Daily Batter Breakdown: Tue, April 29th

by Jon Schiller (Varncass) Last Updated 2014-04-29 17:03:28

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.

Another huge Tuesday in DFS as DraftStreet finally announced their DSBC championship with $1 million to first. The first DS qualifier pops off tonight along with qualifiers on FanDuel ($535) and DraftKings ($200). It is Tuesday as well, so along with the qualifiers we have some massive GPP tournaments with big numbers up top. Should be a fun night so lets get to the picks.

		Yadier Molina
		Daily Breakdown			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits			0.348	0.859	2.90%	0.379
		Last 7 Days Splits			0.364	0.875	0.00%	0.376
		Opp SP vs. LR			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Lohse – RIGHT			0.245	0.620	3.17%	0.276
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DS	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
0.892	0.939	$3,500	$6,063	$8,200	$4,600	$66,800	$5,800	$9,600

Yadier Molina

This is kind of a contrarian pick tonight as I don’t expect a ton of people to use Yadi against Lohse due to Lohse’s dominance against right handed batters this year. In the last few years, while he is better against them, he hasn’t distinguished himself as a guy who dominates right handers, in fact, in their history of facing each other Yadi has crushed Lohse to 9 for 16 with 2 homers equaling a 1.654 OPS. Yadi is surprisingly cheap everywhere and is hitting like he usually does; this is a price/position/skill play.

		Eric Hosmer
		Daily Breakdown			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits			0.318	0.769	0.00%	0.346
		Last 7 Days Splits			0.300	0.764	0.00%	0.342
		Opp SP vs. LR			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		McGowan – RIGHT			0.237	0.706	10.28%	0.329
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DS	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
1.082	1.014	$3,300	$6,520	$9,300	$3,400	$73,600	$6,600	$8,500

Eric Hosmer

I am not a huge fan of Dustin McGowan this year and he’s really been bad after the one 0 ER start last time out. Even at Kauffman, Vegas has this game pegged as a 8.5 over/under which really speaks to the poor ability of the pitchers going to me. Hosmer is cheap, crushes right handers, and I think he gets his first homer tonight and Kansas City goes nuts on McGowan.

		Dustin Pedroia
		Daily Breakdown			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits			0.281	0.780	0.00%	0.345
		Last 7 Days Splits			0.310	0.826	0.00%	0.373
		Opp SP vs. LR			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Bedard – LEFT			0.246	0.744	11.73%	0.333
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DS	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
0.960	1.056	$3,500	$8,425	$9,800	$4,400	$79,900	$6,700	$9,600

Dustin Pedroia

Erik Bedard is back giving up 4 earned runs per game like normal, so we should look at the Rays/Red Sox game tonight as one to target. I like Pedroia as he will be hitting at the top of the lineup, is one of the safest plays on the board, and hits great at home. Not only that, he crushes left handed pitching. I’m not worried about his 16 AB sample against Bedard, there is only one strikeout and these guys have both played a long time so things aren’t the same as they were when they first met.

		David Wright
		Daily Breakdown			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits			0.364	0.920	4.55%	0.394
		Last 7 Days Splits			0.154	0.399	0.00%	0.186
		Opp SP vs. LR			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Hamels – LEFT			0.245	0.684	5.42%	0.308
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DS	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
1.107	0.995	$3,500	$6,441	$9,200	$4,600	$70,100	$7,300	$9,100

David Wright

We actually have a BVP that might mean something tonight and that’s with David Wright against Cole Hamels. I really want over 100 ABs but 63 will do. Wright has a nice 1.055 OPS with 5 HR against Hamels and has done really well against him in the past. He will be hitting at Citizen’s Bank tonight which is a fairly easy park to hit at, and is extremely cheap across the industry for such a great hitter. Hamels was solid in his season debut but is still working his way back. I expect wright to do most of the damage for the Mets tonight; only thing to watch for is the weather.

