Jon Niese Daily Fantasy News, Rankings, Projections

Batters from either side have hit Jon Niese for a wOBA right around .350 since last season. The Cardinals are projected for 4.9 runs (third best) and we're looking at the three well above average bats against LHP in the lineup tonight, all right at the top. Tommy Pham (123 wRC+, .286 ISO vs LHP this season) is the value play ($3.8K DK, $2.4K FD) and the hottest bat in the lineup with a 207 wRC+ and 66.7 Hard% over the last week. Stephen Piscotty (164 wRC+, .275 ISO vs LHP this season) is the obvious and expensive bat, though still less than $4K on FanDuel. Matt Carpenter (123 wRC+, .170 ISO vs LHP this season) might be contrarian play here. He's reasonably priced at around $4K on either site and our Projected Ownership page sees him at around the 7% range on either site in a same handed matchup.

Jon Niese makes his first start for the Mets this season. He's having a terrible season, is dealing with a knee injury, hasn't pitched more than two innings in a month and is facing an offense that mashes mediocre LHP in a difficult park. RHBs have punished him for a .346 wOBA since last season. There are no LHBs in this lineup. There's also no Welington Castillo against a lefty and Mitch Haniger is not even yet available on many sites batting second. While these things are a bit of a disappointment, players can still happily stack Diamondbacks with a health projection over five runs, especially on FanDuel, where a guy like Yasmany Tomas (152 wRC+, .308 ISO vs LHP this season) costs just $3.2K. Paul Goldschmidt (183 wRC+, .250 ISO vs LHP since last season) is the obvious and expensive choice at a well balanced First Base position tonight. Rickie Weeks has been a surprise lefty masher this season (151 wRC+, .288 ISO) and a great value play on FanDuel ($2.5K) and DraftKings players could even look at Tuffy Gosewisch (114 wRC+, .263 ISO career vs LHP) as a salary saver at $2.8K.

Jon Niese is a league average LHP that struggles against right handed batters (5.6% K-BB%, .386 wOBA). The Mariners have surprisingly been one of the best offenses in baseball and among the leaders in HR all season. The Mariners could be one of the best under the radar spots to look for offense tonight. This means the elite target in the Mariners offense is our favorite lefty masher Nelson Cruz (182 wRC+, .437 wOBA, .376 ISO vs LHP). Chris Iannetta (144 wRC+, .382 wOBA, .169 ISO vs LHP), Dae-Ho Lee (120 wRC+, .347 wOBA, .241 ISO vs LHP), and Franklin Gutierrez (162 wRC+, .407 wOBA, .275 ISO vs LHP) are the best options to consider if needing to build a Mariners stack around Cruz. Note that Gutierrez gets pinch hit for frequently as soon as a RHP enters the game.

Jon Niese has been pitching well over the last month (2.64 ERA, 3.77 ERA), though still hasn't shown the upside of a pitcher worth more than $7K tonight (17.1 K%). He will have extra motivation against his old team in a great park for a LHP (suppresses RH power), so we might want to be careful attacking him despite a .343 wOBA (30.5 Hard%) allowed to RHBs since last season, especially with his 59.6 GB% in May. He is HR prone though and Yoenis Cespedes (233 wRC+, .389 ISO vs LHP this year) returns to the lineup tonight and is a guy who can hit it out of any park with relative ease. He costs just over $4K on DraftKings. Neil Walker is another player who might be highly motivated in his return to Pittsburgh tonight and has really turned it on vs LHP this year (201 wRC+, .386 ISO). Wilmer Flores (146 wRC+, .248 ISO vs LHP since 2015) and Asdrubel Cabrera (103 wRC+, .134 ISO vs LHP) as an inexpensive SS near the top of the lineup might be other bats to consider here.

Jon Niese has pitched a bit better in recent starts and does have a 53.3 GB%, but his 16.8 K% offers little upside in a dangerous park tonight. The Texas Rangers recall former super prospect Jurickson Profar from the minors to bat leadoff tonight. He had been an average bat (114 wRC+, .142 ISO), but he's a SS leading off at an affordable price in a lineup projected to score 4.9 runs tonight. Ian Desmond is costly, but has pounded LHP this season (177 wRC+, .235 ISO). Adrian Beltre has continued his career assault on lefties (144 wRC+, .223 ISO vs LHP since 2015), but an interesting OF bat and near punt on FD ($2.4K) might be Ryan Rua (122 wRC+, .214 ISO vs LHP since last season). He has performed well in limited opportunities, especially against LHP this year (199 wRC+ in 37 PA). Niese has shown no platoon split over the last year, allowing righties and lefties a wOBA just under .350 since 2015.

