MLB

3 Daily Fantasy Baseball Players to Avoid on 5/9/19

Matt Kupferle  —  @MKupferle May 9th, 2019
Michael Brantley has been a boss to begin 2019, but he's got a tough matchup tonight against Mike Minor. Who else should we consider ignoring?

Baseball is here, 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 May 9.

Michael Brantley, Houston Astros

vs Kansas City Royals
FanDuel Price: $4,000

The offseason addition of Michael Brantley to the Houston Astros seems to have been a perfect fit -- the lefty slugger is smashing the ball nicely for an already loaded lineup, logging a cool .412 wOBA so far this season.

Unfortunately for Brantley, though, facing the red-hot Mike Minor of the Texas Rangers may slow him down a bit. Minor has been equally impressive to all bats in 2019, posting nasty .223 and .260 wOBA marks versus lefties and righties, respectively.

Brantley's numbers take a tumble against same-sided arms, owning a .118 isolated power (ISO) and .820 OPS against lefties, as opposed to marks of .308 and 1.042 with the platoon advantage.

This ain't a small sample size effect, either, as Brantley logged a putrid .081 ISO against lefties a year ago. With a massive implied team total as heavy favorites today, Astros will surely be owned, but rostering Brantley may not be your best bet.

Ketel Marte, Arizona Diamondbacks

vs Atlanta Braves
FanDuel Price: $3,900

The switch-hitting Ketel Marte of the Arizona Diamondbacks may be one of the best surprises of 2019. He owns a .353 wOBA on the young year, and his nine long balls have provided some much needed thump to this batting order.

Mike Soroka of the Atlanta Braves is out to slow down Marte and the D-Backs, and he's been particularly adept against lefties in his young career. Spanning 93 total batters faced (still a small amount), Soroka has limited the damage to only a .266 wOBA, including a 23.7% strikeout rate and 19.4% fly-ball rate.

Marte has been on fire so far, but a matchup with the equally tough Soroka could cool those jets.

Brett Gardner, New York Yankees

vs Seattle Mariners
FanDuel Price: $3,600

It's truly remarkable that the New York Yankees do not sit in last place at this point given their myriad of injuries. While guys like Gary Sanchez and Clint Frazier are back, studs like Giancarlo Stanton, Aaron Judge, and Aaron Hicks remain on the injured list, giving Brett Gardner some solid playing time.

Facing Mike Leake of the Seattle Mariners in the Bronx could seemingly be a healthy elixir for Garnder, and a slate-best 4.97 implied team total should make the Yankees a popular pick.

But Leake has been strong against lefties in recent history. Just last season, the veteran righty logged a 26.9% fly-ball rate and .317 wOBA against 355 total batters faced.

Leake's 4.91 ERA and 4.46 skill-interactive ERA (SIERA) will rightfully make him a target to stack against, but playing Gardner may be prove to be an unwise choice.


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.