3 Daily Fantasy Baseball Players to Avoid on 4/25/18

Whit Merrifield, 2B, Kansas City Royals

FanDuel Price: $3,500

Whit Merrifield has emerged as a very good hitter in recent years. However, his nickname Hard-Hit Whit should probably be reserved for when he faces left-handed pitching.

Against southpaws in his career, Merrifield has a terrific 132 wRC+ as he blasts left-handed pitching to the tune of a 40.1% hard-hit rate. These numbers fall off dramatically against right-handed pitchers though. In his career, Merrifield has a below average 90 wRC+ and 31.0% hard-hit rate against right-handed pitching.

Despite these platoon splits, it may seem like Merrifield is still worth targeting, considering he is facing a mediocre starter in Jhoulys Chacin. However, Chacin has his own platoon splits, and right-handed batters like Merrifield are on the wrong side of them.

Chacin has held right-handed batters to a .293 wOBA and 28.1% hard-hit rate in his career while striking them out at a 22.0% clip compared to just 14.5% for left-handed hitters. It's just not the right spot to target Merrifield.