		Jose Reyes
		Daily Breakdown			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits			0.000	0.167	0.00%	0.116
		Last 7 Days Splits			0.160	0.542	4.00%	0.244
		Opp SP vs. LR			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Vargas – LEFT			0.246	0.701	7.60%	0.316
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DS	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
1.082	0.971	$3,300	$6,182	$9,850	$3,900	$71,600	$7,000	$8,500

Jose Reyes

I am not in love with the shortstop pool today so I am looking for a guy like Reyes who will be hitting at the top of the lineup and is fairly inexpensive. Reyes gets to hit in front of Bautista and Encarnacion which should add value for him and he also gets to face off against Vargas had been very homer prone against right handed batters in the last 3 years. Vargas has been effective this year but as noted above Vegas has this line set high.

		Alex Gordon
		Daily Breakdown			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits			0.288	0.754	1.52%	0.329
		Last 7 Days Splits			0.267	0.679	0.00%	0.303
		Opp SP vs. LR			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		McGowan – RIGHT			0.237	0.706	10.28%	0.329
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DS	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
1.082	1.014	$2,800	$6,275	$8,450	$3,100	$77,800	$6,200	$8,900

Alex Gordon

Mr. Doubles Alex Gordon gets the benefit of hitting against McGowan today who as noted above has really been struggling this year. It was a great story of him making it to the starting 5 but in my opinion it’s only a matter of time before he’s bumped out. Gordon appears to be breaking out of the slump that made his salary extremely affordable and he has a great matchup against a bad righty.

		Gerardo Parra
		Daily Breakdown			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits			0.293	0.725	1.33%	0.320
		Last 7 Days Splits			0.273	0.652	0.00%	0.298
		Opp SP vs. LR			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Chatwood – RIGHT			0.243	0.660	10.12%	0.304
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DS	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
0.974	0.970	$2,500	$5,648	$7,100	$3,200	$59,300	$4,900	$7,600

Gerardo Parra

Chatwood was great in the first two games this year but got lit up in the last one. He is pitching in a game with the highest over under of the night and is pitching away from home which makes him extremely risky. Parra gets to hit against a righty today the handedness against which he hits 200 points of OPS higher against. Parra was solid last night and should be an even better bargain tonight hitting leadoff.

		Carlos Gonzalez
		Daily Breakdown			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits			0.246	0.729	3.28%	0.316
		Last 7 Days Splits			0.087	0.174	0.00%	0.078
		Opp SP vs. LR			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Bolsinger – RIGHT			0.387	0.940	6.06%	0.413
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DS	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
0.974	0.970	$4,400	$8,368	$10,650	$4,000	$73,200	$7,500	$11,500

Carlos Gonzalez

I have been seeing a lot of people ragging on Carlos Gonzalez recently because of the current slump he’s in. Sure he hasn’t been great but he’s a premier hitter with a decent bargain in salary. Bolsinger is very unproven even with his solid start last time out and I don’t trust him against a potent Rockies offense. CarGo hit a double last night and he could be at the part of him breaking out of this slump.

		Josh Donaldson
		Daily Breakdown			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits			0.318	1.102	9.09%	0.469
		Last 7 Days Splits			0.296	1.145	11.11%	0.485
		Opp SP vs. LR			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Perez – LEFT			0.252	0.677	6.99%	0.301
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DS	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
0.985	1.016	$4,800	$10,139	$11,300	$5,200	$95,700	$8,200	$11,300

Josh Donaldson

I really like the matchups for the 3rd basemen today and I feel like the champion of the big tournaments is going to ha e the right 3b. I am going with Dongaldson myself as he has been on fire recently and hitting the snot out of the ball. In the past couple of years all he has proven is that he brutalizes left handed pitching and although Martin Perez has been super solid, Donaldson is going to be hitting in Texas which should carry that ball out to every direction.

		Mark Teixeira
		Daily Breakdown			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits			0.190	0.451	0.00%	0.216
		Last 7 Days Splits			0.176	1.028	11.76%	0.445
		Opp SP vs. LR			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Young – RIGHT			0.238	0.670	10.42%	0.298
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DS	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
1.087	1.040	$3,100	$7,090	$9,150	$3,900	$69,500	$7,500	$8,500

Mark Teixeira

Teixeira hit his 2nd homer in a week and reports are looking like his wrist is feeling better. I like his price almost everywhere and he definitely has 2 homer upside if he is feeling ok. I am a little bit worried about how he has performed against right handers in the recent past but this game has a huge over under and I really like the Yankees lefties in this matchup. I don’t believe in Young the pitcher and I think you can get nice upside from Tex tonight.