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 July 2.
German Marquez, Colorado Rockies (SP)
vs Houston Astros
FanDuel Price: $7,100
Yes, German Marquez will be very cheap on today's main slate. Pitching in Coors Field has never seemed to be his friend, but his reduced price point may make some look his way on such a large slate.
Don't fall into that trap.
While Marquez could rack up whiffs, pitching in Denver against one of the league's best offenses, the Houston Astros, is a scenario we should avoid. The Astros are very difficult to strike out, notching a strikeout rate of just 17.2% over the last 30 days. It's a nasty offense to deal with.
Even though Marquez is ranked as our top point-per-dollar value play of the day, there are plenty of reasons to look elsewhere at the pitcher slot.
Aaron Hicks, New York Yankees (OF)
at New York Mets
FanDuel Price: $3,400
After a historic weekend in London, the New York Yankees return to New York to take on their crosstown rival in a quick series. Can they keep up their offensive prowess?
Against Zack Wheeler, most likely not. While Wheeler's 4.51 ERA may seem like an easy target, he has been pretty good all season, especially versus left-handed batters. Spanning 196 plate appearances this year, Wheeler has allowed lefties to post only a .306 wOBA with a 27.0% strikeout rate.
With a shift to a pitcher-friendly environment such as Citi Field, Hicks is a fade today.
Freddie Freeman, Atlanta Braves (1B)
vs Philadelphia Phillies
FanDuel Price: $4,400
It seems that over the past few games Aaron Nola may have discovered something. While his season-long numbers of a 4.22 ERA and 1.31 homer per nine aren't pretty, he's fanned 20 batters across his last two starts, firing 15 innings in that span and allowing only one earned.
And while it seems logical to target lefty bats against him, like Freddie Freeman, Nola has held his own against lefties. This year, Nola has recorded a 29.9% strikeout rate in the split and is limiting them to a meager 30.1% fly-ball rate.
Freeman's home OPS of .987 is massive, but with him against a pitcher who has picked up the pace recently, fading Freeman could be a smart play.
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.