MLB

3 Daily Fantasy Baseball Hitters to Avoid on 7/20/16

Jordan Sharp  —  @TehSharp Jul 20th, 2016
Corey Seager has a tough matchup tonight against Gio Gonzalez. Who else should you steer clear of Wednesday?

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.

Corey Seager, SS, Los Angeles Dodgers

FanDuel Price: $3700

Corey Seager is battling the flu and was not in the Dodgers lineup on Tuesday after raking three doubles in Monday’s game. Tonight, if the Dodgers’ young phenom is back in the lineup, it may not be the best day to target him. There is also the small factor that he is facing off against Gio Gonzalez, a left-hander that has been pretty good at getting other lefties out at the plate.

Lefties own a .273 wOBA against Gonzalez this season. This should be a pretty tough spot for Seager to continue pounding the ball. Lefties have a fly-ball rate of just 20.3% against Gonzalez this season, and with the Nats’ lefty only allowing one home run to a lefty all year, don’t bet on Seager getting one tonight.

Seager, on the other hand, is hitting just .242 with a .308 wOBA across 99 at-bats against lefties this season. His strikeout rate goes up to 26.4% against southpaws. While his hard-hit and fly-ball rates both go up against lefties this season, it’s still a risky play with him potentially coming off battling flu-like symptoms.

Denard Span, OF, San Francisco Giants

FanDuel Price: $3000

Denard Span has been swinging a hot bat since the All-Star break, as he is 5-for-16 since the start of the second half. However, Span’s battle gets tougher tonight, as he faces off against the Boston Red Sox’ newly acquired ace, Drew Pomeranz.

There is no telling how Pomeranz will do in his transition to a much more friendly hitters' park in the American League. However, lefties have a .260 wOBA against Pomeranz this season and should be a difficult matchup for Span.

Pomeranz has only allowed one home run to lefties this season. Span isn’t much of a threat to go deep, and with Span hitting only .213 and posting a .260 wOBA against lefties, it's not the night to target him.

Whit Merrifield, 2B, Kansas City Royals

FanDuel Price: $2500

If you’re playing the early slate on FanDuel, one of the seven games you have to target is the Royals against the Cleveland Indians. Carlos Carrasco is on the hill for the Indians in this afternoon start, and with that in mind, Whit Merrifield may once again be a player you want to avoid.

Merrifield has been moved down in the Royals’ batting order as of late, and in his young career so far, righties have gotten the better of him. He owns a .279 wOBA against right-handers this season, and his ISO is just .104 against them in his career. With a hard-hit rate of just 29.7%, compared to 47.4% against lefties, there are better value plays tonight.

This is mostly because Carrasco has dominated righties. They have a .285 wOBA and 23.4% strikeout rate against him this season.