MLB

3 Daily Fantasy Baseball Hitters to Avoid on 5/6/16

Jordan Sharp  —  @TehSharp May 6th, 2016
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.

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 Friday.

Carlos Gonzalez, OF, Colorado Rockies

FanDuel Price: $3,500

When playing at home, almost every Rockies player is usually in play regardless of pitching matchup. On the road it’s a different story, especially against one of the game’s best pitchers in Madison Bumgarner. No Rockies player has more landmine potential tonight than Carlos Gonzalez, who has been roughed up by tough lefties this season and in his career.

So far this season through 33 at-bats, Gonzalez has a wOBA of .263 against left-handers, and for his career his wOBA is .320, while his strikeout rate is close to 25 percent. His fly ball rate and hard hit rate drop three full percentage points for his career against lefties, and this season, his strikeout rate is close to 30 percent against lefties.

Bumgarner, on the other hand, has dominated lefties. They own a wOBA of just .226 against him this season, and for Bumgarner’s career, lefties have a wOBA of just .248. Even though the sample size is small, his strikeout rate against left-handed hitters is 37 percent this season, and lefties own a hard hit rate of just 26.7 percent, compared to 34.9 percent against righties. Being away from Coors Field puts the icing on the landmine cake for Gonzalez.

Matt Kemp, OF, San Diego Padres

FanDuel Price: $3,700

Matt Kemp is in a similar situation tonight as he is in San Diego tonight against one of the game’s toughest young right-handers in Noah Syndergaard. Kemp is off to a nice start this season for the Padres, but throughout his career, he has had a tough time hitting right-handed pitchers.

For his career, Kemp has a wOBA of .343 against righties and a strikeout rate of 24.8 percent. His hard hit rate is 33.9 percent compared to 39.6 percent against lefties, and this season, his numbers aren’t much different. His wOBA against righties is .349 this year through 80 at-bats, but he is striking out less overall this season.

Syndergaard has been dominant against almost everyone -- especially right-handers. For his career, the Mets’ pitcher has a wOBA against righties of .260 and a strikeout rate of 31.9 percent. So far, he has been even better this season with a wOBA against righties of .251 and a hard hit rate of just 20 percent. Kemp may still be a solid tournament play, but he shouldn’t touch your cash game rosters.

Jordy Mercer, SS, Pittsburgh Pirates

FanDuel Price: $2,800

Jordy Mercer has made the landmines once this season, and he is back again with a tough matchup against the Cardinals and Carlos Martinez. The Cardinals' flamethrower has been almost un-hittable against right-handers this season, and Mercer has struggled against right-handers for his career.

This season, Mercer owns a wOBA of just .314 against righties, and for his career, his wOBA against right-handers is .276. Even though he has been better this season against pitchers from both sides of the rubber, Martinez presents an especially tough matchup.

In 2016, Martinez has a wOBA against righties of just .136. His career mark is .266. Righties have a strikeout rate of 26.2 percent. Mercer’s price tag is enticing, but if he is hitting down in the order, it might be too much to overcome against Martinez tonight.