3 Daily Fantasy Baseball Players to Avoid on 5/21/19
Baseball is heating up, 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 21.
Christian Yelich, Milwaukee Brewers (OF)
vs Cincinnati Reds
FanDuel Price: $4,700
Alright Christian, quit playin'.
After moving to Milwaukee, the left-handed slugger has turned into an unshakable force for the Brewers, especially at Miller Park. So far this season in the friendly confines of home, Yelich has ripped his way to a .406 batting average, .629 wOBA, and 1.665 OPS in 82 plate appearances. Yowza.
And, yes, I'm telling you tonight may not be the best time to play him. Sonny Gray tabs the slab for the Cincinnati Reds, and lefties have not stood a chance against him. While 2018 was a rough campaign for Gray, the damage came from the same side of the plate as lefties recorded only a .321 wOBA and 20.6% fly-ball rate against him spanning 276 plate appearances.
It seems crazy to stay away from Yelich with the platoon advantage, but there are better ways to spend your salary.
Adalberto Mondesi, Kansas City Royals (SS)
FanDuel Price: $3,900
Adalberto Mondesi and the rest of the Kansas City Royals may not win the most games this season, but they are fun to watch. Mondesi's .793 OPS on the year isn't the best, but his five home runs and whopping 17 swipes are a big reason Kansas City leads the league in steals.
The switch-hitting Mondesi may find tonight to be a tough go, however. Michael Wacha of the St. Louis Cardinals has been nasty against lefties since the start of last season, allowing a paltry .279 wOBA and 29.9% fly-ball rate in 254 plate appearances.
Mondesi has been on fire to start the year, but this is a tough one to consider.
Tommy Pham, Tampa Bay Rays (OF)
vs Los Angeles Dodgers
FanDuel Price: $3,400
This is a classic case of reverse platoon splats working out poorly for both the batter and the pitcher, which makes it really hard to roster the power-speed asset that is Tommy Pham tonight.
First, let's dig in to Pham's opponent, Clayton Kershaw. The strikeout rate, no doubt, isn't anything to write home about at 23.8%, clocking in only 12th on the main slate today. But he's wiped out right-handed bats -- in 634 plate appearances since the start of the 2018 season, Kershaw has allowed only a .269 wOBA and 28.4% fly-ball rate in the split.
Pham, by his own accord, ain't great in this split, either. Last season, he posted only a 22.7% fly-ball rate against southpaws, and this year, he has two extra-base hits in 52 plate appearances versus left-handers, sporting a .697 OPS and .049 isolated power (ISO) mark in the split.
Pham may unlock some pop soon against lefties, but tonight is a bad spot for him.
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.
