In every MLB Plays of the Day post, several FantasyLabs writers use our Trends and Player Models tools to highlight each one player to roster heavily in cash games and/or tournaments for the day’s main slate.

Here are today’s plays of the day.

The Play of the Daigle

Who is John Daigle? The inspiration for the movie Wedding Crashers.

John Daigle: Joc Pederson, LAD, OF

The Dodgers sat most of their significant left-handed bats last night — Chase Utley, Corey Seager, and Pederson — in an attempt to counter Steven Matz with right-handed hitters. Whatever. The fact remains that Pederson has quietly been one of the league’s best hitters over the last two weeks (per our advanced stats). In that span, he has led all outfielders in batted-ball distance and exit velocity.

Now, you’re probably thinking something like this: “But Jacob deGrom is on the mound tonight.” Again, whatever. He has a Velocity Differential of -2.1 miles per hour over his last two starts, and the average pitcher who has shown at least a two MPH drop in pitch velocity has historically produced a Plus/Minus of -4.16.

If you’d still rather roster deGrom than have an edge over those who blindly roster him in tournaments, well, whatever.

[Editor’s Note: When asked if he wrote this blurb with Clueless playing in the background, John said, “I luuuuuvvvv that movie! Er, I mean, no! Of course not!! Whatever!!!]

Check out the rest of John’s recommendations in today’s Slate Breakdown.

The Remaining Plays of the Day

Here are all the plays recommended by people whose surnames don’t rhyme with “bagel.”

Bill Monighetti: Ryan Howard, PHI, 1B

Since the start of the 2015 season, Howard has been a strikeout victim 26.5 percent of the time against right-handed pitching. That’s the bad news. The good news is that today he will face Matt Wisler, who brings a non-threatening strikeout rate of 10.8 percent against lefties. Additionally, Wiser ranks seventh-worst in the league (among qualifiers) with a fly-ball rate of 45.8 percent.

In other words, Howard is less likely to strike out and more likely to hit fly balls in today’s matchup. Even better, Howard has been hitting the ball hard recently. Over the past 15 days, his average batted-ball distance has been 256 feet and his exit velocity has been 93 MPH. Available at an affordable price across the industry, Howard will likely have a low lineup percentage because of his less than ideal Park Factor, unexciting Vegas forecast, and the presence of another game at Coors Field. Don’t be afraid to take a shot on Howard and score some savings on a play with plenty of Upside.

Kelly McCann: Joe Ross, WSH, SP

Have you ever wondered what happens when a starting pitcher has a FantasyLabs K Prediction of at least seven and he’s paired with an umpire whose presence behind home plate has historically gifted pitchers an additional +0.5 Plus/Minus?

I have, so I fired up the old Trends tool to find out. The answer: Fantasy Festivus. Within a sample of 726, this combination of K Prediction and umpire generosity has resulted in an average of +4.54 Plus/Minus with 65.7 percent Consistency.

Joe Ross is one of two matches for this trend today (Jon Lester is the other). Ross’ home plate umpire, Todd Tichenor, has been one of the friendliest of friendlies when calling balls and strikes for qualifying pitchers, delivering a whopping +8.3 Plus/Minus in this situation.

Ross also has other factors in his favor, such as his nine Pro Trends and -161 moneyline, which rank second and third among pitchers in the slate. Finally, his $7,700 salary on DraftKings is peanuts compared to the salaries of other, more prominent starters. If you’re looking to pivot off of Lester, Jacob deGrom or Drew Smyly (maybe because you’re hoping to drink from the Coors Field cup), then Ross makes a great play.

Bryan Mears: Charlie Blackmon, COL, OF

If you’re looking solely for power potential among expensive Rockies players today, you’ll likely gravitate toward Trevor Story (.323 Isolated Power [ISO]), Carlos Gonzalez (.323 ISO), and Nolan Arenado (.308 ISO). Unsurprisingly, they are the three highest-salaried players for Colorado tonight, with Blackmon coming in fourth, just $100 behind CarGo on DraftKings.

Blackmon doesn’t have the same power potential as the others, evidenced by his .171 ISO vs RHP. However, Blackmon does possess Upside in one way that those others don’t: Stolen base potential. In the last year, he is averaging .276 stolen bases per game. It may seem silly to target a Coors Field player not for power but for SB potential, but Blackmon will also likely be the lowest-rostered player of the four Rockies mentioned. Although stolen bases were devalued a bit with FanDuel’s in-season rule changes, stolen bases still provide a huge edge in tournaments on both sites.

While everyone focuses on the Rockies’ power hitters, Blackmon could be a sneaky source of tournament Upside due to his speed.

Check out the rest of Bryan’s recommendations in today’s MLB Daily Fantasy Flex podcast, coming soon.

Matthew Freedman: Jonathan Villar, MIL, SS

I’ve recently come to believe that pinch hitters have a very underappreciated Gray Swan-esque impact on National League lineups. Additionally, I think that one way of targeting lineups that might be impacted by pinch hitters is to look for teams whose pitchers seem likely to leave games early.

Regardless of which Player Model you use, Brewers pitcher Zach Davies looks horrible. He hasn’t met his salary-based expectations in any start this season, and the Marlins have an implied total of 4.8 runs.

All of which brings me to Villar, who is cheap on DraftKings, with a $3,100 salary and 91 percent Bargain Rating. He should be very under-rostered considering that he’s playing in a pitcher-friendly park and the wind’s blowing in. If he does well, he could be a strong contrarian play — and he could do well. He’s a top five shortstop in terms of Weighted On-Base Average, ISO, slugging percentage, and SB/G.

With very positive wOBA and ISO Differentials and a nice combination of Consistency, Upside, and Salary Change over the last month, Villar could be a contrarian player who elevates a tournament lineup.

For more on the DFS impact of pinch hitters, see Matt’s Trend of the Day.

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The Plays of the Day series is our answer to the question, “Who do you guys like today?” We publish a Plays of the Day article every weekday for MLB and a Plays of the Week every Wednesday for PGA.