Daily Batter Breakdown: Monday, April 20th

by Jon Schiller (Varncass) Last Updated 2015-04-22 14:50:08

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		0.271	0.864	4.52%	0.381
		Last 7 Days Splits		0.190	0.418	0.00%	0.191
		Opp SP vs. LR		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Danks – LEFT		0.270	0.811	1.11%	0.355
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
1.052	0.000	$3,200	$9,650	$4,600	$70,400

Carlos Santana

Santana has been consistently better as a right-handed batter against lefties, and with him getting his hitting stroke under him again with a homer yesterday, I am looking for a good game against Danks today. Santana has a career .860 OPS and a career .375 wOBA against lefties, and that’s paired with Danks struggling the last couple of years against RHB. This is one of the higher over/under games on the slate – he’s a good pivot at catcher aside from the Coors Field guys, especially Norris who is a great play and will be close to 50% owned on FanDuel.

		Joey Votto
		Daily Breakdown		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits		0.241	0.736	0.62%	0.342
		Last 7 Days Splits		0.316	1.22	5.26%	0.506
		Opp SP vs. LR		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Peralta – RIGHT		0.300	0.820	3.59%	0.361
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
1.002	0.000	$4,400	$11,050	$5,200	$88,600

Joey Votto

Votto has been absolutely smashing the ball this year with a .505 wOBA on the season. He is priced up there, but gets a solid matchup in the hitter’s park of the Brewers against Wily Peralta, who has been homer prone in his career. Votto has intense upside and should be low owned with the Rockies playing today, thus making him one of the best GPP plays on the board. Peralta had a 1.33 HR/9 last year against left-handed batters, which is one of the worst marks out there.

		Robinson Cano
		Daily Breakdown		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits		0.327	0.891	3.27%	0.382
		Last 7 Days Splits		0.308	0.808	3.85%	0.349
		Opp SP vs. LR		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Wojciechowski – RIGHT
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
0.825	0.000	$3,800	$9,900	$4,900	$70,800

Robinson Cano

The Mariners are the biggest favorite on the board today, and after putting up 11 runs on Texas in last night’s game, they should be primed to knock around the rookie Asher Wojciechowski. Safeco is not a great hitter’s park, but a .380 wOBA and a .208 career ISO against RHP is a solid number and Cano is one of the best second basemen in all of baseball at the plate. He is expensive, but a great cash game play.

		Kris Bryant
		Daily Breakdown		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits
		Last 7 Days Splits
		Opp SP vs. LR		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD

Kris Bryant

Bryant is going to hit a lot of homers in the majors – while he has not homered in his first few games, I am going to want him when he does. He is not expensive (compared to the Coors Field guys) and I am sure I do not need to list all of the reasons for his hype. I feel like he will be low owned today because of the other solid options on the board, and while hitting at PNC Park concerns me, he still has enough power to take Burnett yard.

		Jose Iglesias
		Daily Breakdown		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits
		Last 7 Days Splits		0.350	0.859	0.00%	0.378
		Opp SP vs. LR		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Sabathia – LEFT		0.320	0.921	2.64%	0.401
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
1.003	0.000	$2,900	$5,300	$3,400	$54,300

Jose Iglesias

Iglesias hits low in the lineup and is not regarded as a good hitter, since he is mainly in the majors because he is one of the greatest defenders. However, he has been hitting well lately and hits in one of the best lineups in baseball, which bumps his value. Iglesias has limited power but the ability to steal bases and his ability to get on base lately has made him a solid punt play, especially because of his ability to allow you to roster a bunch of Coors Field players.

		Matt Kemp
		Daily Breakdown		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits		0.264	0.781	4.05%	0.336
		Last 7 Days Splits		0.333	0.945	4.17%	0.391
		Opp SP vs. LR		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		De La Rosa – LEFT		0.244	0.760	0.83%	0.336
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
1.501	0.000	$4,300	$9,800	$5,400	$76,800

Matt Kemp

Both Upton and Kemp are going to be staples in my cash game play today. Both are at Coors Field against De La Rosa in the highest over/under game of the day. De La Rosa’s numbers are not terrible, with a 4.25 xFIP in the last two years, but Kemp has been a monster against LHP in his career with a .403 wOBA and a .224 ISO. He has struggled in the last couple years against them but looks to be back on track despite a small sample size this year.

		Justin Upton
		Daily Breakdown		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits		0.286	0.981	9.24%	0.423
		Last 7 Days Splits		0.364	1.167	9.09%	0.494
		Opp SP vs. LR		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		De La Rosa – LEFT		0.244	0.760	0.83%	0.336
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
1.501	0.000	$4,600	$10,050	$5,200

Justin Upton

Naturally, the Coors Field game has the top over/under of the day here and is going to be heavily targeted in all games. I noted above how De La Rosa is not terrible against righties (he’s lights out against lefties), but Upton is almost as good as Kemp against lefties with a .394 wOBA, and .247 ISO against LHP over his career. With a revamped Padres lineup, they will not be as low owned as they were last year but should still be used today in a great matchup.

		J.D. Martinez
		Daily Breakdown		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits		0.307	1.003	7.89%	0.425
		Last 7 Days Splits		0.292	0.987	12.50%	0.422
		Opp SP vs. LR		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Sabathia – LEFT		0.320	0.921	2.64%	0.401
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
1.003	0.000	$4,000	$9,050	$4,500	$84,000

J.D. Martinez

Martinez is a completely different player than he was in the first three years of his major league career. His numbers have all increased dramatically since joining the Tigers, and he has had a .430 wOBA and 1.010 OPS against left-handed pitching since joining the Tigers’ lineup. There is still a part of me which expects a regression, but against Sabathia, who is no longer the pitcher he was years ago, Martinez is a fantastic play today.

		Corey Dickerson
		Daily Breakdown		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits		0.328	0.985	6.09%	0.419
		Last 7 Days Splits		0.250	0.625	0.00%	0.268
		Opp SP vs. LR		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Despaigne – RIGHT		0.254	0.714	2.16%	0.322
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
1.501	0.000	$4,900	$9,950	$4,700	$81,700

Corey Dickerson

The Rockies get seven games at Coors Field this week, and all of the pitchers projected to start are right-handed pitchers. Dickerson is going to homer a few times most likely this week and I would venture to say that his price will be much higher at the end of the week. I am targeting him now before the price rises, as he has a .397 wOBA and .259 ISO against RHP, numbers which are even higher than that at Coors Field.

		Carlos Gonzalez
		Daily Breakdown		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits		0.237	0.766	5.20%	0.334
		Last 7 Days Splits		0.150	0.427	0.00%	0.2
		Opp SP vs. LR		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Despaigne – RIGHT		0.254	0.714	2.16%	0.322
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
1.501	0.000	$4,400	$10,900	$4,600	$71,600

Carlos Gonzalez

CarGo will certainly be batting high in the order, and with the fact that Colorado plays a lot of games at Coors and all against RHP, this price may be the lowest we see him at for a long time. His career numbers are very similar to Dickerson’s shorter career numbers, with a .388 wOBA .246 ISO an .912 OPS, with those being even higher at Coors Field. We all know they are fantastic plays, but I would grab them before the prices skyrocket.