MLB

3 Daily Fantasy Baseball Hitters to Avoid on 8/8/16

Carlos Gonzalez has been on fire lately, but that could come to an end tonight against Cole Hamels.

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.

Carlos Gonzalez, OF, Colorado Rockies

FanDuel Price: $4,300

Carlos Gonzalez has been scorching at the plate lately. He currently owns a 17-game hitting streak, and after getting the day off on Sunday, he is going to be a potentially popular option in DFS tonight. However, despite the recent hot streak, Gonzalez is up against Cole Hamels tonight. Even in Coors Field, the Rockies’ slugger might have his hit streak ended tonight.

Gonzalez has been stellar this season, but he has been noticeably better against right-handers. Left-handed pitchers have gotten to Gonzalez at times this season. He owns a solid .353 wOBA against lefties, but his strikeout rate is up to 32 percent against them this season, while his walk rate drops to only 2.5 percent when up against southpaws.

Hamels has limited left-handers to a wOBA of .234 this season over 120 batters faced. The Rangers’ lefty has been even more impressive limiting other lefties to a hard hit rate of just 27.1 percent this season. With a career strikeout rate of 23.2 percent against lefties, Hamels might end up getting the best of Gonzalez.

Giancarlo Stanton, OF, Miami Marlins

FanDuel Price: $3,400

Another slugger with a tough matchup tonight is Giancarlo Stanton. Fresh off hitting a massive 500-foot homer over the weekend, Stanton is up against Johnny Cueto on Monday night, which might end up being a matchup to stay away from.

Stanton owns a .337 wOBA against right-handers overall this season. His strikeout rate climbs to 31.2 percent when he is up against them as well, and Stanton’s hard hit rate drops from 54.7 against lefties to 38 percent against righties.

Cueto, on the other hand, has always been good against right-handed hitters. Righties have a .252 wOBA over 342 batters faced this season. Cueto has a solid 22.5 percent strikeout rate against them this season, and he has a hard hit rate of just 24.1 percent against righties as well. Stanton does have two homers off Cueto in his career, so while the matchup isn’t a complete fade, Stanton’s matchup is too tough to rely on him in cash games tonight.

Michael Saunders, OF, Toronto Blue Jays

FanDuel Price: $3,300

Michael Saunders has been falling off a cliff as the high summer months hit. After his two-home run game back on July 23rd, Saunders is just 6-for-41 at the plate with no homers and 19 strikeouts. Against Jake Odorizzi, Saunders is not a great bet to bust out of his mini slump tonight.

Saunders’ wOBA is .353 against righties this season. However, his isolated power falls from .337 against lefties to .210 against right-handers. He has a 28.3 percent strikeout rate against righties this season, and while 11 of his 19 homers have come off right-handers, his slugging percentage drops almost 150 points when he faces them.

Odorizzi has been impressive this season, and a big reason for that has been his play against left-handed hitters. They have a .254 wOBA over 235 batters faced this season. Odorizzi’s strikeout rate is 27.7 percent against lefties, and with Saunders striking out so much lately, he is certainly a hitter to avoid.