3 Daily Fantasy Baseball Hitters to Avoid on 4/21/16

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 Thursday night.

Brandon Phillips, 2B, Cincinnati Reds

FanDuel Price: $2,900

Brandon Phillips has had two straight great games at the plate against Colorado before this home stand continues against the Cubs. However, after roughing up Jorge De La Rosa and Chad Bettis, now the Reds have to deal with Jake Arrieta tonight, a much tougher matchup for Phillips and the rest of the Reds.

Phillips’ six hits in his last two games could make him a very attractive option tonight for someone looking at hot streaks and game logs, but when it comes to facing Arrieta, all that goes out the window. The Cubs’ ace has destroyed right-handed hitters over the last few seasons, even back in his Baltimore pre-Cy Young days. In 2015 however, Arrieta owned a wOBA against righties of .244, which was actually worse than his numbers against lefties. However, his hard hit rate against righties was just 20.4 percent in 2015, and that could spell bad news for Phillips.

The Reds’ second basemen has a career wOBA against righties of .315, and his ISO drops from .178 to .138 when he faces right-handers. Phillips also sees his hard hit rate drop against right-handed pitchers to 27.6 percent during his career, and it was even lower in 2015 at 24.9 percent. Don’t expect Phillips’ hot hitting to continue tonight against the reigning Cy Young winner.

Prince Fielder, 1B, Texas Rangers

FanDuel Price: $3,200

The battle for Texas tonight will feature Dallas Keuchel on the mound for the Astros as he takes on the Rangers, and if one member of the Rangers is a landmine tonight, it has to be Prince Fielder. The Rangers’ slugger has dominated right-handed pitching throughout his career, but he has really struggled against lefties. Combine that with his slow start this season, and you have a player who you should probably avoid at all costs.

While he could also get the night off against the tough matchup, the Rangers really can’t afford to have Fielder, who has played every game so far, out of the lineup tonight.

Last season, Fielder had a wOBA of .315 against lefties, and his BABIP dropped from .349 against righties to .282 against lefties. He also struck out twice as much against lefties than he did against righties, with a strikeout rate of 18.1 percent, which is actually under his career strike out rate against lefties at just over 20 percent.

Keuchel, on the other hand, dominates left-handed hitters. Last season, lefties has a wOBA of just .201 off him, and his strikeout rate on lefties was 26.3 percent, which was more than three points higher than his rate against righties. Left-handed hitters also owned a hard hit rate under 20 percent against Keuchel in 2015 and an incredible fly-ball rate of only 16.5 percent.

Victor Martinez, C, Detroit Tigers

FanDuel Price: $2,900

Victor Martinez has been great over the last few seasons as a switch hitter when he faces off against left-handed pitching. However, when he is batting on the left side of the plate, his numbers have dropped dramatically over the last two seasons. That could hold true tonight against Edinson Volquez and the defending champs, the Royals.

Volquez held lefties to a .235 average last season, and throughout his career, outside of his fly ball and hard hit rate, he is equally good against righties and lefties.

Martinez, conversely, has really struggled on the left side against righties recently. This season, he owns a .322 wOBA as a lefty, compared to a wOBA of .449 as a right-hander against left-handed pitching.

2015 was even worse for Martinez on the left side of the plate. His wOBA was just .264 as a left-hander against right-handed pitching, and even though his career numbers as a left-handed hitter aren’t bad at all, his recent regression from that side of the plate is a little concerning.