Daily Batter Breakdown: Saturday, April 11th

by Jon Schiller (Varncass) Last Updated 2015-04-13 18:47:05

Welcome to the Daily Batter Breakdown. Each day, with 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. Be sure to check out the FAQ for more information on specific stats.

And we’re back to ace day, with most teams’ aces on the field today. This should cause a lot of overlap because there are a few teams that I just will not be considering today like the Diamondbacks, Padres and Giants. Coors Field has a 10 over/under again and like before, most everyone in those lineups is going to be a worthwhile play so I will just leave them off.

		Jonathan Lucroy
		Daily Breakdown		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits		0.300	0.837	2.68%	0.369
		Last 7 Days Splits		0.288	0.811	2.76%	0.355
		Opp SP vs. LR		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Worley – RIGHT		0.266	0.691	1.97%	0.304
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
1.002	0.000	$3,500	$8,650	$4,600	$65,600

Jonathan Lucroy

There are not a ton of great plays at catcher today. Lucroy has been struggling, but should still bat second here against Worley. And even though he is batting against the same-handed pitcher, his salary has come down enough to where I would consider using him anyways. There really is not an elite option at catcher with a great matchup, so Lucroy slots in here.

		Adam Lind
		Daily Breakdown		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits		0.354	0.942	2.33%	0.410
		Last 7 Days Splits		0.306	0.873	3.91%	0.378
		Opp SP vs. LR		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Worley – RIGHT		0.250	0.666	2.45%	0.297
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
1.002	0.000	$3,700	$8,700	$4,600	$60,000

Adam Lind

Lind has been a popular pick to start the season, and I see no reason why he would not be a popular pick today either. Lind will hit against Worley, who has been solid against lefties in his career, which is a bit of a deterrent. Lind is still cheap though, and has performed basically in every single game this season despite the Brewers not scoring a ton of runs.

		Adrian Gonzalez
		Daily Breakdown		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits		0.303	0.901	5.32%	0.384
		Last 7 Days Splits		0.290	0.833	4.54%	0.358
		Opp SP vs. LR		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Bradley – RIGHT
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
1.154	0.000	$5,300	$9,550	$4,700	$92,900

Adrian Gonzalez

If you do not want to use Lind for cheap, pay up for Gonzalez. He has been absolutely mashing the ball to start the season, as his worst appearance was a game where he got on base three times in Chase Field. He will hit again in Chase today against Archie Bradley. Bradley had terrible numbers last year, but they also indicate that he was fairly unlucky in the minors. He is not as bad as his numbers indicated, but still, this is the major leagues, and he has not faced a hitter as strong as Gonzalez. Adrian is one of the safest plays on the board today.

		Neil Walker
		Daily Breakdown		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits		0.269	0.831	5.19%	0.364
		Last 7 Days Splits		0.262	0.785	3.88%	0.345
		Opp SP vs. LR		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Nelson – RIGHT		0.271	0.805	3.47%	0.353
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
1.002	0.000	$3,500	$8,800	$3,700	$59,200

Neil Walker

Walker bats in the middle of the lineup for the Pirates in what should be a fairly high scoring game at Miller Park. Walker destroyed it in the spring, but other than the last game, he has been having some issues in the regular season. I am thinking that gets him going, and he has always been better from the left side of the plate than the right side with an extra 150 points of OPS and an extra 70 points in the wOBA category to even out at .800 and .351 respectively. Nelson is a decent pitcher, but really was not a shutdown pitcher last year ,allowing a 4.51 xFIP, which is a nice matchup.

		Adrian Beltre
		Daily Breakdown		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits		0.316	0.845	3.35%	0.366
		Last 7 Days Splits		0.317	0.874	4.17%	0.377
		Opp SP vs. LR		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Hernandez – RIGHT		0.242	0.738	2.09%	0.323
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
1.052	0.000	$3,800	$10,000	$5,200	$75,300

Adrian Beltre

I debated for a while, but settled on Beltre at third. I really like the Texas bats today at home in a hitter’s park against Roberto Hernandez, who barely made the rotation in Houston. Hernandez’s stats are terrible against lefties, but they are also not very good against right-handers either. Beltre, however, is solid against either side and has a .347 wOBA and a .810 OPS with a solid last couple of years against right-handed pitching. He is expensive, but should be worth it today.

