3 Daily Fantasy Baseball Players to Avoid on 8/8/18

Clayton Kershaw, SP, Los Angeles Dodgers

FanDuel Price: $11,000

He is the Sandy Koufax of our generation. He is Clayton Kershaw. And in his age-30 season, he may be in decline.

Be it age or just the accumulation of injuries he has experienced in recent years, Kershaw has not performed at his typical level this season. Make no mistake about it, he is still filthy, but he may no longer be worth the exorbitant salary.

After posting a strikeout rate of 29.8% above in 4 straight seasons, Kershaw is down to 25.5% in 2018. His 11.5% swinging-strike rate is also his lowest since 2013. His 33.6% hard-hit rate allowed is on pace to be the highest of his career, and his 3.27 SIERA is his highest since 2012.

The Oakland Athletics are no pushover matchup either. Against southpaws this season, they rank 6th in fly-ball rate (38.0%) and 2nd in hard-hit rate (40.0%). With this game in an American League park where Kershaw will face a Designated Hitter as he rarely does in the National League, he is an avoid, especially while he is by far the most expensive pitcher on the slate.