Daily Batter Breakdown: Tue, April 15th

by Jon Schiller (Varncass) Last Updated 2014-04-15 19:03:58

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.

Holy weather Batman! There are a few games that are going to be affected by the weather tonight, so make sure you play amateur meteorologist around 6:30pm and certain games like Braves/Phillies and Yankees/Cubs may be best to completely avoid. We also saw how Great American Worked last night and they are supposed to have 13 MPH winds straight out to center tonight as well. Other than that, no real games that stick out with huge over/unders and a huge slate so we should have a really fun night on a giant Tuesday.

		A.J. Pierzynski
		Daily Breakdown			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits			0.277	0.736	4.16%	0.317
		Last 7 Days Splits			0.474	1.132	5.26%	0.497
		Opp SP vs. LR			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Johnson – RIGHT			0.384	1.087	10.89%	0.476
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DS	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
0.998	1.002	$2,600	$5,805	$9,750	$3,400	$56,400	$5,000	$7,800

A.J. Pierzynski

Pierzynski is still priced fairly cheap for being one of the best producing catchers of the early part of the season. Pierzynski hits almost all of his homers against right handed pitching, and luckily enough for him he’s against Erik Johnson who has been absolutely terrible at getting lefties out this year. The Red Sox lineup has some pretty powerful left handers and with Pierzynski doing his damage against right handers and hitting at a 1.038 OPS in general, he should have chances for RBIs and runs galore in this one.

		Miguel Cabrera
		Daily Breakdown			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits			0.338	1.022	7.06%	0.434
		Last 7 Days Splits			0.100	0.332	0.00%	0.136
		Opp SP vs. LR			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		McAllister – RIGHT			0.259	0.698	3.36%	0.315
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DS	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
1.139	1.090	$4,600	$8,777	$12,200	$5,100	$84,000	$8,300	$12,200

Miguel Cabrera

Cabrera has really struggled in the opening part of the season and noted that he needs to work on his swing a bit. He is still a top tier hitter and this may be the cheapest you’ll ever be able to get him at. He faces McAllister who in his career has actually been worse against right handed hitting giving up a .769 OPS to righties. Cabrera has massive power against right handed pitching and taking out last year, Cabrera has usually been better against right handers. I would rather start using him when his price is low and riding the streak than hopping on when it’s high.

		Anthony Rendon
		Daily Breakdown			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits			0.258	0.693	1.06%	0.304
		Last 7 Days Splits			0.292	0.954	4.17%	0.397
		Opp SP vs. LR			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Koehler – RIGHT			0.287	0.781	6.23%	0.350
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DS	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
1.030	0.930	$3,500	$7,726	$8,500	$4,500	$78,800	$6,400	$9,000

Anthony Rendon

Ugh, the 2nd base pool makes me sick today, so if you want to spend I would probably look at Rendon. I feel like punting this position may be the best but I do like Rendon’s matchup today against Koehler. Rendon has been great this year and although he is a lefty killer I still like him against Koehler who has struggled against right handed batting. He’s expensive, and it’s not the greatest play, but there is only risk today at 2nd base and Rendon will bat at the top of the Nationals lineup who are heavily favored against Miami.

		Pedro Alvarez
		Daily Breakdown			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits			0.245	0.847	8.08%	0.359
		Last 7 Days Splits			0.217	0.96	13.04%	0.405
		Opp SP vs. LR			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Leake – RIGHT			0.261	0.721	6.26%	0.320
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DS	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
0.989	1.023	$3,800	$8,172	$10,800	$5,000	$89,000	$6,700	$10,200

Pedro Alvarez

Alvarez is pretty ridiculous as he basically carries a terrible average, and a terrible OBP, but usually about 2/5th’s of his hits against right handed pitching are homers making him an asset in fantasy. He was held out of the homer barrage last night at Great American and I bet he can only wait to get back out there. Like Rendon, he’s very expensive due to his recent dongs but I don’t really love and 3b options today and Alvarez always has 2 HR power for your GPPs. The game tonight looks primed to again cough up some homers and my bet is going to be on Alvarez.

		Everth Cabrera
		Daily Breakdown			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits			0.261	0.667	0.66%	0.301
		Last 7 Days Splits			0.423	1	0.00%	0.435
		Opp SP vs. LR			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Nicasio – RIGHT			0.229	0.721	11.78%	0.329
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DS	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
0.831	0.976	$3,000	$4,216	$9,850	$4,300	$61,600	$6,700	$8,100

Everth Cabrera

I would normally look at Tulo here as he is the one consistent shortstop option when facing a left hander but I actually like Everth Cabrera a little bit more today. Cabrera should be leading off the Padres order and even though I like Nicasio in this game, Cabrera has been solid so far this year with a .340 avg and a .805 OPS. Nicasio had problems with left handed batters leaving the park last year and even though Cabrera isn’t a homer threat, he could still receive a little bit of a power boost. Cabrera is also a stolen base threat especially against a right hander.

