MLB

3 Daily Fantasy Baseball Hitters to Avoid on 7/29/16

Buster Posey has to go against Max Scherzer tonight. Who else has a matchup worth avoiding on Friday?

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.

Buster Posey, C, San Francisco Giants

FanDuel Price: $3,000

There are six active catchers who have a higher price than Buster Posey tonight on FanDuel, but there is very good reason for that. Tonight the Giants run up against Max Scherzer in San Francisco. Even though Posey is hitting .280 against righties this season, some of his advanced stats are a bit concerning in a showdown with one of the best righties in the game.

Posey owns a .328 wOBA against righties this season, and his isolated power drops over 60 points to .155 when he faces pitchers of the same handedness. He also has a fly ball rate of 27.3 percent against righties, which could partially explain why he has nearly as many homers against lefties than against righties, despite having 127 fewer at-bats against left-handers.

Scherzer has spent the season dominating right-handed hitters, holding 264 of them to a .213 wOBA. Against Scherzer and his strikeout rate of 37.5 percent against righties, you can do better at catcher tonight.

Joe Mauer, 1B, Minnesota Twins

FanDuel Price: $3,000

Joe Mauer may not be behind the plate anymore, but his transition to first baseman and designated hitter has coincided with a drastic drop in his splits against lefties. Despite being a career .288 hitter against left-handers, Mauer has posted a wOBA against lefties of below .300 in two of his last three seasons.

This year, it’s gotten even worse. Mauer has a .248 wOBA against left-handers this season, and his isolated power disappears to .076. He owns just a 17.1 percent fly ball rate against lefties, and he has only 3 extra-base hits in 92 at-bats against left-handed pitching this season.

Jose Quintana, the Chicago left-hander, has limited other lefties to a .249 wOBA over 118 hitters this season. Only two left-handers have taken him deep this season, helping him earn a 2.60 ERA against lefties in 2016.

Carlos Gonzalez, OF, Colorado Rockies

FanDuel Price: $2,800

Carlos Gonzalez has been hitting the ball well lately, but trade concerns aren't why you should avoid him tonight. The Rockies are up against Steven Matz, who had a great start his last time out and looks like a guy who could give Gonzalez trouble.

Even though Gonzalez has a .335 wOBA against lefties this season, his strikeout rate against them is sky-high at 32.7 percent. While Matz won’t get a ton of swings and misses, Gonzalez's striking out once or twice tonight is not out of the realm of possibility.

Left-handers have a .307 wOBA against Matz this season, and after getting hit pretty hard over his last seven starts, Matz put up a gem over six innings against the Marlins his last time out, allowing no runs and only four hits. It’s a night to lay off the Rockies’ lefty.