MLB

3 Daily Fantasy Baseball Players to Avoid on 7/22/19

Sonny Gray has been on fire lately, but he's got a tough matchup with the Brewers in Milwaukee. Who else should we consider fading on Monday?

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 July 22.

Sonny Gray, Cincinnati Reds (SP)

at Milwaukee Brewers
FanDuel Price: $8,600

When you go ham for four games in a row, people notice -- and that's exactly what Sonny Gray of the Cincinnati Reds has done. In those last four outings, Gray has averaged 50 FanDuel points.

Now you could be asking yourself -- were those opponents any good? And the definitive answer is yes. Gray faced the juggernaut Chicago Cubs, he stymied the Colorado Rockies in Denver, and he dominated these same Milwaukee Brewers for 70 fantasy points.

So why won't it be more of the same? While it certainly could be, the Brew Crew leads the league against right-handed pitching in terms of hard-hit rate (42.6%). This contest also shifts to Miller Park, a hitter-friendly environment, and the Brewers boast a juicy 4.64 implied team total.

Given some other quality arms on the slate tonight, it's best to avoid Gray.

Yordan Alvarez, Houston Astros (OF)

vs. Oakland Athletics
FanDuel Price: $4,100

The Oakland Athletics have surged into the AL West race, and tonight's series in Houston could go a long way in determining the division winner.

Acquired recently, Homer Bailey makes his second start for his new team, and he's been very effective against left-handed boppers like Yordan Alvarez. So far this season in 217 plate appearances, Bailey has limited lefties to a .236 batting average, .305 wOBA, 23.0% strikeout rate, and 33.3% fly-ball rate.

While those Crawford Boxes are awfully tempting to shoot for in left field, the Astros home digs are actually pretty pitcher-friendly overall. Over the last three seasons, the field ranks as the third-friendliest for pitchers in all of baseball.

With a 5.33 implied team total, the Houston Astros will likely be heavily owned, but Alvarez may not be part of an offensive explosion.

Elvis Andrus, Texas Rangers (SS)

at Seattle Mariners
FanDuel Price: $3,200

Tonight against southpaw Marco Gonzales, who owns only a 16.7% strikeout rate, righty bats will be in demand for the Texas Rangers. A cheap play that may seem like a fantastic options is Elvis Andrus, who often mans the cleanup spot in this situation.

But this could be a bit tricky. For starters, Andrus hasn't done much in this spot in 2019 -- spanning 106 plate appearances, he owns only a .102 isolated power (ISO), coming with a .308 wOBA and an ugly 29.6% fly-ball rate.

To his credit, Gonzales has also been really good against righties this year, limiting them to a .311 wOBA and 32.9% hard-hit rate.

He may not possess swing-and-miss ability that we love to target, but the lefty could make life a bit tougher than we realize on hitters like Andrus.



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.