3 Daily Fantasy Baseball Players to Avoid on 7/30/19
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 30.
David Price, Boston Red Sox (SP)
vs. Tampa Bay Rays
FanDuel Price: $8,900
As he lines up to face his old team tonight, David Price has some numbers that stick out positively. In four 2019 starts against the Tampa Bay Rays, he's limited them to eight runs scored over 23 innings pitched, striking out 35 batters over that time frame.
But Price seems to be really off his game as of late. Over his last eight starts, he's allowed a 36.0% hard-hit rate, and over his last three starts he's been dinged for four long balls. Price's last start represents just his first quality start since July 2nd.
Fold in a breeze blowing out tonight, and Price could be in for a rough evening, making the expensive hurler not worth spending up for.
George Springer, Houston Astros (OF)
at Cleveland Indians
FanDuel Price: $4,300
The Minnesota Twins and Houston Astros appear to be locked into a see-saw type of battle for the moniker of the league's best offense. The 'Stros clock in just behind the Twins in team wOBA (.346) and isolated power (.206, ISO), and they rank eighth in hard-hit rate (39.6%).
Unfortunately for the Astros, there's a mega ace showdown tonight between Justin Verlander and the Cleveland Indians starter, Shane Bieber. Bieber ranks second-best on the main slate in strikeout rate (31.3%), and he has dominated same-sided bats like George Springer this year with a .256 wOBA and only 0.99 home runs per nine (HR/9) innings pitched.
Springer has been strong against righties this year, but his 32.2% fly-ball rate leaves a bit to be desired. His walk rate also dips significantly in this split, from 16.7% against lefties to 9.0% against righties. With a tough matchup on tap, it may be a bit rough to play Springer tonight.
Aaron Judge, New York Yankees (OF)
vs. Arizona Diamondbacks
FanDuel Price: $4,200
Even with a contest in Denver tonight, the New York Yankees implied team total of 6.95 runs leads the main slate. That should lead to a lot of folks slamming guys like Aaron Judge into their lineups.
Something, though, seems off with Judge -- and his numbers bear that out. In the month of July (102 plate appearances), Judge has hit for only a .198 ISO, .465 slugging percentage, and 24.5% fly-ball rate, which are all low-water marks for the towering outfielder this season.
Now, also consider that Judge has struggled significantly against same-sided arms. The only statistical category he has performed better in against righties than lefties this year is with a lower strikeout rate -- he is far worse in terms of batting average (.327 versus .269), OPS (1.010 versus .866), and wOBA (.424 versus .364). While Taylor Clarke is not Cy Young, he is a righty and you can bet the D-Backs will roll out a stream of righties against Judge.
Judge is likely to be heavily owned, but for an outfielder priced over $4,000, it doesn't look like he's going to return his cost of investment.
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.
