MLB

3 Daily Fantasy Baseball Hitters to Avoid on 8/29/16

Andrew McCutchen has been hitting better lately, but that may come to an end Monday night against Jake Arrieta.

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.

Andrew McCutchen, OF, Pittsburgh Pirates

FanDuel Price: $3,200

Andrew McCutchen is in the midst of a huge regressive season for the Pirates, but the star outfielder has been picking it up lately. He has hit safely in six straight games and is 9-for-23 in those contests with a homer, 5 RBIs and 4 runs scored. While it has to be encouraging for the Pirates to see McCutchen start to hit like a former MVP, his time of hot hitting may come to a brief end tonight against another surging star, Jake Arrieta.

With the exception of a hiccup against the Brewers, Arrieta is starting to break out of his own mid-season slump. He has quality starts in four of his last five outings, and the last time out, he went eight strong innings and allowed just two hits to the Padres. The Pirates’ lineup is a little tougher than San Diego’s, but with McCutchen struggling a little against righties this year, Arrieta presents some problems.

Arrieta has limited righties to a .243 wOBA over the course of the season. While his strikeout rate against them has dropped some to 23.8 percent, his hard-hit rate against righties is a stellar 21.6 percent.

McCutchen, on the other hand, is producing just a .326 wOBA against righties this season compared to a career mark of .367. His strikeout rate against righties is up to 23.6 percent this season, while his isolated power is down to .161. If McCutchen is truly starting to decline at close to age 30, it’s best to avoid him tonight.

Chris Carter, 1B, Milwaukee Brewers

FanDuel Price: $3,300

Speaking of surging players, Chris Carter started out the season red hot before dropping closer to his career averages. However, Carter is starting to heat back up in the month of August, where he is slashing .258/.400/.528 with 6 doubles, 6 homers, and 12 RBIs in 89 at-bats.

But, tonight, Carter and the Brewers lock in with the Cardinals, and Carter’s matchup against Carlos Martinez is one to definitely avoid.

Martinez has dominated righties this season, and he has looked very good in his last two starts. Righties have only a .223 wOBA against Martinez this season with a 24.2 strikeout rate. Their hard-hit rate against the Cards’ righty is also just 21.7 percent.

Despite his recent surge, Carter is still struggling some to hit righties with a .327 wOBA and a 33.8 strikeout rate. His BABIP against them is just .279, and while he's hit lots of homers off righties this season, Martinez has allowed only two homers to righty hitters through 277 total batters. If Carter isn’t hitting a homer, he is likely striking out against the Cards’ righty tonight.

Leonys Martin, OF, Seattle Mariners

FanDuel Price: $2,800

Leonys Martin has also been doing well at the plate lately, hitting safely in 13 of his last 15. He is 15-for-52 in those same 15 games with a homer, a triple and 10 runs scored. However, tonight, he and the Mariners are up against Yu Darvish, who has some nasty reverse splits against lefties this season.

Darvish is limiting lefties to a .264 wOBA through 125 batters this season. For his career, Darvish holds righties to a .300 wOBA and a 28.6 strikeout rate, while this season his strikeout rate against lefties has gone up to over 31 percent.

Martin has just a .301 wOBA against righties this season, with a .287 BABIP and a 26.2 strikeout rate against them as well. With a hard-hit rate of less than 30 percent and a 50-point dip in OPS against righty pitchers, Martin is not a player you’ll want to pay for tonight against Darvish.