Daily Batter Breakdown: Friday, May 15th

by Jon Schiller (Varncass) Last Updated 2015-05-19 12:42:39

Welcome to the Daily Batter Breakdown. Whenever there are at least eight games on the night slate, I’ll break down some of the best top tier hitters to target based on matchup.

The biggest split taken into account will be left/right, but each player card will also show park factors, player salaries and then a description of why I’ll be targeting him.

		Carlos Santana
		Daily Breakdown		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits		0.256	0.644	0.00%	0.302
		Last 7 Days Splits		0.273	0.847	4.55%	0.37
		Opp SP vs. LR		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Rodriguez – LEFT		0.167	0.517		0.241
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
1.052	0.000	$3,500	$9,900	$5,000	$88,000

Carlos Santana

When the Indians face a lefty, it is Santana and Raburn or bust usually as most of the other parts of the lineup are all lefties. Santana has always hit better from the right side of the plate and against Wandy who has been solid this year he makes one of the best plays at catcher (where he is still available as one) and still makes a solid play at first on all of the other sites.

		Kyle Blanks
		Daily Breakdown		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits		0.333	1.333	20.00%	0.562
		Last 7 Days Splits		0.261	0.668	0.00%	0.299
		Opp SP vs. LR		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Rodon – Left		0.250	0.691	0.00%	0.316
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
1.023	0.000	$2,700	$7,500	$4,100	$57,700

Kyle Blanks

I love Blanks as a cheaper play today against Bruce Chen who is extremely old and has never been a great pitcher. He has allowed a 4.75 xFIP in all of his great years against right-handed hitting and Blanks has been on fire this year hitting at Globe Life. I like the Rangers righties today as a cheap mini-stack and I even like their lefties too because Chen has been terrible against them as well.

		Jose Altuve
		Daily Breakdown		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits		0.275	0.711	2.94%	0.306
		Last 7 Days Splits		0.261	0.711	4.35%	0.301
		Opp SP vs. LR		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Dickey – RIGHT		0.236	0.702		0.306
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
1.012	0.000	$4,300	$9,100	$4,500	$72,600

Jose Altuve

Despite playing a righty today, Altuve still makes one of the best second base plays on the day. Altuve loves to create contact with the ball and get base hits instead of always going for power, which definitely could help him against Dickey here. Altuve does not hit great against righties, but he is not terrible and the thing that makes me love him is his stolen base potential against Dickey who is one of the easier pitchers to steal bags on because of the movement on his knuckler.

		Matt Carpenter
		Daily Breakdown		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits		0.329	1.059	6.10%	0.441
		Last 7 Days Splits
		Opp SP vs. LR		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Greene – RIGHT		0.337	0.896	1.12%	0.387
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
1.100	0.000	$4,100	$10,800	$4,500	$82,200

Matt Carpenter

The Tigers roll into Busch Stadium today on the wheels of Shane Green who is looking to continue his solid start from the last game. He does not strike out a lot of batters and allows lefties to hit him at a 4.40 xFIP this year and 4.25 in his career. Green had imploded in his last two previous starts and Carpenter has obliterated righties this year with a .427 wOBA and a .318 ISO. While those numbers are not sustainable, he has improved nearly every single year and is my top third baseman today despite the price.

		Hanley Ramirez
		Daily Breakdown		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits		0.333	1.300	16.67%	0.530
		Last 7 Days Splits		0.158	0.358	0.00%	0.168
		Opp SP vs. LR		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Happ – LEFT		0.252	0.687		0.298
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
0.825	0.000	$3,700	$9,800	$4,200	$72,900

Hanley Ramirez

Hanley has historically bludgeoned left handed pitching in his career with a .395 wOBA (.595 this year) which makes him in play everywhere just because of that. I am a little wary considering how solid J.A. Happ has been this year. He has not been invincible however and with Ramirez’ struggles, his price has came down to much more usable levels, especially on FanDuel. The problem with FanDuel is that he is not SS eligible like on DK, where he makes an extremely solid play with the always poor SS pools.

