Colin Rea Daily Fantasy News, Rankings, Projections

RHBs have a .348 wOBA against Colin Rea since last season (LHBs .313) mostly pitching in Petco. Tonight, he travels to Toronto to face the top projected lineup on the slate at just over six runs. The return of Jose Bautista (143 wRC+, .279 ISO vs RHP since 2015) for just $4.4K on DraftKings into the leadoff spot no less, makes this lineup incredibly potent with several bats, including Donaldson (153 wRC+, .269 ISO vs RHP since 2015), Encarnacion (147 wRC+, .284 ISO vs RHP since 2015) and Saunders 118 wRC+, .205 ISO vs RHP since 2015) joining Joey Bats as top overall bats tonight, while Troy Tulowitzki (95 wRC+, .176 ISO vs RHP since 2015) has a 50% hard hit rate over the last week and is a great value at SS for just $2.8K on FanDuel. Only Martin and Pillar have a wRC+ below 105 against RHP this season. There is neither a poorly projected bat or value to be found in this lineup. Daily fantasy lineups should have heavy exposure to this lineup.

Colin Rea (4.73 SIERA, 8.5% K-BB%) is actually a respectable pitcher against right-handed batters, but this Cardinals offense is a difficult assignment for any pitcher. Rea pitches to contact primarily as reflected in his low 6.0% SwStr%. The 18.0% K% Rea has posted thus far this year could actually be due for a bit of regression based on that SwStr%. There are a plethora of options to target in the Cardinals lineup as Rea is not a pitcher we want to go out of our way to avoid. Aledmys Diaz (154 wRC+, .401 wOBA, .243 ISO vs RHP) and Randal Grichuk (120 wRC+, .350 wOBA, .270 ISO vs RHP) are expensive on DraftKings but are the top overall plays in the Cardinals lineup batting at the top of the order. Jedd Gyorko (124 wRC+, .356 wOBA, .265 ISO vs RHP) and Matt Adams (.222 ISO vs RHP) are decent options if looking to save some salary and should go under the radar being slotted in the bottom half of the lineup.

Colin Rea has struck out 18 of his last 72 batters, but hasn’t had a SwStr rate above 7.3% in any of those three starts. Even with that, he has just an 8.8 K-BB% on the season and while facing a mediocre offense, he does so in a tough run scoring environment with a terrible defense behind him. While both left and right handed batters have a wOBA just above .310 against him since last season, LHBs have a much higher 36 Hard%. As one of three offenses with a run projection exceeding five today (5.16), players should be looking at all three LHBs and Goldschmidt (147 wRC+, .237 ISO vs RHP since 2015). Jake Lamb (168 wRC+, .348 ISO vs RHP this season) has a 255 wRC+ and 64.3 Hard% over the last week. He's one of tonight's top overall bats. Chris Herrmann (108 wRC+, .217 ISO vs RHP this season) and Michael Bourn (198 wRC+ last seven days) are both a tremendous bargain on FanDuel at $2.2K each.

It's difficult to buy into Colin Rea's increase in strikeout rate to 19% over the last month as he still retains a SwStr% well below 7%. He has just a 4.1 K-BB% on the road since last season, though with interesting platoon splits overall since last year. RHBs have a 30 point higher wOBA (.332 vs .302), but LHBs have hit him harder (35.6 Hard% to 26.8 Hard%). This means a number of Reds (16.6 HR/FB at home) are viable or even premium plays in a lineup projected for five runs, starting with the returning Votto (157 wRC+, .227 ISO vs RHP since 2015) and Bruce (138 wRC+, .326 ISO vs RHP this season) plus Adam Duvall (130 wRC+, .356 ISO vs RHP since 2015). Cozart (101 wRC+, .191 ISO vs RHP since 2015) is a solid SS option atop the lineup again. Of course, Votto's return moves Hamilton down to seventh, which may be a blessing as players will be less tempted to use him.

Colin Rea has just a 4.4 SwStr% over the last month and is a pitcher with little upside. RHBs (.332 wOBA) have actually done better than LHBs (.291 wOBA) since last season, though lefties have hit the ball harder (34.6 Hard% vs 27.7%). Giancarlo Stanton is OUT tonight, replaced by Ichiro Suzuki (114 wRC+ vs RHP this year) in the leadoff spot, which may actually make it harder for Rea to find strikeouts in this lineup. Those who thought Derek Dietrich (136 wRC+, .205 ISO vs RHP since 2015) might be a good option tonight may want to reconsider with him batting 7th tonight. Justin Bour (123 wRC+, .248 ISO vs RHP since 2015) is the power bat who may make the most sense here for about $3K on either site as he moves up a spot to 5th tonight.

Petco is the only real negative run environment play tonight, but the Padres play host to the hottest bats in the major (157 wRC+ last seven days). Colin Rea has just a 6.3 K-BB% with a 4.47 ERA and estimators even a bit higher. The middle of this order is just punishing RHPs (122 team wRC+ vs RHP is 2nd in the majors this year) and though Rea has only allowed a .299 wOBA to LHBs since last year, it comes with a 34.3 Hard%. RHBs have hit him at a .337 wOBA clip over the same period. Kyle Seager (184 wRC+, .272 ISO vs RHP this season) is a strong pivot off Coors at a slightly lower cost. Seth Smith (144 wRC+, .183 ISO vs RHP this season) has a 328 wRC+ and 74.7 Hard% over the last week. Robinson Cano (188 wRC+, .362 ISO vs RHP) is incredibly expensive, but likely worth it even in this difficult environment. Nelson Cruz (145 wRC+, .159 ISO vs RHP this season) hasn't been as potent, but rounds out a powerful core.

The Giants play in a pitcher-friendly park in a game that is only projected for 7 total runs by both teams. Still, Colin Rea shows a bit of a weakness to right-handed bats, allowing a .381 wOBA at home to them. Buster Posey has a .352 wOBA vs. RHP and is a viable tournament option on FanDuel with his salary set at $3,400. Hunter Pence (.376 wOBA, .201 ISO vs. RHP) should also be considered in GPPs because he is expected to have a low ownership % with his salary hitting $3,900 on FD.

Colin Rea has pitched like a fifth starter with a 17.6 K% and an ERA with estimators in the mid-four range. RHBs (.375 wOBA) have handled him more easily than LHBs (.287 wOBA) the last two seasons. That makes Yoenis Cespedes (147 wRC+, .274 ISO vs RHP since 2015) the most attractive bat in the lineup, though Michael Conforto (157 wRC+, .276 ISO vs RHP) still holds value at nearly $1K less on DraftKings. Petco has a similar run environment to Citi Field in NY with HRs just a bit tougher to come by, though it's not the death sentence to power hitters it once was. Lucas Duda (131 wRC+, .243 ISO vs RHP since 2015) can hit them out of any park and usually in bunches when he gets hot and he has hit several this week. Curtis Granderson (145 wRC+, .221 ISO vs RHP) has some value for $3.2K on FanDuel out of the leadoff spot. The two through six batters in the NY lineup all have an average batted ball distance of at least 235 feet this year.