MLB

3 Daily Fantasy Baseball Players to Avoid on 6/12/19

Matt Kupferle  —  @MKupferle Jun 12th, 2019
Christian Yelich looks set on winning back-to-back MVPs, and he jacked his 25th home run of the season last night. His matchup tonight is a lot stingier, though.

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 12.

Brandon Woodruff, Milwaukee Brewers (SP)

at Houston Astros
FanDuel Price: $8,900

With a tidy over/under of only 7.5 runs, Brandon Woodruff of the Milwaukee Brewers appears to be an appealing starting pitching option tonight. Woodruff has been ballin' out recently, too -- he's struck out 10 or more in two of his last three starts, giving him some serious upside potential.

Despite that low total, rostering a pitcher against the Houston Astros is always coming with some known land mines. They rank second in team wOBA (.344), they don't strike out a lot (17.6%), and they clock in sixth in hard-hit rate (37.9%).

Despite his solid run recently and a low implied run total, rostering the Brewers righty seems like a tough task.

Christian Yelich, Milwaukee Brewers (OF)

at Houston Astros
FanDuel Price: $4,700

Okay, I swear I'm not just picking on the Brewers.

After hitting another home run last night, Christian Yelich has 25 long balls on the year. Yup, that's pretty good.

But while that road blast is just another feather in his cap, Yelich's overall home-road splits are pretty noisy. This season, he owns a 287 wRC+ at home, while he has a 123 wRC+ mark on the road. His 43.9% fly-ball rate at Miller Park also dips down to a more expected 35.5% away from home.

Now, consider that Miller Park ranks eighth in home run factor over the last three seasons, and Houston's home park clocks in only 18th, Yelich seems like a pricey avoid.

Justin Smoak, Toronto Blue Jays (1B)

at Baltimore Orioles
FanDuel Price: $3,300

Can facing a struggling David Hess of the Baltimore Orioles get Justin Smoak on track? A lofty 10.5 run over/under total certainly implies there will be runs scored in Baltimore tonight.

A quick peek at Hess's numbers would certainly make this a tantalizing option to consider tonight. The 1-8 Hess owns an ugly 7.08 ERA, driven by a 43.0% hard-hit rate and 48.5% fly-ball rate.

But surface numbers don't tell the story, even with an arm like Hess. He's actually been strong against left-handed batters, limiting them to a .329 wOBA, 4.38 FIP, and 33.3% fly-ball rate.

For a cheap source of power, Smoak looks like a great option at first pass -- but Camden Yards ranks only 16th in park factor over the past three years, and Smoak's got a tricky matchup that may be a bit tougher than it looks.


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.