		Joc Pederson
		Daily Breakdown		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits		0.273	1.100	11.36%	0.455
		Last 7 Days Splits		0.190	0.726	4.76%	0.33
		Opp SP vs. LR		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Butler – RIGHT
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
0.907	0.000	$4,300	$10,250	$4,500	$50,900

Joc Pederson

Of course, I love Pederson today, along with most of the other Dodgers lefties against Eddie Butler. While Butler does not have a lot of major league service time, he has pitched at a 5.86 xFIP in that time and allowed a .450 wOBA. Butler is a solid prospect but has had trouble adjusting to major league hitting as evidenced by the 4.5 over/under for the Dodgers tonight. Do not get cute, use the lefty leadoff power hitter in this lineup.

		Ryan Raburn
		Daily Breakdown		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits		0.429	1.171	2.38%	0.490
		Last 7 Days Splits
		Opp SP vs. LR		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Rodriguez – LEFT		0.167	0.517		0.241
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
1.052	0.000	$2,300	$5,000	$3,400	$55,600

Ryan Raburn

Raburn is cheap across the industry, and although I really cannot stand using him, he is a solid play today. He has power against lefties and often shows it, especially in the last couple of years. Last year was rough with only a .264 wOBA but he had a .437 wOBA the year before, and a .490 wOBA this year. He is a very streaky player and has been hot to start the season and is near the minimum on a lot of sites tonight. Fire him up as one of the more popular value plays against Wandy.

		Curtis Granderson
		Daily Breakdown		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits		0.275	0.830	3.30%	0.371
		Last 7 Days Splits		0.211	0.716	5.26%	0.327
		Opp SP vs. LR		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Lohse – RIGHT		0.243	0.749	4.05%	0.330
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
0.847	0.000	$2,900	$7,800	$3,600	$55,300

Curtis Granderson

I like Granderson’s price and his status at the top of the Mets lineup. I do not love a lot of guys in this game as the over/under is 7 but the Mets are graded as a 4 and Lohse is not great. Lohse has been poor to bad against lefties in his career and Granderson has decent power with a .233 career ISO (albeit lower in his aging years). This looks like a solid spot to use a cheap player who has a decent ability to draw walks.

		Bryce Harper
		Daily Breakdown		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits		0.326	1.182	12.36%	0.483
		Last 7 Days Splits		0.500	1.759	18.18%	0.711
		Opp SP vs. LR		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Despaigne – RIGHT		0.171	0.471	0.00%	0.216
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
0.826	0.000	$5,600	$15,150	$5,200	$107,300

Bryce Harper

On DraftKings at $5,200 with the heater that Harper is on right now, I am not sure why you would really pick any other high priced player, even in Petco Park. Harper has video game numbers with a .479 wOBA, 1.173 OPS and .407 ISO against right handers this year and Despiagne was not exactly lights out against lefties last year with a 4.75 xFIP. If you can make contact and hit the ball hard, it does not really matter if you are in Petco or not.

		Kevin Kiermaier
		Daily Breakdown		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits		0.233	0.748	4.11%	0.323
		Last 7 Days Splits		0.111	0.436	5.56%	0.193
		Opp SP vs. LR		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Hughes – RIGHT		0.291	0.796	4.55%	0.343
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
1.116	0.000	$2,600	$6,100	$3,500	$44,800

Kevin Kiermaier

Kiermaier is so cheap, and if you want to afford Kershaw, you are going to have to find value somewhere. He continues to lead off for the Rays against right handers and despite the fact that Hughes is one of the better pitchers out there, he has struggled in the last three and Kiermaier is hitting righties well at a .352 wOBA clip over the last two years. He has a solid .220 ISO and brings some power so you do not necessarily need to stack any Rays with him either.