MLB Daily Grind Down: Sunday, September 1st Part Two
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Seattle vs. Houston
| 2:10 PM | Seattle – ROAD | Houston – HOME | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TEAM BATTING | AVG | OPS | K% | FPAB | AVG | OPS | K% | FPAB | |
| SEASON | 0.243 | 0.706 | 21.70% | 0.54 | 0.239 | 0.683 | 25.60% | 0.54 | |
| VS. LEFT/RIGHT | 0.231 | 0.661 | 22.10% | 0.39 | 0.237 | 0.678 | 25.30% | 0.41 | |
| SP STATS | Iwakuma – RHP | Oberholtzer – LHP | |||||||
| WHIP | ERA | K/9 | FPPG | WHIP | ERA | K/9 | FPPG | ||
| SEASON | 1.02 | 3.03 | 7.68 | 11.68 | 1.18 | 3.43 | 5.75 | 7.64 | |
| LAST 14 DAYS | 1.20 | 3.15 | 8.55 | 13.33 | 1.53 | 5.56 | 5.68 | 7.55 | |
| BATTER SPLITS | Note: Batter Splits Below Open in Pop Up Window | ||||||||
SEA vs L  | SEA BvP | HOU vs R | HOU BvP | ||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
- Hisashi Iwakuma – He has dominated the Stros this year in 3 starts. He has a 2.06 ERA against and a whopping 26 K’s in 19 IP. His drop-off from home to road isn’t all that noticeable and he is always capable of putting up a monster score. Starter Rating: 10 out of 10
- Brett Oberholtzer – As we learned on Saturday, even bad left handed starters can stifle the Mariners. Oberholtzer may not be able to get the win and will undoubtedly give up a couple of runs but he can be a cheap 2nd pitcher on some sites in a game I expect to be low scoring. Starter Rating: 5 out of 10
Batter Grind Down
- No love for the Astros batters today.
- Gutierrez hits lefties well for the Mariners and was hitting second on Saturday. I bit into that idea and it killed me as he went hitless. I might have to fall for it again tonight.
- Oberholtzer has some weird reverse splits and is allowing lefties to an OPS over 1.000 on the season. Maybe consider Seager, Ibanez and Miller if the price is right.
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LA Angels vs. Milwaukee
| 2:10 PM | LA Angels – ROAD | Milwaukee – HOME | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TEAM BATTING | AVG | OPS | K% | FPAB | AVG | OPS | K% | FPAB | |
| SEASON | 0.263 | 0.743 | 18.90% | 0.61 | 0.254 | 0.714 | 19.70% | 0.57 | |
| VS. LEFT/RIGHT | 0.270 | 0.753 | 18.80% | 0.48 | 0.261 | 0.718 | 22.00% | 0.42 | |
| SP STATS | Wilson – LHP | Lohse – RHP | |||||||
| WHIP | ERA | K/9 | FPPG | WHIP | ERA | K/9 | FPPG | ||
| SEASON | 1.39 | 3.36 | 8.21 | 11.67 | 1.20 | 3.39 | 5.86 | 9.08 | |
| LAST 14 DAYS | 1.68 | 2.37 | 6.16 | 10.33 | 1.66 | 4.42 | 4.97 | 7.70 | |
| BATTER SPLITS | Note: Batter Splits Below Open in Pop Up Window | ||||||||
| LAA vs R | LAA BvP | MIL vs L | MIL BvP | ||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
- C.J. Wilson – Wilson tossed 4 straight solid starts followed by an absolute dud to start August. He then pieced 4 more quality starts together before getting beat up by the Rays in his last start. Is it a trend? Probably not but the matchup is decent. My biggest fear is how well the Brewers have been hitting lately with Aramis and Lucroy anchoring the lineup. Starter Rating: 7 out of 10
- Kyle Lohse – He seemed to have found his groove after about 8 quality starts out of 9 throughout July and August. Then the Lohse of earlier this season returned against the Pirates and he was absolutely demolished. The Angels are still scary enough offensively that I don’t love this play even as the slight favorite. Starter Rating: 6 out of 10
Batter Grind Down
- No real BvP splits of note on either side here in this inter-league matchup.
- Lohse has allowed a .744 OPS-against and 12 HR versus left handed bats this season. Calhoun hitting in the 4 hole again would be tempting and J-Ham may even be back in the lineup after pinch hitting on Saturday night. Both could take Lohse yard today.
- C.J. Wilson has been virtually unhittable against lefties but has been middle of the pack against right handers. Lucroy and Aramis could be great options today with big upside.
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Philadelphia vs. Chicago Cubs
| 2:20 PM | Philadelphia – ROAD | Chicago Cubs – HOME | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TEAM BATTING | AVG | OPS | K% | FPAB | AVG | OPS | K% | FPAB | |
| SEASON | 0.248 | 0.694 | 19.90% | 0.52 | 0.240 | 0.702 | 20.10% | 0.54 | |
| VS. LEFT/RIGHT | 0.254 | 0.702 | 19.60% | 0.41 | 0.244 | 0.707 | 19.40% | 0.44 | |
| SP STATS | Kendrick – RHP | Arrieta – RHP | |||||||
| WHIP | ERA | K/9 | FPPG | WHIP | ERA | K/9 | FPPG | ||
| SEASON | 1.38 | 4.40 | 5.18 | 8.12 | 1.57 | 5.91 | 7.96 | 7.02 | |
| LAST 14 DAYS | 1.53 | 3.71 | 3.18 | 5.33 | 1.50 | 5.63 | 8.44 | 8.33 | |
| BATTER SPLITS | Note: Batter Splits Below Open in Pop Up Window | ||||||||
| PHI vs R | PHI BvP | CHC vs R | CHC BvP | ||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
- Kyle Kendrick – The biggest upside here is that the Cubs are the coldest hitting team in all of baseball. The biggest downside is that the wind is blowing out at about 10 MPH in Wrigley. That means bad things for a pitcher who really struggles when his groundball to flyball ratio gets closer to 1 (like it has in his last 2 starts). No go on Kendrick for me. Starter Rating: 4 out of 10
- Jake Arrieta – He starts his Cubs career with a gem against the vaunted Cardinals offense. It is then followed by two absolute stinkers against the Nats and Dodgers. He is extremely talented and can strike guys out in bunches but the Phils left handed bats definitely worry me, especially with Dom Brown back. Starter Rating: 5 out of 10
Batter Grind Down
- Kendrick has really struggled against righties more than left on the season but there really aren’t a ton of Cubs right handed bats that inspire much confidence. So instead I’ll just go with the two lefties Schierholtz and Rizzo.
