St. Louis Cardinals -- or Contreras --but his recent play could mean that he's finally turning a corner.

On the season, Contreras has just 9 home runs to go with a fine .322 wOBA -- the worst of his career since 2018. That being said, the Cardinals' catcher is on the come-up. Contreras has only played in five games in July, but he's put up some gaudy numbers in those games. He has a blistering .641 wOBA in those five games with five extra-base hits (a homer and four doubles) to go with it.

Dylan Cease will be on the mound for the Chicago White Sox, and as we've been accustomed to with Cease, it could be a mixed bag that could benefit Contreras. Hitters are driving the ball off of Cease given a 36.2% hard-hit rate against him, and Cease's strikeout rate exceeding 30% over the last few seasons sits at just 27.4% in 2023 -- though that's still a good number.

Contreras heads into the night projected at 12.4 points, per numberFire.

The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author's advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.