3 Daily Fantasy Baseball Players to Avoid on 5/15/19
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 15.
Mookie Betts, Boston Red Sox (OF)
vs Colorado Rockies
FanDuel Price: $4,400
The Boston Red Sox have regained their offensive prowess and returning to their friendly confines of home-cookin'. But they face one of the nastiest arms in baseball, especially when German Marquez can get out of Denver:
| IP | ERA | FIP | wOBA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home | 89.3 | 4.74 | 3.73 | .339 |
| Road | 106.7 | 2.95 | 3.12 | .265 |
A year ago on his way to a breakout campaign, Marquez was dominant outside of Coors, and he gets to escape that run-scoring environment. Cooler temperatures at Fenway Park should help limit the offenses overall tonight.
Now, peep Marquez's numbers against same-sided righties in 2018: .255 wOBA, 35.0% strikeout rate, and 27.1% fly-ball rate.
All of that makes Mookie Betts a tough player to roster, especially at an elevated price point, in tonight's contest.
Alex Gordon, Kansas City Royals (OF)
vs Texas Rangers
FanDuel Price: $3,600
Quietly, Mike Minor of the Texas Rangers has pieced together a brilliant start to the 2019 season. Over 53 2/3 innings pitched, Minor is rocking a 2.68 ERA with a 25.2% strikeout rate.
Minor's success lies in absolutely dominating same-sided bats. This season, Minor owns a .210 wOBA allowed and 32.4% strikeout rate, and a year ago, he was strong with a 23.5% strikeout rate and only a 1.7% walk rate.
Alex Gordon is off to one of the best starts to his career with a .387 wOBA, but this is a split he's historically struggled in with only a .719 OPS and .146 isolated power (ISO).
This game has one of the highest over/under totals (9.5 runs), so it should be heavily rostered -- despite his strong play, Gordon may not be a fantastic option.
Justin Turner, Los Angeles Dodgers (3B)
vs San Diego Padres
FanDuel Price: $3,400
Southpaw Matt Strahm has been quite impressive this season -- the young hurler has more than held his own, recording a 4.07 skill-interactive ERA (SIERA), a mark slightly above his 3.00 ERA, with a solid 9.8% swinging-strike rate.
Even more impressive during his career is how he has fared against right-handed batters like Justin Turner. Over 117 innings pitched, they hold only a .315 slugging percentage and .254 wOBA, including a 26.6% strikeout rate.
With the Dodgers sporting a decent 4.12 implied run total, they could see heavy ownership, but Turner certainly isn't a safe play.
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.
