MLB

3 Daily Fantasy Baseball Players to Avoid on 8/8/19

While we have plenty of pieces geared towards guys you should target in your DFS contests, it's also important to narrow down your short list of plays and avoid the suboptimal ones who are overpriced and/or in tough spots.

Let's check out three guys to consider fading on tonight's FanDuel main slate.

Dallas Keuchel, SP, Atlanta Braves

FanDuel Price: $8,700

Dallas Keuchel has some things going in his favor tonight -- namely a superb matchup with the lowly Miami Marlins. Listed as a -196 favorite, the Atlanta Braves' lefty has a good shot to get a win, and Miami's 3.64 implied total is the kind of number we love to target.

What Keuchel is missing, however, is upside. The former Cy Young winner holds a mere 17.8% strikeout rate and 8.1% swinging-strike rate. Outside of a 12-punchout game against the Kansas City Royals a few weeks back, Keuchel has mustered just 30 strikeouts in 50 innings. Miami actually doesn't offer much help here, either, carrying the 10th-lowest strikeout rate versus southpaws (22.0%), though their .286 wOBA in the split sits 29th.

If Keuchel was priced down in the $7,000s -- like he was in mid-July -- it'd be easier to stomach his lack of ceiling as we chase a win and decent floor. But he's $8,700 today, and that makes his low-strikeout ways a lot harder to invest in, especially when Madison Bumgarner is $100 cheaper. Our models rank Keuchel as just the eighth-best pitcher on this slate.

Manny Machado, 3B, San Diego Padres

FanDuel Price: $3,900

Manny Machado draws a home date with Jon Gray, and it's a split Machado has really struggled in this year. At home against righties, Manny has just a .289 wOBA and 5.9% strikeout rate. And it's not just a Petco thing as he's posted an ugly .309 wOBA overall in righty-righty matchups this season.

Gray gets about as big of a park boost as you can get, going from Coors to Petco, and he's been a tough matchup for right-handed bats in 2019, limiting them to a .315 wOBA, 50.8% ground-ball rate, 35.7% hard-hit rate, 25.7% strikeout rate and 6.5% walk rate.

Machado is capable of a dinger in any matchup, but this looks like a spot to stay away from him.

Oscar Mercado, OF, Cleveland Indians

FanDuel Price: $3,500

The Cleveland Indians are taking on righty Kyle Gibson, and Gibson has been very tough on same-sided bats this season. Over 256 total batters faced, Gibson is holding right-handed hitters to a .284 wOBA, 25.8% strikeout rate and 52.3% ground-ball rate with just 16 extra-base hits (nine doubles and seven homers).

Oscar Mercado has slowed after a red-hot stretch in mid-July, hitting just one homer since July 23rd with a measly .261 wOBA in that span. If you want to use Indians hitters tonight, opt for their left-handed sticks in this matchup.