MLB

3 Daily Fantasy Baseball Hitters to Avoid on 9/30/16

Troy Tulowitzki has to run up against Rick Porcello tonight in a matchup you'll want to avoid in DFS.

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.

Troy Tulowitzki, SS, Toronto Blue Jays

FanDuel Price: $3,200

Troy Tulowitzki and the Toronto Blue Jays were shut down by Ubaldo Jimenez on Thursday, which ended a nice little four-game hitting streak for Tulowitzki. He may be in danger of going without a hit again tonight, as the Blue Jays head into Boston to finish out the year. Cy Young candidate Rick Porcello will be waiting for the Jays. With the way Porcello has been performing this season overall and against right-handers, it’s a matchup to avoid.

Porcello has limited righties to a .284 wOBA and 21.5 percent strikeout rate this season. The Boston Red Sox' righty has a hard-hit rate of just 28.3 percent.

Tulo, on the other hand, has a .327 wOBA against right-handers this season. However, with the way Porcello has pitched against Tulowitzki, who is just a .200 hitter with no extra-base hits in his career against Porcello, lay off the Jays’ shortstop.

Adrian Gonzalez, 1B, Los Angeles Dodgers

FanDuel Price: $2,900

Even though Adrian Gonzalez is a career .272 hitter with a .331 wOBA against southpaws, this season has been much different. He has just a .265 wOBA and .067 isolated power against fellow lefties., and tonight may not be much different against Madison Bumgarner.

Bumgarner has been a machine this season against left-handed hitters. They own just a .226 wOBA and a 33.3 percent strikeout rate against the San Francisco Giants’ ace in 2016, while his hard hit rate against them is only 25.2 percent.

I’ve touched on this before when we’ve had this matchup, but it’s worth repeating that Gonzalez has not had much career success against Bumgarner. In 56 career plate appearances, Gonzalez is hitting just .189 against Bumgarner with only 2 extra-base hits and no homers. Lay off the Los Angeles Dodgers' first baseman tonight.

Mikie Mahtook, OF, Tampa Bay Rays

FanDuel Price: $2,500

Mikie Mahtook crushed a homer and a double in last night’s game, but tonight, the Tampa Bay Rays and Mahtook run up against Yu Darvish. The Texas Rangers’ ace has been great when healthy this season, and while lefties tend to catch the brunt of his dominance on the hill, righties have had their fair share of problems with Darvish this season.

Righties own a .290 wOBA and a 30.7 percent strikeout rate against Darvish this season. Darvish’s walk rate against righties lowers to 6.5 percent this season, while his hard-hit rate against them is only 25.8 percent.

Mahtook’s Major League career has not been going long, but he does have 161 plate appearances against right-handers. Mahtook owns just a .237 wOBA and a sky-high 39.1 percent strikeout rate. That’s not the type of player you want to roster against Darvish on Friday.