3 Daily Fantasy Baseball Hitters to Avoid on 4/12/16
As is the case in most daily fantasy sports, finding information on players you might want to roster is a lot easier than finding players to avoid.
While you can get away with a zero from a hitter in daily fantasy, you certainly don't want to target guys whose matchups aren't enticing.
Here are three hitters you may want to lessen your exposure to or even fade altogether on Tuesday.
Giancarlo Stanton, OF, Miami Marlins
FanDuel Price: $4,700
The Marlins are heading into Citi Field tonight to play the Mets, and one of the tougher matchups for any hitter on this Tuesday DFS slate is Noah Syndergaard. The Mets' young righty burst onto the scene last season, and this season, he is poised for yet another dominant year.
With that being said, Giancarlo Stanton might find it hard tonight in Citi Field, one of the more pitcher friendly parks in the Majors. According to the weather reports, the wind will be blowing in at around 10 miles per hour on right-handed hitters, and that doesn’t even take into account the bad matchup for Stanton.
Last season, Syndergaard posted a wOBA against of .262 against right-handed hitters. When he pitched at home against righties, that number dropped to .239, and righties hit just .183 off him at Citi Field in 2015. His strikeout rate was also 32.6 percent overall against righties last season, and for a player who strikes out a lot, Stanton may be in for trouble tonight.
Last season, even though Stanton was better against righties than he was against lefties, the Marlins' slugger struck out a lot on the road. His strikeout rate was 34.6 percent on the road last season, and his walk rate dropped from 13 percent at home to only 8.3 percent on the road. With the wind blowing in as well, don’t risk paying for Stanton tonight against one of the league’s toughest young pitchers.
Troy Tulowitzki, SS, Toronto Blue Jays
FanDuel Price: $3,100
Compared to some of his teammates, Troy Tulowitzki is off to a slow start. However, that shouldn’t be too much of a surprise. Tulowitzki has almost always been somewhat of a slow starter. In the months of March and April, Tulowitzki owns a batting average of just .268, by far his worst months of the season, and his BABIP during those months is .287 throughout his career. These, of course, include his time in a hitter’s park in Colorado.
He has also struggled in his career playing at Rogers Centre. Last season, he only hit .250 at home after coming over in a trade from Colorado, and throughout his career, the shortstop is hitting only .225 at Rogers Centre, with a strikeout rate of 26.8 percent.
Now enter Masahiro Tanaka, who apparently loves pitching in Canada. The Yankees' right-hander has an ERA of 1.69 in two starts and 16 innings of work in Toronto. Hitters are batting just .190 off him there, and he has a strikeout rate of 25.8 percent there.
Plus, Tanaka has a wOBA against of .279 against right-handers when he pitches on the road throughout his career, and unlike Tulowitzki, Tanaka loves pitching early in the season, as hitters are only batting .191 off him in the months of April and March.
Freddie Freeman, 1B, Atlanta Braves
FanDuel Price: $3,100
Even though Freddie Freeman is a solid price tonight, he is on the road and going up against another tough left-handed pitcher. Freeman made the landmines once last week in a similar position against Jaime Garcia and went 0-for-3, and now he faces an even tougher matchup against Gio Gonzalez.
Last season, lefties had a wOBA of just .281 against Gonzalez, and their wOBA dropped to .241 when they were facing Gonzalez at Nationals Park. Freeman, on the other hand, is only a career .251 hitter against left-handed pitching, and he owns a strikeout rate of 24.6 percent against lefties in his career, compared to a career mark of 20.8 percent.
However, one thing Freeman has going for him tonight is his history at Nationals Park. In his last two seasons hitting in Washington D.C., Freeman owns an average of .451 with 10 extra-base hits in 62 at-bats. Don’t fade him altogether, but I wouldn’t use him for cash games.
