MLB

3 Daily Fantasy Baseball Hitters to Avoid on 9/22/16

Jordan Sharp  —  @TehSharp Sep 22nd, 2016
Mark Trumbo has not hit lefties well this season, and he should be avoided as he goes up against David Price tonight.

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.

Mark Trumbo, OF, Baltimore Orioles

FanDuel Price: $3,300

For a guy with 43 homers on the year, Mark Trumbo seems like a solid value on Thursday evening. However, his price may be too high against David Price, who has been even better against righty hitters this season.

Righties have a .298 wOBA and a 26.5 strikeout rate against Price this year, and his xFIP of 3.30 is better than his mark against lefties at 3.62. Plus, Price is on the road tonight, and while Camden Yards isn’t exactly a pitcher’s park, righties who have faced Price away from Fenway this season have a .281 wOBA.

On the other side, Trumbo has pretty bad splits against southpaws this season. He is hitting below .200 against them with a .270 wOBA and 25.8 strikeout rate. His isolated power drops 60 points to .226, and while he has still hit 10 of his homers off lefties, Trumbo’s poor splits make him a landmine tonight.

Jacoby Ellsbury, OF, New York Yankees

FanDuel Price: $3,100

The Yankees have faded some in the wild card race lately but, tonight, they have a chance to play a team with 87 losses, so it’s now or never for New York to string together some wins if they want to compete for the AL Wild card at only 2.5 games out. However, even though the Yanks will be throwing out their best lineup until they are eliminated, they run up against a good young left-hander in Blake Snell tonight.

New York’s lefties like Didi Gregorius have had a lot of success against southpaws this season, but Jacoby Ellsbury has not. Even though his career splits against lefties are pretty good, this season has been another story. He has only a .256 wOBA and .274 BABIP against southpaws with a 25.2 hard-hit rate. While he could sit because of this tonight, he's avoidable against Snell if he is in the lineup.

Robbie Grossman, OF, Minnesota Twins

FanDuel Price: $2,900

It’s fade outfielders day here at numberFire, and Robbie Grossman rounds out the trio of landmine outfielders here on Thursday’s short slate. Grossman is up against Justin Verlander tonight in a matchup to avoid.

Grossman is hitting .373 against lefties this season while batting right-handed, but as a lefty against right-handers, his average drops to .226 with a .320 wOBA over 223 plate appearances. He has a 27.8 strikeout rate and his isolated power also plummets to .129 against righties in 2016.

Meanwhile, Verlander has once again done well against lefties this season, limiting them to a .270 wOBA and 30.6 strikeout rate. He is holding them to only a 25.7 hard hit rate, too, making Grossman a potential landmine on Thursday.