Daily Batter Breakdown: Friday, May 23rd

by Jon Schiller (Varncass) Last Updated 2014-05-23 19:34:07

Welcome to the Daily Batter Breakdown. Each day, with at least 8 games on the night slate, I’ll breakdown 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. Be sure to check out the FAQ for more information on specific stats.

Fridays are always huge in DFS MLB but not only this Friday but Saturday, Sunday, and Monday should all provide a ton of action with morning and night slate games every day and almost every team playing every single day. Tonight has some really tasty matchups for the hitters with poor pitchers pitching and a couple of nice parks to hit in.

		Victor Martinez
		Daily Breakdown			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits			0.296	0.851	5.56%	0.353
		Last 7 Days Splits			0.290	0.998	9.68%	0.411
		Opp SP vs. LR			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Baker – RIGHT			0.172	0.571	6.45%	0.252
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DS	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
1.139	1.044	$4,300	$8,409	$10,050	$5,000	$99,200	$8,000	$14,000

Victor Martinez

Martinez is unreal right now and at the top of the hitting lists in nearly every category in the American League. I am going to continue to take advantage of using him while he is on this hot streak as he is one of the safest options on the board considering his low strikeout rate. The Tigers face Scott Baker today who didn’t really have too much success against certain Tigers when he was with the Twins. Martinez is expensive but well worth it when you consider he has as many homers as strikeouts this year.

		Brandon Moss
		Daily Breakdown			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits			0.280	0.927	6.78%	0.394
		Last 7 Days Splits			0.364	1.455	9.09%	0.585
		Opp SP vs. LR			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Hendriks – RIGHT			0.327	0.921	8.73%	0.405
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DS	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
1.118	1.045	$4,400	$8,558	$11,750	$5,300	$109,600	$9,800	$10,900

Brandon Moss

One of the best matchups tonight has to go to Brandon Moss vs Liam Hendriks who is pitching in Toronto. Moss had a rough game last time out against Tampa but crushes right handed pitching and is in a homer friendly park and he is against a pitcher who allowed a .929 OPs against left handed batters in 2013. I cannot see this going well for Hendriks at all tonight and I really like the Oakland batters, with Moss being the top of the list.

		Howie Kendrick
		Daily Breakdown			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits			0.298	0.824	2.13%	0.360
		Last 7 Days Splits			0.348	0.835	0.00%	0.37
		Opp SP vs. LR			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Duffy – LEFT			0.171	0.510	14.09%	0.258
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DS	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
0.968	1.066	$3,400	$6,433	$7,900	$4,700	$73,200	$6,500	$12,800

Howie Kendrick

Kendrick has a nice 7 game hitting streak going and gets to face Danny Duffy today who hasn’t exactly been a strikeout master in his time this year. Duffy has been good, but Kendrick has been leading off or hitting high in the lineup lately which would give him an extra boost. Vegas really believes in the Angels tonight at home against Duffy and I think Kendrick can be a solid play at 2nd that not many people will have. Duffy has been absolutely lights out against left handed hitting but has allowed some right handers to get to him.

		Manny Machado
		Daily Breakdown			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits			0.067	0.133	0.00%	0.059
		Last 7 Days Splits			0.286	0.597	0.00%	0.259
		Opp SP vs. LR			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		House – LEFT			0.000	0.000	0.00%	0.000
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DS	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
1.057	1.024	$2,800	$4,881	$7,950	$3,800	$62,200	$6,100	$7,600

Manny Machado

Machado left yesterday’s game due to groin tightness, but I am not thinking it is going to be a problem. He’s been hitting and scoring runs and even though his season long numbers haven’t improved that much he’s been pretty consistently scoring fantasy points lately. Make sure he’s in the lineup before plugging him in but if he is he should have a nice game against T.J. House who has pitched 1 inning of relief in his major league career. I think Baltimore makes a great team to stack here and even with Machado’s struggles, his price makes him a nice play.

		Brandon Crawford
		Daily Breakdown			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits			0.185	0.562	2.17%	0.246
		Last 7 Days Splits			0.263	0.812	5.26%	0.34
		Opp SP vs. LR			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Gibson – RIGHT			0.321	0.795	9.13%	0.359
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DS	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
0.869	0.999	$3,200	$5,545	$6,950	$3,700	$65,700	$4,600	$7,100

Brandon Crawford

Crawford has shown improvement this year in his game especially against left handed pitching which he traditionally really struggled with. As I noted before, Gibson is either great or awful and he’s generally worse away from home and against a left hander which both happen in this case. Crawford makes a solid GPP play as he has upside, is really cheap, and has a nice matchup. I like the fact that he’s played well against left handers so if Gibson is horrible and gets removed, the matchups aren’t a problem.

