MLB

3 FanDuel Hitters to Avoid on 7/28/16

Jordan Sharp  —  @TehSharp Jul 28th, 2016
Stephen Piscotty has to face off against a tough right-hander in Jose Fernandez. Who else should you stay away from in MLB DFS?

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.

Stephen Piscotty, OF, St. Louis Cardinals

FanDuel Price: $3,200

Stephen Piscotty landed on the landmines a few days ago against Noah Syndergaard, and now he has another tough matchup against Jose Fernandez. The Cardinals and Marlins are playing in Miami tonight, and considering Marlins Park is one of the better pitchers’ parks in the league, Piscotty is in trouble against the flame-throwing Fernandez.

At home this season, Fernandez has been unstoppable. Hitters own a .229 wOBA against him when he pitches at Marlins Park. His overall strikeout rate goes up to 38.0% when pitching at home this season, and righties have had even more trouble against him. Right-handers own a .216 wOBA and an insane 46.0% strikeout rate against Fernandez this year.

This alone is more than enough to make Piscotty is avoidable for the second time this week.

On top of that, Piscotty’s wOBA against righties drops to .325, compared to .464 against lefties. His ISO is .153 against righties this season while his strikeout rate climbs to just under 20%.

Jason Heyward, OF, Chicago Cubs

FanDuel Price: $3,200

Jason Heyward has pretty much been a landmine all season, but tonight, with the return of Chris Sale to Chicago’s north side, the Cubs’ left-hander is going to have a tough time at the plate. Along with his price, it makes him a compete fade.

Heyward has had a rough first year with the bat in Chicago. A year after his bounce-back season in St. Louis, Heyward has a .286 wOBA, marking a career-low for the lefty. He has also been really poor against southpaws. Heyward has a .290 wOBA against lefties this season, and going against Sale is probably not going to help those numbers.

Sale has allowed a .262 wOBA against lefties in 2016 with a strikeout rate of 30.8%. Left-handed hitters own a meager hard-hit rate of just 24% versus the White Sox ace. As long as Sale doesn’t take a knife to any team property tonight, he is a great bet to shut down Heyward, if Heyward is even in the lineup.

Ryan Zimmerman, 1B, Washington Nationals

FanDuel Price: $2,900

Speaking of season-long landmines, Ryan Zimmerman has been just that for the Nationals. He has been moved all the way down to eighth in the order, and tonight, he will have to go up against Johnny Cueto on the road.

Cueto has been brilliant against right-handers this season. They own just a .246 wOBA against him with a 23.1% strikeout rate.

Zimmerman has a career-low .289 wOBA this year with a career-high 21.5% strikeout rate. Against righties, it has been even worse. He has just a .280 wOBA this year against same-sided pitchers, and his ISO drops nearly 100 points to .156. With a strikeout rate of 23.0%, and a matchup against a well above average righty in Cueto, don’t try to save salary by rostering Zimmerman.