3 Daily Fantasy Baseball Hitters to Avoid on 5/12/16
As is the case in most daily fantasy sports, finding information on players you might want to roster is a lot easier than finding players to avoid.
While you can get away with a zero from a hitter in daily fantasy, you certainly don't want to target guys whose matchups aren't enticing.
Here are three hitters you may want to lessen your exposure to or even fade altogether on Thursday.
Yasmany Tomas, OF, Arizona Diamondbacks
FanDuel Price: $3,500
Yasmany Tomas is quickly becoming a star for the Diamondbacks this season, and he has shown it once again over his last two games. Tomas has hit safely in six of his last eight at-bats and is averaging better than 20 FanDuel points per game over those last two. However, those last two games were also in the friendly hitting confines of Coors Field, and while Chase Field is no pitchers' park, Tomas has struggled against right-handed pitchers there.
Against righties overall this season Tomas owns a wOBA of .324, but it drops to .277 in 39 at-bats this season when he plays at home against a right-handed pitcher. Furthermore, his strikeout rate at home against righties is 26.2 percent, and overall against righties this season, his power drops a lot with an ISO of .158 compared to .353 against lefties.
His opponent tonight, Johnny Cueto, on the other hand, has been very hard to hit for right-handers so far this season. They own a wOBA of just .261 and a hard hit rate of only 18.8 percent against him this season through 109 total batters faced. Plus, on the road against righties this season, Cueto’s hard hit rate is 14.8 percent, and his fly ball rate is only 19.2 percent.
Colby Rasmus, OF, Houston Astros
FanDuel Price: $3,600
After a hot start to the season, Colby Rasmus has slowed down some, but he is still on pace to set a career-high in walk rate at 15.6 percent, and his strikeout rate is currently at 24.8 percent, which would be the lowest since his first full year with the Blue Jays in 2012. However, tonight the Astros face off against a tough lefty in David Price, so avoiding Rasmus may be a good idea.
Rasmus has an average of just .214 against lefties this season, but because he has walked so much, his wOBA is actually a strong .359 versus lefties. His walk rate is an amazing 28.6 percent against lefties this season, and while his batted ball and strikeout rates have been great against lefties, Price presents a tough matchup for him this evening.
Left-handed hitters have a wOBA of just .260 against Price this season. For his career, Price’s hard hit rate against lefties is just 21.2 percent, and his fly ball rate is 28.7 percent, compared to 37.9 percent against right-handed hitters. With the small slate tonight, it may be an unnecessary risk to roster Rasmus, even if he does get a few free passes.
Curtis Granderson, OF, New York Mets
FanDuel Price: $3,700
Curtis Granderson has been a strong tournament play at times this season, but he has also had games where he is an enormous landmine. Tonight is more of the latter as he and the Mets face off against Clayton Kershaw.
This season, Kershaw’s walk rate is less than 2 percent and only 2.1 percent against lefties. Lefties own a wOBA of just .154 against him this season. Plus, Kershaw’s strikeout rate against lefties through 47 total batters is 42.6 percent.
Granderson, on the other hand, has a wOBA of .302 against lefties this season and an average of just .200 through his first 30 at-bats. He is only a career .224 hitter against lefties, with a wOBA of .307 and a strikeout rate of 27.4 percent during his 13 Major League seasons. Against the likes of Kershaw, don’t let Granderson touch your rosters with a 10-foot pole.
