MLB
3 Daily Fantasy Baseball Players to Avoid on 6/15/17
Justin Verlander isn't showing the same strikeout upside he flashed in 2016, making him a risky DFS play. Who else should you fade on tonight's main slate?

Justin Verlander, SP, Detroit Tigers

FanDuel Price: $9,300

The Tampa Bay Rays giveth and they taketh away. As we saw from Francisco Liriano last night -- who took my fade call and told me to shove it -- when the Rays are in a giving mood, they provide it in big chunks of strikeouts.

But the Rays also ultimately put up six runs in that game, showing their dangerous side.

Unlike Liriano, who for all his problems has maintained his strikeouts this year, Justin Verlander has suddenly become rather ordinary following his near Cy Young-winning 2016. The punchouts are way down (20.7% rate), backed by a below average 8.9% swinging-strike rate. Even more concerning, the walks are way up (11.1% rate), as is an alarming hard-hit rate (38.2%).

The Rays' active roster has a 25.4% strikeout rate against righties, so on a smaller slate like tonight, you could do worse than take your shot with Verlander in a GPP. But considering they also have a 121 wRC+, know that the floor is dangerously low, and this doesn't look anything like the Verlander we saw last year.

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