MLB

3 Daily Fantasy Baseball Hitters to Avoid on 6/29/16

Jordan Sharp  —  @TehSharp Jun 29th, 2016
Whit Merrifield's fantastic rookie season could get rocky tonight. Who else should you 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 Wednesday.

Whit Merrifield, OF, Kansas City Royals

FanDuel Price: $3,400

The Cardinals and Royals continue their battle for Missouri tonight in St. Louis, and St. Louis has Carlos Martinez heading to the hill. Martinez has been one of the better pitchers against right-handed hitters this season, and while my favorite guy to pick on from Kansas City, Lorenzo Cain looks like he might be out of the lineup, Whit Merrifield also presents some worrisome splits against righty pitching this season.

Merrifield is having a fantastic rookie campaign, but he owns a .302 wOBA against righties this year in 114 at-bats and has a strikeout rate of 22 percent. Against Martinez, those splits might get even more exaggerated tonight.

Martinez has a lights-out wOBA of .188 against righties this season. He owns a 22.9 percent strikeout rate across 153 right-handed batters faced this season. His hard hit rate is also just 24.1 percent against them, so with a young hitter like Merrifield, I’m going with Martinez in that matchup.

Rougned Odor, 2B, Texas Rangers

FanDuel Price: $3,600

Rougned Odor has been having some really nice games at the plate over the last 10 days or so. He has hit safely in six straight games, but tonight, he has to face off against another tough pitcher from the Bronx in Masahiro Tanaka.

Tanaka is having an excellent bounce back season after suffering a partially torn UCL. His velocity may not be what it once was, but he is throwing like the pitcher the Yankees paid $155 million. He has also been better against lefty hitters this season, which makes Odor look like a landmine coming into Wednesday night. Lefties have a wOBA of only .227 against Tanaka this season across 169 total batters faced. Tanaka is also holding lefties to a fly-ball rate of just 25.2 percent.

Odor, on the other hand, has had more trouble against righties this season. He owns a .310 wOBA against righties over 199 at-bats this season. His strikeout rate against them is over 20 percent, and his hard hit rate drops nearly 10 points when he goes against righties. With Tanaka dominating lefties, it’s best to avoid Odor.

Wilmer Flores, 3B, New York Mets

FanDuel Price: $2,000

Wilmer Flores has been putting up some nice numbers for a minimum price tag over the last few games for the Mets. He was hitless last night but is still 6-for-17 in his last five games. For only $2,000, this can be inviting, but not tonight as the Mets have to face off against Max Scherzer.

Scherzer has been unstoppable against right-handed hitters this season. His wOBA is only .218 against them, and he owns an insane strikeout rate of 37.4 percent against righty hitters this year. Plus, Scherzer is walking only two percent of the righty hitters he has faced.

Flores has a .299 wOBA against righties this season across 93 at-bats. With David Wright out of the lineup, Flores has played well at times, especially with men on base, but with Scherzer on the hill, the Mets may find that getting runners on base will be pretty tough. With Flores’ 22.1 percent hard hit rate against righties, he may be one of many Scherzer victims this evening.