Daily Batter Breakdown: Friday, May 9th

by Jon Schiller (Varncass) Last Updated 2014-05-09 20:23:32

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.

It should be a really interesting night tonight. There are some really low projected scoring games including the first 5.5 total game over/under that I have seen the entire season. There are 4 games above 8 over/unders today and I think that those are going to be the ones to target. There’s lots of huge tournaments in the industry on a huge Friday night in MLB so lets get right into the analysis.

		Victor Martinez
		Daily Breakdown			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits			0.301	0.823	4.11%	0.336
		Last 7 Days Splits			0.391	1.283	8.70%	0.515
		Opp SP vs. LR			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Hughes – RIGHT			0.283	0.822	8.06%	0.360
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DS	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
1.139	1.044	$4,000	$8,020	$9,950	$4,500	$92,800	$7,400	$12,600

Victor Martinez

Martinez is quickly inching himself up not only the top catcher salaries but the top salaries overall, and for good reason. Victor is absolutely on fire right now for fantasy purposes with a 1.283 OPS in the last 7 games and 3 HR in the last 5 games. As noted before, he hardly ever strikes out so he’s one of the safest plays on sites that subtract for that. His career numbers are very very solid against right handed pitching so he would make a solid play against a decent pitcher, but we have Phil Hughes up against him tonight, so plug V-Mart in.

		Paul Goldschmidt
		Daily Breakdown			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits			0.327	0.898	4.42%	0.388
		Last 7 Days Splits			0.444	1.279	11.11%	0.553
		Opp SP vs. LR			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Rienzo – RIGHT			0.248	0.742	12.61%	0.342
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DS	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
0.998	0.971	$4,300	$8,677	$13,000	$5,300	$106,300	$10,100	$10,900

Paul Goldschmidt

Another guy who is absolutely out of his mind right now is Goldschmidt. Sure, he’s one of the most expensive guys you can choose but have you seen what he’s done lately? Nine straight games with a hit, 5 straight games with at least 2 hits and 3 homers in the last 4 games. He’s absolutely locked in right now and now he gets Rienzo in US Cellular Field in one of the top scoring games of the night. Rienzo isn’t a top SP option and even though he’s better against right handers, Goldschmidt’s handedness really doesn’t matter right now.

		Brandon Phillips
		Daily Breakdown			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits			0.281	0.702	2.25%	0.310
		Last 7 Days Splits			0.400	1.178	5.00%	0.506
		Opp SP vs. LR			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Chacin – RIGHT			0.238	0.650	6.85%	0.292
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DS	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
0.989	0.938	$3,000	$5,127	$8,850	$4,200	$60,700	$5,900	$5,300

Brandon Phillips

I really like Phillips as a bargain option and I’ve actually been sniping him a few times on Draftstreet lately. His price has risen a bit there but is still really low on a ton of sites due to his slow start. He actually hasn’t been THAT bad to start the season and has a 1.178 OPS in the last 7 games and is hitting right handers better than lefties this year. Phillips is a better hitter than his price and I sense a bit of regression happening with the Rockies. Chacin is making his first start of the season and it could be a little rough for him in this one.

		Manny Machado
		Daily Breakdown			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits			0.188	0.375	0.00%	0.168
		Last 7 Days Splits			0.167	0.397	0.00%	0.191
		Opp SP vs. LR			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Feldman – RIGHT			0.220	0.616	7.21%	0.283
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DS	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
1.057	1.024	$3,400	$5,319	$6,950	$3,600	$70,100	$6,000	$7,100

Manny Machado

Machado has really, really struggled this year which has brought his price down to Brandon Phillips levels. He’s not a bad hitter although he has only one season under his belt for us to make blanket statements about his career averages. I believe that he’s better than the prices he’s being offered at and he has shown no issue hitting right handers in his career. Feldman has been effective but a return from tendenitis doesn’t exactly inspire confidence in his ability. This is one of the games with a huge over under and I think the Orioles get it done today at home with Machado’s help.

		Jose Reyes
		Daily Breakdown			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits			0.176	0.575	3.92%	0.254
		Last 7 Days Splits			0.138	0.567	3.45%	0.259
		Opp SP vs. LR			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Richards – RIGHT			0.253	0.689	9.35%	0.314
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DS	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
1.118	1.045	$3,300	$6,950	$10,100	$4,300	$73,800	$7,400	$8,300

Jose Reyes

Reyes’ price is STILL extremely low on a few sites even though he’s shown a bit of life with the bat, along with OBP and SB rejuvenation lately. I’m going to hop on the bandwagon while his price is still hovering around the average shortstops before it gets to the top. With Tulo having a very poor matchup (for his price) today, I’m looking elsewhere for a SS and in a game at Rogers Centre with Reyes most likely batting 1st, I will take the upside here even though Richards has been good so far this year.

