MLB

3 Daily Fantasy Baseball Hitters to Avoid on 8/18/16

Jordan Sharp  —  @TehSharp Aug 18th, 2016
Jay Bruce is a player to stay away from as he runs up against Madison Bumgarner. What other sticks are in a tough spot?

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 Thursday.

Jay Bruce, OF, New York Mets

FanDuel Price: $3,400

Jay Bruce has been a great acquisition for the New York Mets, but tonight he and the rest of the Metropolitans have to go up against Madison Bumgarner. While Bruce has improved his career numbers against lefties this season, he is still a player you’ll want to avoid in a brutal lefty-lefty matchup.

Between the Cincinnati Reds and Mets this season, Bruce has a .316 wOBA against southpaws. He has done well to lower his strikeout rate against them to 19.4% this year, compared to 26.5% for this career, but it's rare that you'll ever want to roster a left-handed stick against Bumgarner.

Bumgarner has been devastating against lefty hitters. He's limiting them to a meager .219 wOBA this season, and for his career, the Giants’ ace has a 29.9% strikeout rate against southpaws while holding them to a hard-hit rate of just 23.3%.

Eugenio Suarez, 3B, Cincinnati Reds

FanDuel Price: $2,600

We go from a former Reds player to a current one with our next landmine candidate. Even though Eugenio Suarez has cooled off from his hot start to the season, he seems to be heating back up in the month of August. He is 8-for-28 in his last seven games with 2 homers and 7 RBI’s. Even though he has been a value lately, he is definitely a player to avoid tonight as he is going up against Jose Fernandez.

Fernandez has been dominant against right-handed hitters this season. They have a .237 wOBA and an insane 44.7% strikeout rate against the Marlins’ ace. He's also walking righties just 4.2% of the time.

Suarez, on the other hand, has just a .288 wOBA against right-handed pitchers this season, while his strikeout rate climbs to 25.1%.

Joe Panik, 2B, San Francisco Giants

FanDuel Price: $3,000

Joe Panik lost his six-game hitting streak on Wednesday, and he has another tough battle on Thursday as the San Francisco Giants face off against Jacob deGrom, who has been very good this season for the Mets, especially against left-handed hitters.

The Mets' righty has limited lefties to a .253 wOBA. His strikeout rate against them is 22.6%, while right-handers own just a 28.1% hard-hit rate.

Panik, on the other hand, has not hit righties very well. He has a .309 wOBA this year versus right-handed pitching with a hard-hit rate of just 25.1%. It’s hard to see Panik being a good value against deGrom.