4 Daily Fantasy Baseball Players to Avoid on 4/19/17
Dallas Keuchel, SP, Houston Astros
FanDuel Price: $9,600
Dallas Keuchel had a down year in 2016, posting a mediocre 4.55 ERA, his worst since 2013.
This season he's off to a roaring start, with a squeaky clean 0.86 ERA and 2.98 SIERA through three starts. But you still shouldn't use him in daily fantasy tonight.
Keuchel is a perfect example of a player with more real life value than fantasy value. In most seasons, he's had a near league average strikeout rate, and so far 2017 hasn't been any different with a 19.7% clip. If you got fantasy points for ground balls, Keuchel would be amazing -- he's had a 59.2% ground-ball rate across his career.
His opponent doesn't help things either as the Los Angeles Angels had the lowest strikeout rate in the league last year (16.4%). They've had a higher strikeout rate so far this season (Danny Espinosa will do that), but that should still regress as time goes. Furthermore, they will likely have a predominantly right-handed lineup to oppose the left-handed Keuchel.
The Angels have a 3.69 implied team total, so Keuchel may be able to keep them in check, but at his price, you're better off taking the strikeout upside of Chris Archer for $300 less.
