MLB

3 Daily Fantasy Baseball Hitters to Avoid on 8/9/16

Jordan Sharp  —  @TehSharp Aug 9th, 2016
Mike Napoli runs up against Max Scherzer in Washington on Tuesday. Who else should you avoid tonight?

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.

Mike Napoli, 1B, Cleveland Indians

FanDuel Price: $2,700

Mike Napoli currently sits just inside the top five home run hitters in the league as of Tuesday. Even though his 28 homers so far are impressive, the Indians’ slugger has a very tough matchup with Max Scherzer tonight in an inter-league game in Washington. Napoli could sit if Carlos Santana is in the lineup, but even if he plays, he's a guy to shy away from.

Scherzer has been a beast this season against right-handers. They own just a .205 wOBA against the Nats’ ace and are striking out at a rate of 38.5% against Scherzer this season. The Nats’ right-hander has a 0.58 WHIP and 2.29 xFIP against righties.

Napoli owns a solid .353 wOBA against right-handers, but his strikeout rate is a touch more than 32%. His walk rate falls four full points when he is up against right-handers, as well.

Napoli is on fire with six homers in his last nine contests. However, with a matchup against a tough right-hander like Scherzer, he's not worth the risk, especially with so many other quality options at first.

Eric Hosmer, 1B, Kansas City Royals

FanDuel Price: $2,600

Another first baseman worth avoiding this evening is Eric Hosmer. The lefty has to go up against Chris Sale in tonight’s divisional matchup with the Chicago White Sox.

Hosmer has just a .304 wOBA against left-handers this season. He has done well to lower his strikeout rate against southpaws. However, his hard hit rate drops to 25.2%, and he has a fly-ball rate of just 21.6% against lefties this season.

Hosmer has had some success against Sale -- hitting .359 with a double, two homers and four RBI’s over 39 career at bats -- but that's a pretty small sample size from which to draw conclusions.

This season, Sale has limited lefties to a .263 wOBA with a 29.6% strikeout rate. For his career, lefties own just a .239 wOBA with a 30.6% strikeout rate. With that in mind, even with some nice numbers versus Sale for his career, Hosmer is in the landmine category tonight.

Cameron Rupp, C, Philadelphia Phillies

FanDuel Price: $2,700

Cameron Rupp has been a fantasy beast over the last week. He is averaging nearly 20 FanDuel points per game over his last six outings, and that includes an 0-for-4 game on Saturday. However, his hot run may come to an end against Kenta Maeda.

Right-handers have a .257 wOBA against Maeda this season. The Dodgers’ rookie has a 28.1% strikeout rate against righty hitters and is allowing a hard-hit rate of just 25.1%.

Rupp, on the other hand, has a .330 wOBA versus righties this year. His ISO drops from .333 against lefties to .190 against right-handers, while his strikeout rate goes up slightly to 24.8%. Once again, while Rupp has been hot, it might be the night to jump off the Phillies’ catcher.