		Shin-Soo Choo
		Daily Breakdown			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits			0.313	0.999	5.06%	0.434
		Last 7 Days Splits			0.333	1.024	0.00%	0.449
		Opp SP vs. LR			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Beavan – RIGHT			0.279	0.851	10.39%	0.378
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DS	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
0.985	1.002	$3,800	$7,686	$12,000	$4,800	$76,100	$7,400	$10,500

Shin-Soo Choo

Again the Rangers are favored in Vegas with a solid over/under but I find it just so hard to trust them to go off. They will fave Beavan tonight who was terrible in 2013 allowing a .864 OPS to left handed batters and 4 homers in 68 at bats. I have pushed Choo a lot this year and I was really expecting more out of him but this seems to be the perfect spot for him to climb out of his slump. He’s now cheaper than he started the year at and should be managable in the salary department. He has a chance for a really solid game tonight.

		Eric Young
		Daily Breakdown			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits			0.239	0.639	0.50%	0.285
		Last 7 Days Splits			0.250	0.713	0.00%	0.33
		Opp SP vs. LR			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Arroyo – RIGHT			0.291	0.844	4.86%	0.366
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DS	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
0.974	0.970	$3,200	$5,767	$10,150	$4,700	$55,100	$6,200	$9,400

Eric Young

I’m a pretty big fan of the Mets tonight and I think they are able to do damage against Arroyo who really struggles at keeping left handers in the park. Young doesn’t have much power but the power he does have comes off righties and he is always a threat to steal. Young has been stealing a ton of bases recently and if his price is still low, I like him today for fantasy purposes as he has a good chance at racking up fantasy points if he can get on base.

		Andrew McCutchen
		Daily Breakdown			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits			0.297	0.854	3.28%	0.371
		Last 7 Days Splits			0.250	0.685	0.00%	0.319
		Opp SP vs. LR			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Leake – RIGHT			0.254	0.679	5.90%	0.308
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DS	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
0.989	0.938	$4,300	$7,198	$12,250	$4,700	$81,500	$8,000	$10,700

Andrew McCutchen

Cutch has been extremely disappointing this year and his salary has also taken a dive because of it. It’s only three weeks into the season and he’s walking a ton so there is no reason to panic about the former MVP. The Pirates were able to put on a homer barrage last night and I think that the big bats get involved tonight as well. You can find McCutchen at such a bargain on certain sites he’s extremely hard to pass up in this one especially considering that Leake hasn’t been great against right handers in his career.

		Grady Sizemore
		Daily Breakdown			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits			0.300	0.864	5.00%	0.380
		Last 7 Days Splits			0.429	1.095	4.76%	0.475
		Opp SP vs. LR			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Johnson – RIGHT			0.384	1.087	10.89%	0.476
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DS	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
0.998	1.002	$2,700	$6,475	$8,200	$4,200	$56,400	$5,700	$9,500

Grady Sizemore

Sizemore lead off last time, and I would expect him to lead off again today. His price is still site dependent but I really like his matchup against Erik Johnson who as I noted above has been horrid against left handed batters. The oft-injured Sizemore has been great so far this season and one of the Red Sox most consistent fantasy options. He should make a really solid play today especially in this game where the Red Sox should be able to put up a few crooked innings.

		Eric Hosmer
		Daily Breakdown			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits			0.291	0.800	2.79%	0.349
		Last 7 Days Splits			0.217	0.511	0.00%	0.23
		Opp SP vs. LR			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Harrell – RIGHT			0.262	0.778	13.33%	0.351
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DS	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
1.074	1.035	$3,300	$6,361	$9,450	$3,800	$64,900	$6,600	$8,200

Eric Hosmer

The game pick on Lucas Harrell should continue tonight as the Royals get to play at Minute Maid Park. A ton of the Royals are cheap and have great matchups against Harrell who has basically been batting practice for everyone so far this season. I love Hosmer, love Gordon and Aoki, and Perez and Butler should also make great plays. Harrell has been so bad that he’s allowed a 1.076 OPS and .611 slugging this year. It’s not like him struggling to start the season is a surprise as he ended last year allowing a .911 OPS to right handers and finishing with a 5.86 ERA.