3 Daily Fantasy Baseball Players to Avoid on 6/5/19
Baseball is heating up, and there are plenty of DFS contests to choose from on FanDuel's main slate. While we have plenty of pieces geared towards guys you should target in your DFS contests, it's also important to avoid sub-optimal options who are overpriced and/or in tough spots.
Let's check out three players to consider fading on FanDuel's main slate for June 5.
Mike Minor, Texas Rangers (SP)
vs Baltimore Orioles
FanDuel Price: $9,600
While the Baltimore Orioles have struggled on offense this season, they've shown some life at the dish recently. They've cut down on their strikeout rate in the last 14 days (to 22.1%), and they've also been blasting the baseball with a .211 isolated power (ISO; ninth).
And while Mike Minor has been brilliant for the Texas Rangers in 2019, that improved offense he faces is only the first reason to consider fading him. The weather is heating up, which makes Globe Life Park in Arlington even more attractive -- and it already checks in second in park factor over the last three seasons.
Minor's game logs are a bit peculiar, too -- he's recorded a single-digit swinging-strike rate in three of his last six starts, including a season-low mark of 6.0% two starts ago. He's a very pricey pitcher, but he may be worth a fade tonight.
Trevor Story, Colorado Rockies (SS)
at Chicago Cubs
FanDuel Price: $4,200
On the heels of a 10-game home stand, it's not a big surprise that the Colorado Rockies lead major league baseball over the last two weeks in team wOBA (.386). But a move out of Denver is the first reason that Trevor Story and crew make for an avoid tonight.
A bigger reason is facing Yu Darvish of the Chicago Cubs, who's got some advanced metrics that are very appealing. Despite an inflated ERA, Darvish boasts a 26.6% strikeout rate and 12.6% swinging-strike rate. His 28.8% fly-ball rate all adds up to a profile that makes him difficult to hit, for both righty and lefty hitters.
A deeper dive reveals that rostering Story appears even particularly more troublesome -- spanning 153 total right-handed batters faced, Darvish owns a 28.8% strikeout rate and 29.6% hard-hit rate.
The Rockies have been beasting out at the plate, but leaving their friendly home digs and facing a challenging arm means you'll want to steer clear of Story.
Paul Goldschmidt, St. Louis Cardinals (1B)
vs Cincinnati Reds
FanDuel Price: $3,700
Boasting the third-highest implied team total at 5.07 runs, it seems logical that the St. Louis Cardinals should see heavy ownership, right?
Well, it may not all be so rosy. On the season through the first two months, the Birds rank as one of baseball's best offenses. Over the last two weeks, they are one of the league's worst. They rank last in team wOBA (.292) and they rank 11th-worst in team strikeout rate (24.2%).
Paul Goldschmidt is a big part of that problem. Since May 19th, he's hit double-digit FanDuel points only three times, and since April 24th, he has only five extra-base hits in 150 plate appearances, good for a .716 OPS.
Anthony DeSclafani also sports an inflated 4.97 ERA, but he's also rocking a solid 23.4% strikeout rate and a career-best 11.1% swinging-strike rate.
When looking into the Cardinals recent performance, despite that hefty team total, avoid Goldschmidt if you can.
Matt Kupferle is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Matt Kupferle also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username MKupferle. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in his articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.