		Michael Brantley
		Daily Breakdown			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits			0.253	0.709	2.67%	0.316
		Last 7 Days Splits			0.360	0.945	4.00%	0.413
		Opp SP vs. LR			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Odorizzi – RIGHT			0.311	0.867	7.30%	0.379
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DS	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
0.931	0.976	$3,400	$8,471	$8,750	$4,000	$84,000	$7,300	$12,800

Michael Brantley

Brantley is having a great start to the season so far and makes one of the safer options. He’s expensive, however he’s got a massive hit streak going and faces Odorizzi who the Rays are throwing into the fire to season the youngster. The Indians have a good Vegas line today and this is one of the higher over/under games on the board. I really like the Indians lefties today and Brantley should come through as he’s been solid against righties in his career and is showing a power surge this year.

		Gerardo Parra
		Daily Breakdown			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits			0.295	0.721	0.95%	0.320
		Last 7 Days Splits			0.346	0.798	0.00%	0.364
		Opp SP vs. LR			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Rienzo – RIGHT			0.258	0.800	10.75%	0.353
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DS	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
0.998	1.002	$2,600	$5,903	$7,600	$3,600	$63,600	$5,000	$7,100

Gerardo Parra

Parra generally leads off against right handers, and should be tonight. His price is absurdly low for how solid he has been with the bat in his last week. Parra doesn’t have much power but he’s got a 6 game hit streak and hasn’t struck out in 5 games. He’s seeing the ball really well right now and Vegas is liking the DBacks tonight against Rienzo even playing away. Pick Parra tonight and save yourself some money for the other high dollar options tonight.

		Jose Bautista
		Daily Breakdown			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits			0.267	0.974	6.67%	0.426
		Last 7 Days Splits			0.321	0.96	3.57%	0.423
		Opp SP vs. LR			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Richards – RIGHT			0.251	0.613	6.03%	0.279
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DS	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
1.118	1.060	$4,800	$8,469	$12,700	$5,400	$100,000	$9,000	$13,000

Jose Bautista

You’ll have to pay up for Joey Bats tonight if you want him but I really like him for GPPs tonight. If you want a 2 HR guy, it’s hard to beat EE or Bautista when they play in Rogers Centre. I am high on Richards, but Vegas isn’t and what’s been surprising to me is that he has been almost .200 points of OPS worse against right handers this year than left handers. Bautista doesn’t discriminate on what hand you throw the ball with, he will homer off you whenever he feels like it and that’s what makes him a dynamite GPP play.

		Prince Fielder
		Daily Breakdown			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits			0.211	0.667	1.41%	0.276
		Last 7 Days Splits			0.318	0.832	0.00%	0.377
		Opp SP vs. LR			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Buchholz – RIGHT			0.204	0.569	9.06%	0.260
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DS	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
0.985	1.002	$3,700	$6,963	$9,500	$4,700	$69,100	$7,100	$8,200

Prince Fielder

Are we finally seeing Fielder getting his hitting legs under him? It’s possible, as he’s had a few solid hits and actually homered in the last game. Buchholz hasn’t been great this year and Vegas love the Rangers in this one along with having the over/under fairly high. Fielder’s price is still way below what it should be at and if he’s finally figured out his issues at the plate, he could be a dynamite play today especially since he rakes against right handed pitching.

		Mike Trout
		Daily Breakdown			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits			0.245	0.774	4.26%	0.337
		Last 7 Days Splits			0.100	0.431	0.00%	0.204
		Opp SP vs. LR			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		McGowan – RIGHT			0.226	0.641	7.69%	0.297
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DS	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
1.118	1.060	$5,100	$10,442	$12,850	$5,700	$96,100	$10,200	$14,000

Mike Trout

The Angels are one of my favorite teams to target today in stack lineups as they face McGowan who has been up and down this year. They are away so they will be guaranteed to get that 9th inning boost and Trout will be hitting at the top of the lineup. You haven’t heard much about him at the beginning of the season, essentially because he hasn’t been great so far. Trout’s salary is still really high due to his reputation but the upside is undeniable. In a game where I expect the Angels to score a lot of runs, Trout may have the highest upside of the night.