MLB

3 Daily Fantasy Baseball Players to Avoid on 6/13/19

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 June 13.

Matt Strahm, San Diego Padres (SP)

at Colorado Rockies
FanDuel Price: $9,900

There are so many red flags in this start from Matt Strahm, it should be obvious to avoid them, but let's walk through the paces.

First of all, it's in Denver, and that's a major concern for Strahm. This game rocks easily the highest over/under of the day (11.5 runs), and Denver has a major stake in that.

But let's assume Strahm can neutralize the park. Hurlers coming off on an Injured List stint are always a dicey proposition, especially considering it could be challenging for Strahm to qualify for a quality start.

Fold in Strahm's 22.2% strikeout rate, ninth on the main slate, and he's an easy one to avoid.

Juan Soto, Washington Nationals (OF)

vs Arizona Diamondbacks
FanDuel Price: $4,000

Despite being in his age-35 season with over 2,750 innings on his arm, Zack Greinke continues to dominate hitters. His 2.87 ERA and 3.75 skill-interactive ERA (SIERA) show he's still at the top of his game.

And while his velocity has dropped again this season with a reduced 9.3% swinging-strike rate, left-handed bats like Juan Soto of the Washington Nationals are not exactly a prime target.

Greinke's best work has come against opposite-handed hitters -- spanning 156 plate appearances, lefties have managed only a .221 wOBA, including a 26.3% strikeout rate and 20.8% fly-ball rate.

While Soto's home park ranks in the top-10 in both park factor and home run factor, he's best to avoid tonight.

Rafael Devers, Boston Red Sox (3B)

vs Texas Rangers
FanDuel Price: $3,800

Facing Adrian Sampson tonight, the Boston Red Sox have a healthy implied team total of 5.08 runs, which means they should see heavy ownership. And quite honestly, it makes some solid sense -- Sampson has recorded a fairly average 4.47 SIERA, including an 18.5% strikeout rate with an elevated 44.9% hard-hit rate and 41.3% fly-ball rate.

Before we hit that auto-play button on a guy like Rafael Devers, we may need to be a bit careful here. Hidden in those mediocre numbers for Sampson is a 10.1% swinging-strike rate, including strong marks against lefty-bats such as a .304 wOBA and 2.60 FIP.

Fenway Park actually clocks in pretty mediocre from a power perspective, ranking 19th over the last three seasons -- and it's important to note some weather concerns in Boston tonight with some rainy weather and in-blowing winds forecasted

The Boston bats are sure to be heavily owned, as they should be, but pivoting off Devers is likely the smart 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.