MLB

3 Daily Fantasy Baseball Players to Avoid on 8/29/19

Gabriel Billig Aug 29th, 2019
On Thursday's six-game main slate, is A.J. Pollock someone to avoid on FanDuel?

While we have plenty of pieces geared towards guys you should target in your DFS contests, it's also important to narrow down your shortlist of plays and avoid the suboptimal ones who are overpriced and/or in tough spots.

Let's check out three guys to consider fading on tonight's FanDuel main slate.

Jacob deGrom, P, New York Mets

FanDuel Price: $11,500

Jacob deGrom has once again been one of the National League's top pitchers accumulating 5.6 WAR and 207 strikeouts in just 162 innings this season.

His matchup tonight with the Chicago Cubs rates about average, but on a small slate, he figures to be a popular pick. The Cubs have also had success against righties this season as they have a 102 wRC+, which is the seventh-best mark in the league. Although deGrom can certainly have a nice outing, there are too many low cost pitching options with high upside to justify using $11,500 on DeGrom.

Chris Paddack ($7,000) is a high upside play against the San Francisco Giants.

A.J. Pollock, OF, Los Angeles Dodgers

FanDuel Price: $3,500

A.J. Pollock finds himself in Arizona taking on his former team and righty Merrill Kelly tonight.

Pollock has only a .300 wOBA against righties and sees his line drive rate fall nearly three percentage points when facing righties compared to lefties. He also strikes out in 23.5% of appearances against righties versus 18.5% against lefties.

On top of that, Kelly's strikeout rate rises five percentage points when facing righty batters rather than lefties.

Consider starting Shin-Soo Choo ($3,500), who faces Felix Hernandez tonight in Arlington.

Starling Marte, OF, Pittsburgh Pirates

FanDuel Price: $4,200

It can be difficult to lay off quality hitters playing against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field and Starling Marte certainly fits that bill.

However, Marte is a player who obtains much of his value from stolen bases. Coors field tends to give a boost to extra base hits, which take away the opportunity for steals. So while Marte might hit more doubles (six points) he is less likely to hit a single and steal a base (nine points).

If you want to start a Pirate tonight, opt for the powerful Josh Bell ($4,300).

Gabriel Billig is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Gabriel Billig also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username gpbbsb. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his/her personal views, he/she may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his/her personal account. The views expressed in his/her articles are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.