MLB

3 Daily Fantasy Baseball Hitters to Avoid on 8/31/16

Jordan Sharp  —  @TehSharp Aug 31st, 2016
Miguel Sano is a player to stay away from as squares off against Corey Kluber.

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 Wednesday.

Miguel Sano, OF, Minnesota Twins

FanDuel Price: $3,400

Miguel Sano has a tough matchup versus Cleveland Indians' ace Corey Kluber. Kluber has been lights out this season, and he has been especially tough against right-handed batters.

Righties have a .263 wOBA against the Indians' hurler and are striking out at a rate of 27.5%. Kluber has been even tougher on righties at home this season, limiting them to a .238 wOBA.

Versus right-handed pitching, Sano owns a .329 wOBA and a sky-high 34.9% strikeout rate. With big strikeout potential, Sano could end up posting a zero.

David Freese, 3B, Pittsburgh Pirates

FanDuel Price: $2,900

August has not been very kind to David Freese, and tonight he is up against Jason Hammel. While the Chicago Cubs’ righty doesn’t present an overwhelmingly tough matchup for Freese, Hammel has been very good when pitching at home in Wrigley Field. If that continues tonight, the Pirates’ third baseman has landmine potential.

Freese has a .317 wOBA and 27.6% strikeout rate against righties this season. His ISO drops to .126 versus righties, compared to .238 against lefties, while his fly-ball rate against right-handers is only 18.8%.

Overall, righties have a .271 wOBA against Hammel this season. When Hammel is pitching at Wrigley, he holds right-handed hitters to a .203 wOBA while posting a 24.1% strikeout rate and 4.1% walk rate.

Odubel Herrera, OF, Philadelphia Phillies

FanDuel Price: $2,500

Odubel Herrera has struggled after a hot start, and he is up against left-hander Gio Gonzalez.

Gonzalez has held lefties to a .256 wOBA and 22.1% fly-ball rate. He's only given up one homer to a lefty this season, and it was against the red-hot Joey Votto.

Herrera is in the freezer compared to Votto, and he's had a hard time with left-handed pitchers. He holds a .272 wOBA, 18.9% hard-hit rate and 23.9% strikeout rate against southpaws this season, making him easy to pass on tonight.