- The only noteworthy BvP split in this one is Michael Young who is 0-10 lifetime against Arrieta.
- Arrieta’s OPS-against vs. RHB and LHB is above .750 for each. With the wind blowing out I really like Utley and Dom Brown for the Phils.
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Minnesota vs. Texas
| 3:05 PM | Minnesota – ROAD | Texas – HOME | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TEAM BATTING | AVG | OPS | K% | FPAB | AVG | OPS | K% | FPAB | |
| SEASON | 0.241 | 0.698 | 22.20% | 0.54 | 0.262 | 0.740 | 16.80% | 0.62 | |
| VS. LEFT/RIGHT | 0.251 | 0.708 | 22.60% | 0.43 | 0.260 | 0.737 | 16.70% | 0.47 | |
| SP STATS | Correia – RHP | Blackley – LHP | |||||||
| WHIP | ERA | K/9 | FPPG | WHIP | ERA | K/9 | FPPG | ||
| SEASON | 1.44 | 4.32 | 5.14 | 7.70 | 1.33 | 4.80 | 7.00 | 1.45 | |
| LAST 14 DAYS | 1.38 | 2.57 | 4.71 | 8.67 | 1.00 | 4.50 | 5.40 | 7.50 | |
| BATTER SPLITS | Note: Batter Splits Below Open in Pop Up Window | ||||||||
| MIN vs L | MIN BvP | TEX vs R | TEX BvP | ||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
- Kevin Correia – I went running my mouth about Pelfrey on Saturday and he was strong against the Rangers. Correia has just a 2.57 ERA in his last 3 starts and even more surprising is that he’s K’d 7 guys in two of his last 4. Even after all of that the 9.5 Over/Under tells me I shouldn’t go near him. Starter Rating: 3 out of 10
- Travis Blackley – He was decent against the Mariners and I don’t have much to go on with this pick but as a dirt cheap 2nd pitcher option on a site like DraftKings I think you can do worse. He’s a -240 favorite which leaves him in a good spot to get the W (which I said about Darvish and Garza too and we know how that went). Starter Rating: 6 out of 10
Batter Grind Down
- The last vestige of offense in this Twins lineup, Josh Willingham, does hit lefties better than right and could be a good upside play today.
- Trevor Plouffe is 2-6 with a HR in limited exposure against Blackley.
- For the Rangers, Beltre is 4-13 with 2 HR in his career against Correia.
- AJP, Martin and Moreland all hit right handed pitching well and Correia has allowed lefties to hit .310 with an .886 OPS-against on the season. Jurickson Profar is also much better from the left side of the plate.
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Tampa Bay vs. Oakland
| 4:07 PM | Tampa Bay – ROAD | Oakland – HOME | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TEAM BATTING | AVG | OPS | K% | FPAB | AVG | OPS | K% | FPAB | |
| SEASON | 0.262 | 0.748 | 18.70% | 0.62 | 0.244 | 0.718 | 19.40% | 0.59 | |
| VS. LEFT/RIGHT | 0.253 | 0.739 | 18.70% | 0.49 | 0.244 | 0.710 | 19.10% | 0.46 | |
| SP STATS | Hernandez – RHP | Griffin – RHP | |||||||
| WHIP | ERA | K/9 | FPPG | WHIP | ERA | K/9 | FPPG | ||
| SEASON | 1.35 | 4.95 | 6.60 | 7.73 | 1.18 | 3.94 | 7.14 | 10.11 | |
| LAST 14 DAYS | 1.56 | 4.97 | 6.64 | 4.73 | 1.63 | 4.50 | 7.88 | 8.67 | |
| BATTER SPLITS | Note: Batter Splits Below Open in Pop Up Window | ||||||||
| TBR vs R | TBR BvP | OAK vs R | OAK BvP | ||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
- Roberto Hernandez – Nope. Nope. Nope. Starter Rating: 0 out of 10
- A.J. Griffin – Love this play today against a struggling Ray’s offense. He’s been strong at home and despite his recent struggles he is always capable of putting a quality start together and his price tag has dropped heavily across the board. Starter Rating: 7 out of 10
Batter Grind Down
- Don’t love any of the TB Bats outside of a hot Matt Joyce who has a HR in 2 ABs against Griffin.
- Ready for the laundry list of A’s left handers to target against Hernandez? Crisp, Smith, Reddick, Moss, Lowrie, Sogard and even Callaspo.
- Even Yoenis Cespedes is 2-2 in his career off Hernandez with 2 2B’s, this A’s team might be my favorite stack of the day.
- Just to add insult to injury, Hernandez has allowed lefties to hit .305 with a .908 OPS-against and 16 HRs on the year.
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