4 Daily Fantasy Baseball Players to Avoid on 4/7/17

Mike Leake, SP, St. Louis Cardinals

FanDuel Price: $6,600

On a rough pitching slate like today, you'll find yourself looking for pitching in strange places. Mike Leake pops up against the Cincinnati Reds, who have one of the lowest implied team totals on the board.

Leake had a down year last season, with a career-worst 4.69 ERA, but his 3.92 SIERA was in line with what he's done in the past, and he kept the ball on the ground at a high rate (53.7%). Does that make him worth using today?

Unfortunately, his below-average 16.2% career strikeout rate says otherwise. Leake may very well keep the Reds in check, but the lack of strikeouts limits both his floor and ceiling. For instance, with a high-strikeout artist like Liriano, even if he gives up four runs, he could counter that by racking up eight punchouts to save your fantasy day.

Whereas with Leake, he could pitch well and give up only a pair of runs, but have just three strikeouts, resulting in a mediocre outing unless he gets the quality start or win bonus. There's little room for error, making Leake not worth taking a chance on today.