MLB
3 Daily Fantasy Baseball Players to Avoid on 5/4/18
Christian Villanueva has been swinging a big stick in the first month of the season. Why should you avoid using him on Friday night?

Mike Moustakas, 3B, Kansas City Royals

FanDuel Price: $3,300

Mike Moustakas has struggled with left-handed pitching throughout his career, posting just an 85 wRC+ against them with just a 25.7% hard-hit rate. In case you were questioning whether this is just a product of early-career struggles against same-sided pitching, Moustakas struggled against left-handed pitching in his breakthrough 2017 as well. In 2017, he had a 98 wRC+ against southpaws (119 against right-handers) as well as just a 28.7% hard-hit rate (33.1% against right-handers).

On Friday, Moustakas has to deal with one of the quietly toughest pitchers against left-handed hitters: Francisco Liriano. In his career, Liriano has held left-handed batters to a .271 wOBA as a product of a 25.5% strikeout rate, 23.5% fly-ball rate, and a 21.4% hard-hit rate.

Liriano has still been tough on left-handed hitters, even in his late-career decline. In 2017, he held them to a .286 wOBA. This was driven by a 22.0% strikeout rate, 26.1% fly-ball rate, and an 18.3% hard-hit rate.

Even at the age of 34, Liriano brings it against left-handed hitters, so it's best to steer clear of Moustakas in this spot.

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