		Austin Jackson
		Daily Breakdown			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits			0.250	0.711	2.08%	0.311
		Last 7 Days Splits			0.130	0.511	0.00%	0.236
		Opp SP vs. LR			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Baker – RIGHT			0.186	0.671	6.25%	0.302
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DS	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
1.139	1.090	$2,700	$5,663	$8,100	$4,000	$59,900	$6,300	$9,800

Austin Jackson

I have never been much of a fan of Scott Baker as a solid pitcher, and now that the journeyman is making an appearance for Texas, I’m not really sure he can hold down these Tigers. The over/under for the Tigers is set at 4.5, which is the highest of the night. With guys like Cabrera and Martinez batting around you, you’ll definitely have some chances to rack up the points. Jackson has been struggling lately but has always hit right handers a better than lefties and uses his speed to steal bases against righties. I’m a fan of him tonight and I don’t think he will be that highly owned but he does bring upside.

		Nelson Cruz
		Daily Breakdown			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits			0.333	1.026	4.17%	0.434
		Last 7 Days Splits			0.348	1.066	8.70%	0.43
		Opp SP vs. LR			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		House – LEFT			0.000	0.000	0.00%	0.000
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DS	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
1.057	1.024	$4,200	$8,504	$11,450	$5,000	$104,400	$8,300	$14,000

Nelson Cruz

Nelson Cruz is on fire right now with a 1.066 OPS in the last 7 and has obliterated left handed pitching this year to a 1.319 OPS. T.J. House is making his first major league start in a hitter’s park against a strong offense with a lot of righties like the Orioles, so I really think that this doesn’t go well for House. Cruz is hitting bombs left and right and should be good for another one tonight in Camden.

		Brett Gardner
		Daily Breakdown			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits			0.253	0.724	3.16%	0.323
		Last 7 Days Splits			0.381	1.214	4.76%	0.512
		Opp SP vs. LR			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Noesi – RIGHT			0.347	0.969	6.92%	0.430
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DS	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
0.998	1.002	$3,800	$7,431	$9,150	$4,900	$90,100	$8,200	$9,500

Brett Gardner

Gardner has been much better than Ellsbury this year in terms of hitting and now appears to be the better play. While their prices remain similar, I will wait until Ellsbury starts raking to use him over Gardner, but while Gardner leads off he makes a fantastic play. His 1.214 OPS in the last 7 is great, he crushes right handed pitching, and Noesi may be the worst starter tonight. The Yankees are favored in this one and their over under is set at 4.5 which should lead to some runs that Gardner is involved in.

		Adrian Gonzalez
		Daily Breakdown			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits			0.291	0.957	7.27%	0.404
		Last 7 Days Splits			0.409	1.345	13.64%	0.55
		Opp SP vs. LR			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Hernandez – RIGHT			0.292	0.851	9.59%	0.385
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DS	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
1.107	1.037	$4,000	$7,887	$10,750	$5,100	$94,800	$9,000	$10,800

Adrian Gonzalez

Gonzalez is brutalizing right handed pitching this year to a .320 average and 1.057 OPS. He’s hot in the last 7 days as well with 3 HR and a 1.345 OPS. He faces Hernandez who has issues with homers and is also facing him in Citizen’s Bank, which is really favorable to left handed hitting. If he’s not too expensive, I would plug Gonzalez in without any hesitation tonight as the Dodgers have one of the highest over/unders and make one of the best stacks.

		Denard Span
		Daily Breakdown			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits			0.252	0.650	0.00%	0.286
		Last 7 Days Splits			0.387	1.022	3.23%	0.446
		Opp SP vs. LR			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Morton – RIGHT			0.288	0.719	10.98%	0.353
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DS	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
0.907	0.897	$3,300	$6,006	$9,300	$4,200	$78,200	$7,400	$7,100

Denard Span

Span has 31 at bats in the last 7 days for a 1.022 OPS, which is good in itself, but any time you can get 31 at bats in a week it indicates you’re hitting well and your team is giving you plenty of opportunities. Span hits right handers really well to a .285 average this year and faces Charlie Morton who has been anything less than stellar this year. I like Span to do some damage in the spacious park as he really isn’t much of a homer threat but the big spaces in PNC could allow for some triples and the righty on the mound could equal stolen bases.