3 Daily Fantasy Baseball Hitters to Avoid on 6/2/16

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.

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 Thursday night.

Gregory Polanco, OF Pittsburgh Pirates

FanDuel Price: $4,200

Gregory Polanco was scratched yesterday due to some foot discomfort, so there is a slight chance he misses this game as well. Even if he's in the starting lineup, trying to play him at low ownership might not be the best approach.

Polanco and the Pirates have to face off against Wei-Yin Chen tonight in Marlins Park. Lefties own a wOBA against Chen this season of only .236 through 38 batters, which builds off his .250 wOBA against lefties last season. This year, Chen’s hard hit rate against lefties is only 27.6 percent, and if you combine last season, he has allowed only 12 extra-base hits against 225 total left-handed batters since the beginning of last year.

Polanco has also struggled some against lefties this season despite a .342 wOBA. His strike out rate against lefties is sky-high at 31.3 percent, and his hard hit rate against them is 28.6 percent, compared to 37.1 percent against right-handed pitchers. Even if Polanco plays, it might be too risky to roster him in DFS.

Kendrys Morales, 1B, Kansas City Royals

FanDuel Price: $3,000

The Royals head into Cleveland tonight to face off against Carlos Carrasco and the Indians. Tonight will be Carrasco’s first start since going on the DL back in late April, but stacking against him might not be the best play on this short slate.

Tonight, Kendrys Morales will have to hit from the left side against Carrasco, and so far this season, that side of the plate has not been kind to him. He has a wOBA as a lefty of just .230 in 130 at-bats.

Carrasco, on the other hand, showed last season that he has no problem getting guys out on both sides of the plate. In 2015, his wOBA was lower against lefties at .277, and his strikeout rate was close to 29 percent against them as well. Before getting hurt this season, Carrasco also had a lower fly ball rate against lefties than righties, so with Morales struggling as a left-hander this season, he is still a player you want to avoid even with Carrasco coming off of injury.

Pedro Alvarez, 3B, Baltimore Orioles

FanDuel Price: $2,800

Pedro Alvarez has not had too much success in Baltimore this season, and that might continue tonight as he faces off against Rick Porcello and the Red Sox. In 2015, in his final season in Pittsburgh, Alvarez really struggled against right-handed pitching, and while he is struggling altogether this season, even the intriguing lefty versus righty matchup is a bit misleading tonight for Alvarez.

In 2015, Alvarez had a wOBA of .336 and a strikeout rate of 26.1 percent against righties. This year, his hard hit rate is lower against righties than it is against left-handers.

Enter Porcello, who is having a great season and who has been especially good against left-handed hitters all of a sudden. Their wOBA against him this season is only .247 through 137 total batters, and at this point, I think we have to stop thinking of that as an anomaly. Lefties are hitting just .189 against Porcello this season, and his strikeout rate against them is 25.6 percent. Lefties have a hard hit rate less than 29 percent against him this year. Of course, if Porcello reverts back to his career averages, Alvarez can be a value. It's all a matter of which sample you trust more.