MLB

3 FanDuel MLB Hitters to Avoid on 8/30/16

Jordan Sharp  —  @TehSharp Aug 30th, 2016
Robinson Cano was dominated by Chris Sale last week, and he has another tough lefty-lefty matchup on Tuesday versus 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 Tuesday.

Robinson Cano, 2B, Seattle Mariners

FanDuel Price: $3,500

Robinson Cano has five hits in his last three games since being manhandled by Chris Sale last Friday. Cano was featured in our landmines article then, and he is back again, this time for a matchup against Cole Hamels.

After striking out 3 times against Sale, Cano’s wOBA against lefties dropped to .323. Cano’s ISO falls to .176 against lefties -- compared to .263 versus righties -- and his hard-hit rate is down to 28.7% against southpaws.

Hamels has limited lefties to a .240 wOBA this season while he is allowing just a 27.6% hard-hit rate to southpaws. It's probably best to leave Cano of your DFS rosters tonight.

Welington Castillo, C, Arizona Diamondbacks

FanDuel Price: $2,700

Welington Castillo had a great night at the plate on Monday, but half of his RBI’s came off a sacrifice fly and a groundout. However, he did have a nice RBI double off Jumbo Diaz late in the game, but Castillo’s prospects are a little less intriguing against Johnny Cueto.

Cueto has been very good against righties throughout his career, and this season right-handers own just a .254 wOBA against him. Righties have a hard hit rate of just 25.3% against Cueto this season.

Castillo has also not hit righties well this year, posting a .301 wOBA, .122 ISO and 27.5% strikeout rate. He only has 5 homers off righties this season in 237 at-bats while his walk rate falls nearly two full percentage points to 6.9%.

Maikel Franco, 3B, Philadelphia Phillies

FanDuel Price: $2,500

Late August has not been kind to Philadelphia Phillies’ third baseman Maikel Franco. He has struck out a total of four times in his last three games, and he is just 4-for-25 in his last six contests. This is probably not going to improve tonight as the Phillies go up against Max Scherzer, who has been the most dominant pitcher this season against right-handers.

Righties have just a .207 wOBA this year against Scherzer with an incredible 38.0% strikeout rate. His xFIP against righties is an excellent 2.44, and Scherzer has an impressive 0.62 WHIP against right-handers.

Franco has not fared very well against right-handed pitchers, struggling to a .293 wOBA and 28.0% hard-hit rate. In a brutal matchup, it's wise to look elsewhere at third base.