3 Daily Fantasy Baseball Players to Avoid on 5/8/18

Marcus Semien, SS, Oakland Athletics

FanDuel Price: $3,400

It's a good thing that it's a large slate tonight, as there's a second shortstop to avoid in the Oakland Athletics' Marcus Semien.

Semien has primarily batted out of the leadoff spot for the A's, and that's not a bad place to be for an offense that ranks 10th in runs scored (159) and sixth in wOBA (.325) on the year. So far this season, Semien's crossed home plate 25 times on the year, and he's been at his best with a lefty on the mound. In 61 plate appearances with the platoon advantage, he has socked his way to a .356 wOBA and 45.0% hard-hit rate.

Unfortunately for Semien, he draws right-handed starter in Lance McCullers tonight, who's been nasty in this split. Dating back to the start of 2017, McCullers has pitched 87 2/3 innings against righties, posting a 3.33 xFIP, 29.2% hard-hit rate, and 21.3% fly-ball rate.

Semien has shown similar struggles, and it's not just limited to 2018. In 381 plate appearances over the last two seasons, Semien has recorded a paltry 26.9% hard-hit rate and .309 wOBA against righties, so it's best to look elsewhere at the position on Tuesday.

Matt Kupferle is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Matt Kupferle also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username MKupferle. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he/she may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in his articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.