Scott Van Slyke Daily Fantasy News, Rankings, Projections

The Dodgers definitely got the short end of the stick in regards to pitching matchup in this contest at Coors Field. Tyler Anderson (3.46 SIERA) has proven thus far that he is #good, even pitching well in his starts at home. Anderson has exhibited great control, only walking 4.4% of batters while inducing a 56.1% ground ball rate. This is the type of pitching profile that can play well at Coors Field since Anderson doesn't solely rely on strikeouts to have success. Even with the high total, a Dodgers fade in tournaments could prove to be an interesting strategy as the Dodgers will attract ownership just due to the Coors Field affect. In fact, Anderson seems to be the preferred play in tournaments in this spot, although, I'm not sure we need to go there with some of the other pitching options in his price range. If targeting Dodgers bats, Scott Van Slyke (129 wRC+, .361 wOBA, .188 ISO vs LHP), Howie Kendrick (127 wRC+, .357 wOBA vs LHP), Enrique Hernandez (117 wRC+, .343 wOBA, .258 ISO vs LHP) are the options to consider.

Scott Van Slyke continues to put the ball in play against left-handed pitching, striking out a meager 15% of the time versus southpaws. His 0.200 ISO against LHP is still respectable, and his 138 wRC+ vs. LHP highlights his ability to put together productive at-bats. Patrick Corbin has not been overly impressive against RHBs this year, whiffing RHBs only 14% of the time and allowing hard contact 38% of the time. Van Slyke will look to hit the ball hard in the at-bats he gets early against Corbin, but does always carry some risk of getting pinch hit for in the later innings.

With Matt Moore having served up an ugly 1.62 HR/9 to right-handed batters this season, Dave Roberts loads up this Dodgers lineup with righties (alongside Corey Seager and Adrian Gonzalez, of course). The Dodgers absolutely blasted Matt Moore when they saw him earlier this season; hanging seven earned runs on him in just 4.1 innings of work. However, the Dodgers happen to own an ugly .282 team wOBA against left-handed pitching this season and several of their most lethal lefty killers (Kike Hernandez, Trayce Thompson, Yasiel Puig) are sidelined. Justin Turner has come out of the All-Star break absolutely sizzling at the plate; posting a .525 wOBA and .400 ISO in 51 plate appearances. With a pair of hits in each of the last five games, he needs to be on your radar. Conversely, Howie Kendrick continues to hit left-handed pitching well and slides into the leadoff spot.

Gio Gonzalez had a fantastic start to the season and seemed to finally have figured out how to be more consistent with the control aspect of his game. Over the last month, Gonzalez has relapsed to his old ways, walking at least three batters in all but one start. The Dodgers are not a particularly good offense against left-handed pitching (80 wRC+, .289 wOBA, .137 ISO) and strikeout at a 20.9% clip, so if Gonzalez can find his control tonight, the upside is absolutely there in this matchup. There isn't a ton to like in the Dodgers lineup either so targeting some lower cost hitters may be the way to attack Gonzalez on this slate. Scott Van Slyke (131 wRC+, .359 wOBA, .165 ISO vs LHP since 2015) and Yasiel Puig (116 wRC+, .337 wOBA, .187 ISO vs LHP since 2015) are the beneficiaries of slight lineup bumps and have typically hit LHP well. Chris Taylor has been raking since the All-Star break (329 wRC+, .655 wOBA, .583 ISO last 7 days) and gets to bat in the two-hole tonight with Seager out of the lineup.

Van Slyke has only one home run this year, but his wRC+ of 148 versus LHPs and ISO of 0.250 indicate that he is very much still capable of getting to southpaws. He is striking out only 18% of the time versus left-handed pitchers, meaning he has a great chance of putting the ball in play today against Robbie Ray. Van Slyke will be batting cleanup today, so DFS players can hope for a few at-bats with runners on base early in the game.

Van Slyke has been more under the radar this year so far after returning from injury. Still, he has a respectable wRC+ of 140 against LHP, in addition to a 0.313 ISO. Van Slyke will be batting 8th, so perhaps he is best used as a GPP play today with the upside of receiving a couple of free base on balls. Christian Friedrich will be the pitcher Van Slyke faces today, and Friedrich has struggled against RHBs, sporting a xFIP of 5.11. Look to Van Slyke as a punt outfielder with an above average matchup and a below average lineup position.

The Dodgers struggles continued last night when even Clayton Kershaw couldn't get them out of their slump. Today Scott Kazmir will try and reverse their fortune as they take on the Pirates and Francisco Liriano in what Vegas sees as a fairly even game with the Pirates slight (-108) favorites. It's a game with a modest run total of 8.5 with two lefties that have upside but struggle more often than not this season. Yasmani Grandal, Corey Seager, and Adrian Gonzalez all have the day off for the Dodgers while Gregory Polanco and his sore hamstring sit for the Pirates. Enrique Hernandez leads off for the Dodgers and has a .345 wOBA and .266 ISO against LHP but most of that is a result of a hot start - he's been terrible of late, even against southpaws. Scott Van Slyke is the only Dodger with a wOBA topping .330 and he's definitely in play as a habitual lefty smasher. Because of the Dodgers struggles, Liriano is worth a look if you are playing any of the all day contests. The big names for the Pirates, McCutchen (.293 wOBA) and Marte (.257 wOBA) have struggled against southpaws so look to Pirates bats that have fared well like Jordy Mercer (.423 wOBA, .222 ISO, leading off), David Freese (.445 wOBA, .225 ISO, batting second), Jung-Ho Kang (.360 wOBA, .325 ISO, batting fourth), and Sean Rodriguez (.411 wOBA, .195 ISO, batting seventh) if you're looking to use anyone from that side.

Alex Wood is elite against left-handed hitting (.228 wOBA last season with just 1 HR allowed) which makes it hard to roster the lefty bats all over the Giants lineup despite their ability to hit lefties well. However, Wood's .343 wOBA and 14 HR's allowed to right-handed hitters make Buster Posey, Hunter Pence, and Matt Duffy all strong options today. Jake Peavy gets the start for the Giants and he is a shell of his former self. He's not terrible but certainly not the ace he used to be. At home last season his results were severely reverse-splits oriented with a .323 wOBA to RH bats and a .252 wOBA to LH bats. It's perhaps a trend the Dodgers have noticed as right-handed hitter Scott Van Slyke is in the lineup today and batting fifth. He makes for a unique, contrarian play today. Yasiel Puig is another Dodger righty to target and if you're looking for a Dodgers stack, Adrian Gonzalez and Corey Seager are probably the two best lefties to add.