		Jose Reyes
		Daily Breakdown		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits		0.289	0.732	1.81%	0.324
		Last 7 Days Splits		0.291	0.748	1.88%	0.33
		Opp SP vs. LR		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Jimenez – RIGHT		0.241	0.779	3.44%	0.354
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
0.932	0.000	$3,700	$9,500	$4,700	$73,500

Jose Reyes

I am targeting the Jays/Orioles hard if I cannot fit the Coors Field players, and would really like Reyes on my teams. He produces fantasy points almost every single game and has light HR power with stolen base upside and the leadoff bonus, plus he is followed up by Bautista and Encarnacion who can both drive him in. He is one of the safest plays at short, especially for his price, which is much cheaper than the most likely option to get big points, Tulo. We will talk more about Ubaldo below, but the switch-hitting Reyes should have success in Camden.

		Alejandro De Aza
		Daily Breakdown		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits		0.277	0.766	2.05%	0.337
		Last 7 Days Splits		0.259	0.718	2.37%	0.317
		Opp SP vs. LR		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Sanchez – RIGHT		0.146	0.469	2.43%	0.223
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
0.932	0.000	$3,100	$7,600	$4,200	$46,800

Alejandro De Aza

De Aza may not be the greatest GPP play with his limited power, but he does lead off and will be facing a Blue Jays team starting Aaron Sanchez, who is unproven at this level. De Aza is cheap everywhere, and while he does not have great numbers, he has yet to really disappoint this year and should be in a great position to pay off his salary again today.

		Shin-Soo Choo
		Daily Breakdown		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits		0.244	0.732	2.86%	0.329
		Last 7 Days Splits		0.265	0.81	3.38%	0.362
		Opp SP vs. LR		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Hernandez – RIGHT		0.246	0.745	2.77%	0.333
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
1.052	0.000	$2,900	$8,800	$4,100	$55,500

Shin-Soo Choo

Never take Choo against a lefty is the easiest DFS mantra, but we still shouldn’t ignore him against right handers. He is a little banged up right now, but stated that he felt “much better”. He is not expensive and almost has a career .400 wOBA against right-handers and a .907 OPS. Hernandez has not been good at all against lefties in his career, with a .463 xFIP and a 5.55 xFIP last year. He is not one of the better Astros pitchers, which is scary, and in Texas, we should see a few balls leave the yard here.

		Jose Bautista
		Daily Breakdown		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits		0.270	0.888	5.72%	0.387
		Last 7 Days Splits		0.273	0.891	6.18%	0.387
		Opp SP vs. LR		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Jimenez – RIGHT		0.237	0.683	1.35%	0.308
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
0.932	0.000	$4,500	$11,950	$5,700	$74,600

Jose Bautista

The Jays/Orioles game is one of my favorite ones to look at for hitters today as they will play in Camden, and there are two pitchers here who are not aces. Bautista really does not care what hand the pitcher is throwing from, as he is an equal opportunity donger, but Ubaldo has been pretty poor at getting out right-handers since 2009 sporting a .312 wOBA since then. Ubaldo is the Orioles’ fifth starter, and this game has the highest over/under of non-Coors games. Bautista got going last time out and I expect him to keep it going here.

		Joc Pederson
		Daily Breakdown		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits		0.174	0.561	0.00%	0.293
		Last 7 Days Splits		0.167	0.554	0.00%	0.275
		Opp SP vs. LR		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Bradley – RIGHT
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
1.154	0.000	$3,200	$7,550	$4,400	$47,000

Joc Pederson

It says plenty about this guy that the Dodgers are willing to roll him out there in center field daily with the insane outfield depth that the team has. Pederson has speed and has hit right-handers well in his time in the minors, along with not being scared at the plate at the beginning of the season. He will hit in a nice hitter’s park in Chase Field today, and while he will most likely hit lower in the batting order, his price is cheap and he offers SB upside.