3 Daily Fantasy Baseball Hitters to Avoid on 5/26/16
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 Thursday.
Christian Yelich, OF, Miami Marlins
FanDuel Price: $3,700
Christian Yelich has missed some time over the last five games, but there is a chance he could be returning to the lineup for the Marlins on Thursday. However, even if they decide to throw Yelich back in there, he faces a tougher than average matchup today in a lefty-lefty battle with Drew Smyly.
Yelich has been having an outstanding season, and while his recent injury has forced him to miss most of this week, he is still hitting lefties well this year. His wOBA against lefties in 2016 through 29 at-bats is .418. However, he has yet to hit a home run off a lefty, and it has shown in his power numbers. His ISO drops to .069 against lefties this season, and his fly ball rate is only 4.5 percent against lefties this year. For his career, his strikeout rate against lefties is 23 percent, and his wOBA is .318.
Smyly has slowed down some against lefties this season, but for his career, he has been a tough opponent. Lefties' wOBA against him is only .243 for his career, and his strikeout rate is above 30 percent against lefties. This season, Smyly is striking out one out of every three lefties he faces, and their hard hit rate against him is just 23.5 percent.
Brian McCann, C, New York Yankees
FanDuel Price: $3,200
Brian McCann is usually a good tournament play in the right matchup, but the wrong pitching matchup could mean the difference between winning and losing in daily fantasy baseball. Today may be one of the latter situations, as McCann and the Yankees are going up against J.A. Happ.
McCann has struggled against lefties this season, and it has led to him being out of the lineup on occasion against them too. However, if he is still in the Yankees' starting lineup this afternoon, it might be best to look elsewhere for a catcher. McCann has a wOBA of only .253 against lefties this season through 34 at-bats, and he has a career wOBA of .328 against lefties. This season, McCann’s strikeout rate against lefties is over 31 percent, and only one of his six home runs have come off lefties this season.
Happ, on the other hand, has been quite good against lefties on the young season. They are posting a wOBA of .268 against him through 45 total batters faced. For his career, Happ has a strikeout rate of 21.5 percent against lefties and a hard hit rate of 27.2 percent. Happ’s fly ball rate drops a lot against lefties as well. It goes from 42.4 against righties to 34.4 percent against lefties in his 10 big league seasons.
Steve Souza, OF, Tampa Bay Rays
FanDuel Price: $3,200
With a short slate here on Thursday, you have to get creative in your roster construction. However, don’t feel like you have to do something crazy. At times this season Steven Souza has been very good for daily fantasy players, but he also has the ability to put up some duds, and today may be more of a dud for fantasy owners.
Souza is going up against Jose Fernandez, and if there is one thing Fernandez can do, it’s strike out right-handed batters. Fernandez’s strikeout rate against righties this season is over 46 percent, and their wOBA against him is just .249 through 110 total batters. For his career, righties have an even worse wOBA of .212.
Souza is a strikeout machine, especially against righties. In 108 at-bats against right-handed pitching this season, Souza’s strikeout rate is 32.8 percent, and for his career, it’s even worse at nearly 35 percent. His ISO and BABIP both drop significantly against righties, and with Fernandez on the hill, it might be hard for him to make contact today.
