3 Daily Fantasy Baseball Hitters to Avoid on 6/22/16

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 Wednesday.

Joey Votto, 1B, Cincinnati Reds

FanDuel Price: $3,500

Joey Votto and the Reds are set to continue their battle with the Texas Rangers tonight, and while Votto was out of the lineup on Tuesday thanks to an illness, it might still be best to leave him off your rosters against Cole Hamels.

Hamels has been devastating to lefties this season, and for the night slate, he is FanDuel’s top priced pitching option for a reason. Lefties own a .270 wOBA against Hamels this season, and their hard hit rate against Hamels is just 22.6 percent, similar to his career rates.

Votto has had 69 at-bats against lefties this season, and his wOBA is just .271 with a 32.9 percent strikeout rate. His fly ball rate against lefties this season is just 20.9 percent. He has only 4 extra-base hits against left handers this season compared to 19 against righties, so with Hamels on the hill, don’t make the mistake of rostering Votto even if he is feeling better on Wednesday.

Andrew McCutchen, OF, Pittsburgh Pirates

FanDuel Price: $3,300

One of the biggest mysteries of the 2016 season is Andrew McCutchen's uncharacteristic decline. The Pirates star is in the midst of his worst Major League season of his career, and it has not been pretty. He played well over the weekend against the Cubs and the Thursday before that against the Mets where he went 3-for-4, but if you take away those four games, McCutchen is 0 for his last 21 at-bats.

Now on Wednesday he and the Pirates are once again facing off against the Giants, and McCutchen’s matchup against Jeff Samardzija is not a great one. Samardzija is starting to look like the pitcher that the Giants paid for this offseason, especially against righties. Right-handers have a wOBA of just .269 against him this season. His strikeout rate isn’t overwhelming at 20.4 percent against righties, but their fly ball rate is just over 30 percent, and for his career, righties have a hard hit rate of just 24.5 percent.

McCutchen has a wOBA of .316 against righties this season and a strikeout rate of 25.4 percent. Overall, his power has dropped way down this season as well. His Isolated Power is .165 overall this season, compared to .196 for his career, and a .228 mark just two seasons ago. In a tough battle tonight, and in the midst of a season-long slump, McCutchen is not worthy of a roster spot.

Justin Upton, OF, Detroit Tigers

FanDuel Price: $3,200

Speaking of players who are in the midst of their worst Major League season, Justin Upton isn't playing at his peak. However, unlike McCutchen, Upton is starting to turn things around in the month of June. He hit two home runs on Monday, and in the month of June he is hitting .289 (22-for-76) with 5 homers and 20 RBI. He is in the midst of an 11-game hitting streak, and all of this makes him even more of a landmine tonight against the likes of Hisashi Iwakuma.

Iwakuma has been good against righties this season and throughout his career. He owns a .285 wOBA against righties during his five big league seasons. His hard hit rate against righties this season is also below 30 percent, and he has a career strikeout rate against them of 22.5.

Upton, on the other hand, is still struggling some against right-handers. His wOBA against them this season is .285, and his strikeout rate is still a sky-high 34 percent against right-handed pitching. Five of his eight homers have come against righties, but it took him nearly two and a half times more at bats to get to that number, and his hard hit rate is just 33.3 percent against them too. Don’t be pulled in by Upton’s recent hot steak.