3 Daily Fantasy Baseball Hitters to Avoid on 5/20/16

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 Friday.

Yasmany Tomas, OF, Arizona Diamondbacks

FanDuel Price: $3,000

Yasmany Tomas has made several appearances in the landmines this season, and he is back once again due to a very tough matchup tonight with the Cardinals’ Carlos Martinez. The Cardinals' flamethrower has been virtually unhittable by right-handed batters this season, and no D-back has struggled more against right-handers than Tomas.

Tomas owns a wOBA of .295 for this career against right-handers, and his strikeout rate is 26 percent. His power numbers drop significantly from a .231 ISO against lefties to .110 against righties for his career, and his hard hit rate drops from 38.8 percent to 31.8 percent when he faces pitchers of the same handedness.

Martinez has been a nightmare for righties this season. They own a wOBA of only .162 against him this season through 76 total batters, and for his career, righties own a wOBA of only .266 and a strikeout rate of more than 27 percent. With Tomas on the road in a much harder park to hit in than Chase Field, I don’t expect him to have much success tonight against Martinez.

Eric Hosmer, 1B, Kansas City Royals

FanDuel Price: $4,300

Two nights ago Eric Hosmer made an appearance on the landmines article because of his matchup against David Price. He went 0-for-4, and after a day off, he is back with another tough lefty-lefty matchup against Jose Quintana. While Quintana is no Price, he still presents a matchup that isn’t too conducive to bringing daily fantasy value.

After his hitless performance against Price on Wednesday, Hosmer now owns a wOBA of .292 against lefties this season, and for his career his wOBA is .302. His strikeout rate against left-handed pitchers this season is 20 percent, and through 41 at-bats, his hard hit rate is only 18.8 percent against lefties.

Quintana, on the other hand, has dominated lefties so far this season. Left-handers have a wOBA of .199 against him through 58 total batters faced, and his xFIP against lefties this season is just 2.68. His fly ball rate against them this season is just 20 percent, and with a career 20.8 percent strikeout rate against lefties, Hosmer may be better left off your rosters once again here on Friday.

Angel Pagan, OF, San Francisco Giants

FanDuel Price: $2,800

You might be able to put most of the Giants in the landmines category tonight against Jake Arrieta. However, San Francisco does have some good lefties hitters in their lineup, so it’s an interesting decision tonight for daily fantasy owners trying to decide on whether to pay up for Arrieta. However, one player for the Giants who will be batting left-handed to start the game is Angel Pagan, but he more than most Giants seems to be a matchup worth avoiding tonight -- even if you try to stack against the high-priced Arrieta in a tournament.

Pagan tends to bat low in the lineup anyway, but batting left-handed against righties has not been as kind to him over the last few seasons. This year his wOBA against righties as a left-hander is .301 but only because of his stellar walk rate of 10.5 percent as a left-hander. Last season, however, Pagan had a wOBA of only .265 as a lefty against right-handers.

Arrieta has not been as sharp against left-handers this season as he has against righties, but in 2015, Arrieta’s left-handed opponents had a wOBA of only .205 and a strikeout rate of over 30 percent. Pagan is definitely a player you want to avoid if attacking Arrieta.