3 Daily Fantasy Baseball Hitters to Avoid on 6/14/16
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 Tuesday.
Adam Eaton, OF, Chicago White Sox
FanDuel Price: $3,100
Adam Eaton and the White Sox have a tough assignment on Tuesday as they face off against Jordan Zimmermann and the Tigers. Despite having an intriguing lefty-righty matchup in this game to start out, Eaton has been anything but efficient against right-handed pitching this season, and Zimmermann has been a thorn in lefties’ sides.
This year, lefties have a wOBA of just .264 against the right-handed Zimmerman through 136 total batters faced. They are hitting just .219, and when Zimmerman is pitching on the road, left-handed hitters’ wOBA drops to .253. While this newfound dominance against lefty hitting could subside later in the season, it makes for a tougher-than-average matchup for Eaton.
Eaton is hitting .348 with a wOBA of .382 against lefties this season. But against righties, his wOBA drops to .307, and his average goes down to .242 in 182 at bats. Eaton has a 15.5 percent strikeout rate against righties this season, and his BABIP is only .277. While his power numbers haven’t taken much of a hit, it is concerning enough to warrant leaving Eaton off your daily rosters tonight.
Scooter Gennett, 2B, Milwaukee Brewers
FanDuel Price: $2,200
Scooter Gennett came back from the disabled list not playing on days the Brewers faced lefty pitching, but that has changed some as of late. If he is in the lineup tonight, he might not be a player you want to target against one of the game’s best lefties, Madison Bumgarner.
Even though Gennett’s price and splits against lefties aren’t bad this season, the sample size is small due to his time on the disabled list. Gennett has only 24 at bats against lefties this season, and while he is hitting a semi-respectable .250 in those 24 at bats, his career numbers tell a different story. For his career, Gennett has a wOBA of just .193 against lefties, and his strikeout rate is 28 percent. Last season, Gennett rarely played against lefties, and he had a wOBA of .138 against them.
Enter Bumgarner, and you’ll want to avoid Gennett and other Brewers lefties if they are playing in this one. Lefties have a wOBA of only .195 against Bumgarner this season, and the Giants’ ace has a strikeout rate of 33.8 percent against the 71 lefties he has faced. Lefties aren't even making good contact when they hit the ball with a hard-hit rate of 25.6 percent.
Jordy Mercer, SS, Pittsburgh Pirates
FanDuel Price: $2,500
Despite a couple of zeros in two of his last four games, Jordy Mercer has not been a bad fantasy shortstop over the last few weeks. In his last 10 games, he is averaging 8.7 FanDuel points per game, and for a salary well below $3,000, you can’t argue with that from a cash-game perspective. While Mercer probably won’t win you any tournaments, he is still a value play at times, but tonight may be another story.
Mercer faces off against Jacob deGrom tonight, who has been very good thus far in his career at getting right-handed batters out. Righties own a .243 wOBA against deGrom during his career as well as a 27 percent strikeout rate. So far, deGrom hasn’t been as dominant this season, posting a .293 wOBA against righties, but Mercer still could have a tough time getting on base tonight.
This season, Mercer has a wOBA against righties of .290 in 161 at bats, and for his career, that number drops to .275. His strikeout rate against righties for his career is six points higher than against lefties at 17.5 percent, and his hard-hit rate drops to 24.5 percent. With an above-average right-hander on the mound tonight, Mercer is a player to avoid.
