MLB

3 Daily Fantasy Baseball Players to Avoid on 7/25/19

Matt Kupferle  —  @MKupferle Jul 25th, 2019

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 25.

Masahiro Tanaka, New York Yankees (SP)

at Boston Red Sox
FanDuel Price: $8,000

When the New York Yankees pitchers get to leave Yankee Stadium, which is an offensive haven, it may seem like the time is right to roster them. Tonight isn't one of those nights.

But there are so many reasons why rostering Masahiro Tanaka would appear to be a trap. To start things off, he has been pretty poor as of late. In his last five starts, he has averaged an underwhelming 19.2 FanDuel points per game.

In addition, he's basically dominated the Tampa Bay Rays and struggled against all others:

He's also yet to break five strikeouts in his last five appearances, so despite a condensed slate, look elsewhere for your pitching needs.

Edwin Encarnacion, New York Yankees (1B)

at Boston Red Sox
FanDuel Price: $4,300

When your team leads the main slate in implied team total, as the Yankees do with an estimated 5.67 runs, players like Edwin Encarnacion have every right to see high levels of ownership.

There are a few question marks when peering in at the right-handed veteran hitter. For starters, Rick Porcello, the Yankees opponent, has absolutely struggled through a tough year, as evidenced by a career-worst 5.02 skill-interactive ERA (SIERA). But the righty hasn't been all that awful against same-sided bats, posting respectable marks of a .321 wOBA and 31.2% hard-hit rate.

And according to Baseball Savant, Encarnacion has posted his second-lowest exit velocity (89.6 MPH) of his last five seasons, and as a Yankee in 94 plate appearances against righties, he's whiffed 30.0% of the time.

He will likely occupy the cleanup spot in the lineup, make him a premium player, but he may not put up a big score.

Jose Ramirez, Cleveland Indians (3B)

at Kansas City Royals
FanDuel Price: $4,000

After a brutal start to the year that had both season-long and DFS players ripping their hair out, since the calendar has flipped to July, Jose Ramirez has been an absolute monster at the plate, averaging 15.5 FanDuel points per game, driven by a .955 OPS. He's also swiped four bases during the month.

And in facing the Kansas City Royals, it may look like a prime spot to roster the white-hot third baseman -- but think again. While Mike Montgomery gets the ball for the Royals -- and by no means is he an ace with a 6.83 ERA this season -- Ramirez has showcased a Jekyll-and-Hyde persona as a switch-hitter.

In 2019 as a lefty, he's been strong at the dish with a 40.2% hard-hit rate, while that mark dips down to 35.4% as a righty. Since the beginning of last season, the split widens further -- he owns a .367 wOBA as a lefty, and a .328 mark as a right-handed hitter.

Ramirez's fiery July streak at the dish has been supported by an outstanding run as a lefty as well -- a .450 wOBA and 52.2% hard-hit rate, namely -- so with him hitting from the right side of the plate tonight, it may be a decent time to take a break from him this evening.


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.