MLB

3 Daily Fantasy Baseball Hitters to Avoid on 8/19/16

Brad Miller has been red-hot this month, but that could come to an end against Cole Hamels on Friday night.

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.

Brad Miller, SS, Tampa Bay Rays

FanDuel Price: $3,500

Whatever switch Brad Miller turned on in August is working. The Rays’ shortstop has been one of the hottest hitters in the league this past month. He has a .333 average with 8 homers and 18 RBI in his last 60 at-bats, but tonight, he has a very tough matchup against Cole Hamels, which could mean it’s temporarily time to jump off the Miller train.

Hamels has been very good against lefty hitters this season and throughout his career. In 2016, lefties have a .240 wOBA over 128 batters faced. He has a 23.3 percent strikeout rate against lefties across his entire career, and while Miller has been hot, he still hasn’t been showing great overall stats against southpaws.

Miller has a .311 wOBA and a 29.6 percent strikeout rate against lefties this season, and his isolated power falls from .282 against righties to just .179 against left-handed pitchers. This has led to only 2 of his 25 homers coming off southpaws. With this in mind, don’t pay the price for Miller tonight.

Kole Calhoun, OF, Los Angeles Angels

FanDuel Price: $3,000

Kole Calhoun has posted some nice lines over his last few games, but he is also an all-or-nothing player when it comes to DFS lately. The Angels’ two-hole hitter has four games of double-digit FanDuel points over his last 10 games, but he also has five games of 3 points or fewer. Tonight, he and the Angels go up against Masahiro Tanaka in what could be a big-time matchup to avoid for Calhoun.

Not a lot of things have gone right for the Yankees this season. However, one thing that has gone well for them has been Tanaka bouncing back from his elbow injury. The Yankees’ righty has been very consistent this season, especially against left-handers. Lefties have a .271 wOBA across 305 batters faced this season against Tanaka. His walk rate is only 3 percent against lefties this year, while his career strikeout rate against them is 22.4 percent.

Calhoun has been great against left-handers this season, but his .328 wOBA against righties is far from enticing for tonight. Plus, he has been even worse at home against right-handers with a .282 wOBA over 188 plate appearances.

Wilmer Flores, 3B, New York Mets

FanDuel Price: $2,300

While his price tonight is somewhat appealing, Wilmer Flores' matchup against Johnny Cueto is not. When in the lineup, Flores has been hitting the ball well, which does give him some level of appeal. However, with how well Cueto has been pitching against right-handed hitters, Flores is certainly a player to avoid.

Flores has just a .264 wOBA over 161 at-bats this season against righty pitchers. His isolated power plummets to .112 against righties, while his hard hit rate falls to 22.4 percent.

Cueto is once again posting great splits against right-handers this season, who have a .249 wOBA against him. While his strikeout rate against them is only 22 percent, they have a hard hit rate of just 24.2 percent against the Giants’ righty.