MLB

3 Daily Fantasy Baseball Hitters to Avoid on 5/9/16

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.

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 Monday.

Chris Carter, 1B, Milwaukee Brewers

FanDuel Price: $3,500

Sometimes in professional sports, a change of scenery can do a lot of good for a slumping player. That seems to be one of the reasons why Chris Carter is off to the hottest start of his career. He has 10 home runs already for the Brewers, and at least for now, his batting average has skyrocketed. However, even though he has been very effective against right-handed pitchers this season, the sample size is still small, and when compared to his career numbers, these marks raise some skepticism as to whether he can keep it up all season.

Carter owns a wOBA against right-handers of .422 this season, and 9 of his 10 homers have come off righties. However, Carter’s career wOBA against right-handed pitching is .335, and his strikeout rate is nearly 35 percent against righties.

His strikeout rate against righties is 33.3 percent this season, and even though his fly ball rate is great against righties, his hard hit rate is 30.9 percent, compared to 45.5 percent against lefties.

Tonight, Carter faces off against one of the game’s best young pitchers in Jose Fernandez, who has dominated right-handed hitters this season. Fernandez’s strikeout rate against 77 righties is 45.5 percent in 2016, and their wOBA is only .260. For his career, righties have a wOBA of .212 against Fernandez, and while he has not yet gotten back to form after his injury, Carter’s prospects of getting on base his first few times through the order don’t look great.

George Springer, OF, Houston Astros

FanDuel Price: $3,700

Houston and George Springer have just as tough a matchup tonight as they welcome in Corey Kluber to Minute Maid Park. Springer is off to a nice start this season, but he continues to struggle against right-handed pitchers.

In 2016, Springer owns a wOBA of .314 against righties and a strikeout rate 26.5 percent compared to 17.4 percent against lefties. For his career, his strikeout rate against righties is close to 30 percent, and his hard hit rate drops from 41 percent against lefties to 33.3 percent against righties.

Kluber has shut down right-handed hitters, who have a wOBA of only .218 against him this season. His strikeout rate against them is 31.3 percent this season, and the former Cy Young winner has a career hard hit rate against righties of only 24.7 percent. Now at Minute Maid Park, a much friendlier park for pitchers than his home at Progressive Field, expect him to limit Springer.

Jon Jay, OF, San Diego Padres

FanDuel Price: $3,100

Much like Carter in Milwaukee, Jon Jay has seemingly benefitted from a change of scenery. His move to San Diego has gotten him back to a wOBA above .300 after a very down year in St. Louis in 2015, and this season in San Diego has allowed him to play every day again. However, considering he faces off against Jon Lester, he shouldn't find his way into your outfield tonight.

Even though Jay is hitting over .300 against lefties this season, his wOBA is .321 against them with a 10 percent walk rate. His strikeout rate against them is 27.5 percent though, and his hard hit rate against left-handers is only 20 percent this season.

Lester has been amazing this season against hitters from both sides of the plate, but lefties struggle even more. They own a wOBA of .260, a strikeout rate of nearly 30 percent, and a hard hit rate of 20.8 percent. Combine that with the weather in Chicago tonight that looks like a chance of rain with heavy winds blowing in from right field against left-handed hitters, and Jay’s odds of being a good fantasy asset look pretty bad tonight.