MLB

3 Daily Fantasy Baseball Hitters to Avoid on 8/23/16

Wil Myers is having a big year, but he has a tough matchup tonight against Jake Arrieta.

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 Tuesday.

Adrian Gonzalez, 1B, Los Angeles Dodgers

FanDuel Price: $2,700

Adrian Gonzalez is coming off an incredible performance on Monday, smashing three homers and posting an insane 73.6 FanDuel points. Needless to say, if you didn’t have Gonzalez on last night’s short slate, you lost money. However, you might lose money again tonight if you roster Gonzalez. His battle with Madison Bumgarner is definitely one to avoid.

Gonzalez has not fared well against left-handers this season, posting a .304 wOBA. His ISO plummets to just .080 with only 2 of his 15 homers have come off lefties. With a hard-hit rate of 26.6% and a fly ball rate of 19.4%, it’s best to avoid Gonzalez, who, for his career, is 8-for-48 against Bumgarner with no homers and only two extra base hits.

Bumgarner has been dominant against lefties this season. They own a .213 wOBA against him with a strikeout rate of 35.7%.

Jay Bruce, OF, New York Mets

FanDuel Price: $3,500

Jay Bruce recently made an appearance on the landmines article because of a tough lefty-lefty matchup, and he is back again for his clash with southpaw Jaime Garcia. While Garcia got knocked around in his last start against the Houston Astros, he was previously very good against the Cincinnati Reds and Atlanta Braves, two teams with offenses that are underwhelming, much like the New York Mets.

Bruce has not produced this season against left-handers. He has a 21.3% strikeout rate and .316 wOBA against lefties. Bruce has also not been great in his career against Garcia, who he has faced often during his time with the Reds. Bruce is a career .234 hitter against Garcia, with only two extra-base hits in 47 at-bats.

Left-handers have a .305 wOBA and a 21.3 strikeout rate this season against the Cardinals’ southpaw. Garcia also owns a 25.6% hard hit rate and a 25.3% fly-ball rate against left-handed hitters, which has led to lefties hitting just two homers off him in 122 plate appearances.

Wil Myers, 1B, San Diego Padres

FanDuel Price: $3,300

Another first baseman that’s likely better left off your rosters tonight is Wil Myers, who has a tough home battle against Jake Arrieta.

Arrieta was on his way to working out of his July funk until he gave up five earned runs against the Milwaukee Brewers after three starts of giving up two runs or fewer. However, he's still having a really good season, and Arrieta has pitched very well against righties, holding them to a .248 wOBA.

Myers, on the other hand, has not faired as well against right-handed pitching, and he has been starting to slump down the stretch. Myers is only 3-for-23 in his last six games and he has a .337 wOBA against righties this season. His strikeout rate goes up slightly to 24.0% and his ISO falls to .197 against righty pitching. The game being played in pitcher-friendly Petco Park is the last straw for Myers.