Daily Batter Breakdown: Mon, August 18th

by Jon Schiller (Varncass) Last Updated 2014-08-18 21:36:36

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.

Congrats to cheeseisgood for the major $1,000,000 takedown of the DFBC this weekend amongst the controversy of the Coors Field game being postponed. However small, there is always risk that a freak occurance is going to happen to postpone a game and it’s quite unlucky in my opinion for the DFS community that it happened on one of the biggest tournament nights of the year. There is too much to say regarding the situation to put here but I think that it’s less of a deal than I feel certain people will make it out to be. Anyways, back to the games.

		Mike Zunino
		Daily Breakdown		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits		0.179	0.646	6.13%	0.281
		Last 7 Days Splits		0.133	0.502	0.00%	0.232
		Opp SP vs. LR		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Williams – RIGHT		0.307	0.824	2.54%	0.364
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
0.900	0.000	$3,100	$7,850	$2,700			$7,850

Mike Zunino

Zunino is super cold right now and his price shows that, however I think he still makes a great GPP play. There aren’t too many studly catchers on the board today and if you’re looking for a guy with homer upside, Zunino definitely is your guy with 18 HR on the season and 13 against right handers. Williams is not good, and the Mariners have one of the highest over/unders on the day AND they are away from home which should lend to some extra at bats and some extra RBI and run opportunites for Zunino as well.

		Billy Butler
		Daily Breakdown		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits		0.264	0.665	0.99%	0.295
		Last 7 Days Splits		0.250	0.562	0.00%	0.252
		Opp SP vs. LR		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		May – RIGHT
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
1.038	0.000	$2,700	$8,450	$3,900			$8,500

Billy Butler

I am somewhat conflicted in this game here as the hot Royals take on a pretty big prospect in Trevor May. May has been absolutely terrible in his time in the majors so far this year and I’m not sure if this is the best chance for him to turn it around, however he does have the arm and the stuff to do so. The Royals are one of the hottest teams right now and with them being hot, Butler has really turned his season around. His price is still really cheap and even though he’s not exhibiting the power as years past, he still should be able to make value here if the Royals pound out May.

		Robinson Cano
		Daily Breakdown		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits		0.351	0.919	2.32%	0.397
		Last 7 Days Splits		0.286	0.994	9.52%	0.417
		Opp SP vs. LR		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Williams – RIGHT		0.321	0.882	3.06%	0.386
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
0.900	0.000	$4,000	$11,800	$5,100			$11,300

Robinson Cano

I mentioned above how the Mariners are such high favorites today making Cano one of the top plays on the board. He’s expensive but he’s in a weak 2nd base pool, he’s hitting in one of the hottest offenses in the game as one of the best hitters in the game in a fairly hitter friendly park, oh, and he’s facing Jerome Williams. The guy who allowed 10 ER 2 starts ago and has allowed a .904 OPS to lefties this year. I wouldn’t get cute and fade here.

		Kyle Seager
		Daily Breakdown		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits		0.281	0.882	5.70%	0.384
		Last 7 Days Splits		0.211	0.702	5.26%	0.315
		Opp SP vs. LR		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Williams – RIGHT		0.321	0.882	3.06%	0.386
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
0.900	0.000	$3,200	$9,250	$3,900			$8,900

Kyle Seager

If you’re going to stack, you would be hard pressed to find a better 1-2 combo that Seager and Cano. They may not be immediately following each other but their numbers against righties vs Williams’ numbers against lefties certainly make for a great stack considering what Williams has given up against lefties this year. Seager’s 16 HR and .884 OPS against right handers is also great and he’s always been great against RHP giving him one of the top matchups of the day at 3b today.

		Conor Gillaspie
		Daily Breakdown		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits		0.345	0.902	1.61%	0.394
		Last 7 Days Splits		0.263	0.754	0.00%	0.314
		Opp SP vs. LR		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Norris – RIGHT		0.249	0.723	3.06%	0.321
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
1.016	0.000	$2,800	$7,050	$3,400			$7,050

Conor Gillaspie

I am imagining that Seager will be highly owned at 3rd base so if you’re looking for another hot corner man to fade the field in, I would go with Gillaspie. He’s cheap and has been hitting well lately, even smashing a grand slam in the last game. He’s got a .902 OPS with all 5 of his homers against RHP this year so the potential is definitely there and the price is almost too good to pass up. Norris isn’t the greatest pitcher to pick on but US Cellular is more of a hitter’s park and Norris has been hittable lately.

