MLB

3 Daily Fantasy Baseball Players to Avoid on 7/12/19

Baseball is heating up, and there are plenty of DFS contests to choose from on FanDuel's main slate. While we have plenty of pieces geared towards guys you should target in your DFS contests, it's also important to avoid sub-optimal options who are overpriced and/or in tough spots.

Let's check out three players to consider fading on FanDuel's main slate for July 12.

Gerrit Cole, Houston Astros (SP)

at Texas Rangers
FanDuel Price: $11,400

It's not often that the priciest arm on the slate is one to consider fading, but for tonight, Gerrit Cole of the Houston Astros looks to be in tough spot. Outside of Coors Field, the second-largest run-scoring fireworks show could be in Texas, as there's a hefty over/under (10.0 runs) set for this game.

Cole's strikeouts (36.7%) always make him an obvious target in fantasy, and the Texas Rangers typically oblige with a 25.9% team strikeout rate this season.

But the Rangers have a very potent offense as well, ranking ninth in team wOBA (.327), 10th in isolated power (ISO; .191), and 1st in hard-hit rate (42.6%).

With a hot, humid, breezy day projected for this contest, in a park that clocks in second in park factor over the last three seasons, Cole seems like a poor investment.

Justin Turner, Los Angeles Dodgers (3B)

at Boston Red Sox
FanDuel Price: $2,800

To get some cheap exposure to the Los Angeles Dodgers lineup, which is pegged for an implied team total of 5.17 runs scored, Justin Turner could seem like an obvious choice with the platoon advantage against southpaw Eduardo Rodriguez, but that may not be your best choice.

Rodriguez is one of those few lefty hurlers that actually exhibits reverse platoon splits -- righties have only mustered a 27.4% hard-hit rate, 23.8% strikeout rate, and .308 wOBA over 341 plate appearances.

For his career, Turner has actually performed far better against same-sided arms, and 2019 numbers showcase the same. This season against lefties, Turner owns a .257 batting average and .344 wOBA, whereas he owns a .314 batting average and .356 wOBA against righties.

He offers plenty of savings on today's slate, but he may not produce big numbers.

Shin-Soo Choo, Texas Rangers (OF)

vs Houston Astros
FanDuel Price: $3,100

One of baseball's perpetually underrated hitters, Shin-Soo Choo is a key cog in this offensive attack and if Gerrit Cole is set to struggle, we lock and load Choo to our lineups, right?

Maybe not. While Choo owns a stellar .969 OPS against right-handed pitching this season, it could be a tougher day for Choo. Cole has dominated left-handed batters in 2019, limiting them to a .281 wOBA and whopping 39.3% strikeout rate.

With Cole limiting lefties to only a .206 batting average in 2019, despite positive conditions for a run-scoring environment, Choo makes for a fade tonight.



Matt Kupferle is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Matt Kupferle also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username MKupferle. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in his articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.