3 Daily Fantasy Baseball Hitters to Avoid on 6/13/16

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 Monday.

Trayce Thompson, OF, Los Angeles Dodgers

FanDuel Price: $3,400

Trayce Thompson has been named an every-day player even after Yasiel Puig comes off the disabled list, and he has earned that spot. However, tonight he and the Dodgers have to run up against former Dodger Zack Greinke, who has the ability to be devastating against right-handed hitters.

Although Greinke is not yet duplicating his insane .211 wOBA against right-handers from last season, righties have a wOBA of just .278 this season, and right-handed hitters have a BABIP of only .258 against Greinke in 2016.

Thompson’s 263 career at bats are hardly a large sample size, but they do tell some interesting stories about this matchup. Thompson has a 22.3% strikeout rate for his career against righties, but what’s more important is how he has fared so far against two specific pitches: the two-seam fastball and cutter. Thompson has -0.74 two-seam fastball runs above average per 100 pitches and a mark of -1.97 runs above average per 100 pitches against cutters this season.

Greinke’s best pitch this year has been his two-seam fastball with -2.60 runs above average per 100 pitches, and while his cutter has only been his fourth-best pitch this season, it was his best in 2010 and 2014. If he can channel the two-seamer and the cutter against Thompson, it may be a long night for the young Dodgers outfielder.

Javier Baez, SS, Chicago Cubs

FanDuel Price: $2,700

Javier Baez has been a huge boom-or-bust tournament play as of late. The definition of a level-10 fantasy landmine, though, is a player who appears to be a value -- and whose ownership may be high as well -- only to crash your lineups with a poor score. Baez may fall into the category on Monday. He jacked his third home run in his last seven starts on Sunday against the Atlanta Braves, and he is now hitting .344 in the month of June.

We should be skeptical about Baez because he has struggled against right-handed pitching at times during his young career. His wOBA against righties in 311 career at bats is only .252, and while his strikeout rate is a modest 20.4% against righties this season, it's 32.6% for his career. All this would be good to know for Baez against any righty, but tonight, he isn’t up against any old right-hander; he is facing Max Scherzer.

Scherzer has faced 171 right-handed batters this season, and they have a wOBA of only .198 against him. He has walked only two of these batters, and only 10 others have gotten an extra-base hit. His strikeout rate is a crazy 37.4% against righties this season, and his WHIP against them is 0.55. It might be time to jump off the Baez train for a night.

Lorenzo Cain, OF, Kansas City Royals

FanDuel Price: $3,000

Lorenzo Cain rounds out the landmines on Monday night as he and the Royals face off against Carlos Carrasco and the Cleveland Indians. If it weren’t for two hanging sliders against Chris Iannetta in his second start back from the disabled list, Carrasco’s night would have been a lot better last time out. However, there were some encouraging signs that Carrasco will quickly shake off the dust.

Of his 99 pitches last Wednesday, 63 were strikes, and he had 10 ground balls to only four fly balls. This season, righties have a wOBA of .288 against Carrasco, and he has been even better on the road. Even though that aforementioned start against the Seattle Mariners was also on the road, righties have a wOBA of .268 against Carrasco when he pitches on the road this year, and he was even better on the road in 2014 and 2015 with wOBAs of .236 and .243, respectfully.

If Carrasco has his stuff on the road tonight, Cain might be in trouble. He has a wOBA of only .298 against right-handers this season, and his isolated power drops to .106, compared to .245 against lefties. Cain also has a strikeout rate of nearly 25% against righties, and considering he is hitting .206 in his last nine games, he shouldn’t be on anyone’s radar tonight.