		Ian Desmond
		Daily Breakdown		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits		0.268	0.769	3.57%	0.339
		Last 7 Days Splits		0.400	1.2	10.00%	0.516
		Opp SP vs. LR		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Nuno – LEFT		0.270	0.807	2.54%	0.350
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
1.013	0.000	$3,600	$9,050	$3,900			$9,050

Ian Desmond

I’m not giving Nuno much of a chance to win this game considering his last results, D-Backs lineup and the strength of certain Nationals against LHP. Desmond is a really nice filler at shortstop today as he’s having a solid power season with 20 HR. Nuno has had issues keeping anyone and everyone inside the park this year and could really struggle against a Nationals team who hits a ton of bombs. On a short slate, sometimes it’s tough to find a slam dunk upside pick but Desmond sure does bring HR potential here.

		Alex Gordon
		Daily Breakdown		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits		0.282	0.772	1.81%	0.340
		Last 7 Days Splits		0.391	0.962	4.35%	0.427
		Opp SP vs. LR		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		May – RIGHT
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
1.038	0.000	$3,500	$9,300	$4,300			$9,150

Alex Gordon

Gordon started off the year raking against lefties but he’s turning it around against righties lately, correcting those reverse splits. He’s mashing RHP in the last 2 months and is hot right now without a huge price tag. I’ve mentioned how May is a prospect but he’s been horrible so far in the majors, so with the Royals run total at one of the highest of the night, they seem like one of the safer targets in cash game play.

		Norichika Aoki
		Daily Breakdown		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits		0.237	0.617	0.40%	0.281
		Last 7 Days Splits		0.429	1.05	0.00%	0.458
		Opp SP vs. LR		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		May – RIGHT
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
1.038	0.000	$3,100

Norichika Aoki

The former Japanese multi-time batting champion has really turned out the afterburners late here for the Royals making this a solid lineup to start using for fantasy. Aoki doesn’t have a ton of power but he is able to hit for average and steal bases and his price is really cheap almost everywhere. He’s going to be at the top of the lineup again tonight and should be able to get a few knocks against the inexperienced May who has really struggled in his major league time.

		Anthony Rendon
		Daily Breakdown		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits		0.319	0.874	2.59%	0.380
		Last 7 Days Splits		0.208	0.603	4.17%	0.272
		Opp SP vs. LR		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Nuno – LEFT		0.270	0.807	2.54%	0.350
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
1.013	0.000	$3,900	$10,750	$4,100			$10,750

Anthony Rendon

The downside to Rendon today is the extreme price you’re going to have to pay for someone who really hasn’t had a monster game in a while. I know the upside is there but it’s hard to trust when you haven’t seen it in a week or so. The solid part about this matchup is Nuno’s .810 OPS and 16 HR given up to RHB and Rendon’s .830 OPS and efficency stealing bags against lefties. Lefties are harder to steal from in general, however Rendon does a nice job of it, almost in the same rate as he does against righties.

		Kole Calhoun
		Daily Breakdown		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits		0.286	0.823	4.15%	0.362
		Last 7 Days Splits		0.524	1.498	9.52%	0.645
		Opp SP vs. LR		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Workman – RIGHT		0.229	0.699	3.05%	0.311
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
1.006	0.000	$3,200	$8,450	$3,500			$8,450

Kole Calhoun

There are really 4 teams I am targeting today, the Mariners, Royals, Nationals and Angels. I’ve touched on all 3 of the previous ones but the Angels are the other ones that I’m really looking at. I’m not too excited about the price I have to pay for the Angels tonight especially Trout and Pujols which makes fitting a top pitcher in fairly difficult, but Calhoun is still coming at a huge discount. He’s hot right now, is crushing RHP with 12 HR and a .847 OPS and Workman has had major issues keeping people in the park lately.