Jon Niese has been awful this year (5.63 ERA, 4.58 SIERA, 16.0 K%) and it's very difficult to find many good things to say about him, so we'll leave it at just one. He's allowed just one of his 10 HRs in his three home starts this year. Pittsburgh is a great park for LHPs because it kills RHP, an area in which Atlanta is already legally dead in any park. Add in a 25.9 K% to their 2.5 HR/FB vs LHP and it makes just about any lefty playable at a below average cost. There are no Atlanta bats that draw much interest in this negative run environment, but strong stomached players could consider using Niese as a complement on two pitcher sites on a short and weak slate. Atlanta still has the 2nd lowest run projection tonight (3.39) against one of the worst pitchers in the league this year.

Jon Niese has a career high 9.1 BB% while his K% continues to be well below average. He's allowed six of his seven HRs in three road starts. Cincinnati doesn't have the most potent offense in the league, but lean strongly right handed and feature three strong hitters vs LHP since last season along with two additional hot bats. Zack Cozart (134 wRC+, .211 ISO vs LHP since 2015) has made himself a strong SS DFS candidate out of the leadoff spot at home. Billy Hamilton (79 wRC+ vs LHP, 24 wRC+ last seven days) has to figure out getting on base, but the Niese/Cervelli combo should be easy enough to run on. Joe Votto (154 wRC+ vs LHP since 2015) is strong against LHP and his bat has been heating up (157 wRC+, 46.2 Hard% last seven). Brandon Phillips is just average against LHP (108 wRC+), but has a 204 wRC+, 56.5 Hard% over the last week. Eugenio Suarez (139 wRC+, .216 ISO vs LHP) bumps up to 5th in the lineup, while Adam Duvall has struggled against LHP (49 wRC+), but has a 248 wRC+ over the last week. Despite weak overall numbers vs LHP this season, a Cincinnat stack is something to think about

Jon Niese has pitched poorly and is in a tough spot against a powerful and well-discplined Cubs lineup (13.5 BB% vs LHP). The park will help mitigate some of the power risk, especially for RH hitters, but this is still a pitcher you can pick on. Unfortunately, the new #2 batter (Soler) has just an 82 wRC+ and .100 ISO vs LHP. Leadoff man, Dexter Fowler (142 wRC+ vs LHP since 2015) has a good chance of scoring tonight and Anthony Rizzo (129 wRC+ vs LHP) has been hot (176 wRC+, 53.5 Hard%), but both cost well above $4K on either site. It might be interesting to look further down in the order for some value here. Ben Zobrist (154 wRC+, .189 ISO vs LHP) might be the top bat in the lineup vs southpaws at a much lower cost and Javier Baez has been hitting the ball hard (287 wRC+, 66.7 Hard%) in limited opportunities over the last week at a much reduced price with SS eligibility.

Ryan Raburn is going to be the lead whenever the Rockies face a LHP at Coors due to his 175 wRC+, .288 ISO, and 41.6 Hard% against them since last season. It's unfortunate that he bats in the 6th spot and costs slightly more now, but this is still a bat you want in your lineup. Similar can be said of Mark Reynolds with mediocre numbers against lefties (102 wRC+, .198 ISO) for the same price, especially against the soft tosser Niese. The Rockies have struggled with LHP this year like last and were shut down by a very similar pitcher in Locke just two nights ago, but had the assistance of a generous strike zone that could a couple of Rockies tossed from the game. Unfortunately, there are no other bats in the lineup with a wRC+ above 100 vs LHP since last season (this includes Arenado's 93), but with the run environment amplification here and the top run projection of the night (5.5), generous exposure to this lineup all the way through is in order as always.

The Cardinals were terrible against lefties last year (83 wRC+, 23.6 K%), but should improve this season. They stack six right-handed bats against Jon Niese on Tuesday, but have to deal with terrible hitting conditions in a park that kills right-handed power with temperatures in the 30's. Niese won't strike out many, but has generated a 1.87 GB/FB over the last two seasons. Not a lot stands out here on either end, but Piscotty has a 137 wRC+ vs LHP in limited career opportunities against them, while Holliday (141 wRC+ career vs LHP) has great numbers as well, but is on the downside of his career. The conditions favor pitching, but the upside is probably limited.