MLB

3 Daily Fantasy Baseball Players to Avoid on 5/29/19

Matt Kupferle  —  @MKupferle May 29th, 2019
Alex Bregman and the Astros lock horns with the Cubbies, but righties could be in for a tough night against Kyle Hendricks. Who else should we look to pivot away from?

Baseball is heating up, and there are plenty of DFS contests to choose from on FanDuel's main slate. While we have plenty of pieces geared towards guys you should target in your DFS contests, it's also important to avoid sub-optimal options who are overpriced and/or in tough spots.

Let's check out three players to consider fading on FanDuel's main slate for May 29.

Whit Merrifield, Kansas City Royals (OF)

at Chicago White Sox
FanDuel Price: $3,900

They may be youthful and losing a pile of games, but the Kansas City Royals are a fun and exciting group, led by Adalberto Mondesi, Nicky Lopez, and Whit Merrifield.

But tonight's AL Central tilt between the boys in blue and the Chicago White Sox could be tough on right-handed batters like Merrifield. Reynaldo Lopez gets the ball for the Sox, and he's been in stellar in this split -- so far this season spanning 127 batters, Lopez has allowed only a .325 wOBA and has a hefty 26.8% strikeout rate.

It's not a one-year blip, either -- a year ago spanning 386 plate appearances, Lopez limited same-sided batters to a .314 wOBA and 33.3% hard-hit rate. With those numbers, shy away from the Royals outfielder.

Alex Bregman, Houston Astros (3B)

vs Chicago Cubs
FanDuel Price: $4,300

Houston, we have lift off.

Last night showcased two of the best teams in baseball between the Houston Astros and the Chicago Cubs, and there were 15 runs piled up in a narrow Astros win.

Tonight, Alex Bregman and the 'Stros will look to continue to pile up runs -- but it won't be easy against Kyle Hendricks, who's been throwing the heck out of the baseball. Hendricks has destroyed same-sided batters in 2019, holding them to a .266 wOBA, .331 slugging percentage, and 26.9% fly-ball rate.

The Astros are pegged for a decent 4.50 run implied team total, so Houston players will likely see decent ownership, but it could be a tough night for righties.

Marcell Ozuna, St. Louis Cardinals (OF)

at Philadelphia Phillies

FanDuel Price: $4,000

A first peek at Aaron Nola's 2019 season looks kind of ugly for a pitcher you expected to be a staff ace. He's only sporting a 4.53 ERA over 57 2/3 innings, he has a 25.9% strikeout rate (down 1.1% from 2018), has seen his walk rate increase to 9.8% (up 2.8%), and has had a major jump in hard-hit rate, to 36.0%.

Unfortunately for righties like Marcell Ozuna, Nola has still been downright nasty in that split in 2019. He's limited them to a .298 wOBA, 26.2% strikeout rate, and 24.4% fly-ball rate.

The Cards are pegged for an implied team total of 4.68 runs, so it looks like there will be some runs tonight -- but Ozuna may be faced with a stiff test at the dish.


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 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.