Daily Batter Breakdown: Tue, Jun 17th

by Jon Schiller (Varncass) Last Updated 2014-06-17 18:55:19

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.

There are a few good pitchers going tonight, no real high scoring games in the over/unders and none of the huge hitters parks in play tonight which should make for an interesting, maybe low scoring night. I did not include Hunter Pence, but for 2200 on FD today as noted on Twitter today, he should be one of the highest owned players for good reason against Danks.

		Brian McCann
		Daily Breakdown			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits			0.213	0.603	3.13%	0.270
		Last 7 Days Splits			0.211	0.496	0.00%	0.236
		Opp SP vs. LR			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Stroman – RIGHT			0.377	0.959	3.57%	0.424
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DS	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
1.087	1.040	$2,900	$5,697	$6,750	$3,500	$48,900	$4,000	$6,750

Brian McCann

This seems to be a difficult slate to pick batters on tonight and I’m somewhat not impressed with the catcher pool tonight. McCann is performing under his ability and one has to think that at some point he’s going to go nuts. He’s decently cheap on each site and has a solid matchup with Marcus Stroman who has been solid but performing above his ability. McCann hits better against righties and at some point he’s going to get better.

		Jose Abreu
		Daily Breakdown			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits			0.278	0.958	8.86%	0.404
		Last 7 Days Splits			0.348	1.103	8.70%	0.452
		Opp SP vs. LR			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Cain – RIGHT			0.244	0.716	5.96%	0.319
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DS	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
0.998	0.971	$4,300	$7,878	$11,900	$5,100	$83,800	$9,200	$12,100

Jose Abreu

Abreu has been absolute money this year against right handed pitching with a .956 OPS and 14 homers in 162 at bats. He faces Matt Cain tonight who has been poor this year and allowed a .261 average with a .800 OPS against RHB this year. Abreu is a monster and is hitting in a fairly homer friendly park against a pitcher who has been struggling but is still in the lineup because of his pedigree.

		Jason Kipnis
		Daily Breakdown			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits			0.255	0.729	2.04%	0.332
		Last 7 Days Splits			0.367	0.787	0.00%	0.351
		Opp SP vs. LR			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Shoemaker – RIGHT			0.300	0.855	7.07%	0.378
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DS	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
0.933	0.992	$3,600	$7,108	$9,350	$4,400	$75,300	$7,100	$9,450

Jason Kipnis

Shoemaker has been really homer friendly in his last 3 outings and could really have some problems against this lefty heavy Indians lineup. Shoemaker has been great against right handers but has allowed a .922 OPS to lefties this year and has really struggled against them with a .316 average. Kipnis has always hit righties well and is hitting in a lineup full of lefties. This is one of the highest over/under games of the night and I really like the indians.

		Aramis Ramirez
		Daily Breakdown			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits			0.313	0.968	9.38%	0.403
		Last 7 Days Splits			0.292	0.862	4.17%	0.374
		Opp SP vs. LR			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Miley – LEFT			0.264	0.752	8.21%	0.334
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DS	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
0.974	1.044	$2,900	$6,484	$8,300	$4,400	$66,800	$6,900	$8,550

Aramis Ramirez

Wade Miley is usually one of my favorite guys to pick on. He has really struggled at home with a 5.69 ERA and .280 BAA, and has struggled against right handed batters as well. When he’s bad, he gives up the long ball and the Brewers can sure hit the long ball. I like Ramirez today as he’s really hitting well lately, and is crushing lefties to a .968 OPS this year. He’s affordable everywhere and should pay off his number tonight.

		Starlin Castro
		Daily Breakdown			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits			0.267	0.783	4.37%	0.342
		Last 7 Days Splits			0.400	1.184	8.00%	0.509
		Opp SP vs. LR			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Desclafani – RIGHT			0.300	0.833	4.76%	0.360
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DS	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
1.030	0.930	$2,900	$6,752	$9,200	$3,900	$79,500	$6,800	$8,850

Starlin Castro

Castro’s price is still low after a really solid couple of days at the plate. DeSclafani hasn’t been great in his limited amount of time in the bigs and I think he has a little bit of difficulty today. If you’re looking for power from Castro, he only hits his homers off right handers as he has 10 vs 0 against LHP, and DeSclafani has actually been worse against RHB this season. Given how hot Castro is, I really like him to keep it going tonight at a reduced price.

		Jacoby Ellsbury
		Daily Breakdown			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits			0.263	0.682	1.28%	0.304
		Last 7 Days Splits			0.227	0.71	4.55%	0.325
		Opp SP vs. LR			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Stroman – RIGHT			0.377	0.959	3.57%	0.424
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DS	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
1.087	1.040	$3,700	$7,004	$9,700	$4,600	$73,200	$8,300	$10,300

Jacoby Ellsbury

Give me a couple of more starts for Stroman and I will start believing, but I’m still not buying. I think a lot of people are going to be on him tonight and not on the Yankees making the Yankees lefties a bit of a sneaky stack play. I wouldn’t use them in cash games but I really like Ellsbury for GPPs with his 3,700 tag on FD and his 7k tag on DS. He’s one of the guys who can put together a multi-homer, multi-steal game making his upside great and I want to have some exposure to him when Stroman has a breakdown.

		Matt Holliday
		Daily Breakdown			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits			0.241	0.711	0.00%	0.331
		Last 7 Days Splits			0.200	0.95	13.33%	0.395
		Opp SP vs. LR			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Niese – LEFT			0.276	0.717	7.49%	0.324
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DS	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
0.892	0.939	$3,300	$5,774	$9,950	$4,700	$73,800	$7,000	$9,500

Matt Holliday

The prices for Holliday are insane right now on FD and DS, and he’s definitely a better player than what his price is. Niese isn’t the greatest matchup, but he does struggle the most against right handed batters and Holliday has shown a bit of life in the last few games. He’s been doing most his damage off of RHP this year but he’s got good career numbers against LHP so I like him tonight.

		Kole Calhoun
		Daily Breakdown			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits			0.259	0.826	4.71%	0.363
		Last 7 Days Splits			0.438	1	0.00%	0.445
		Opp SP vs. LR			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Tomlin – RIGHT			0.242	0.739	3.06%	0.322
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DS	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
0.933	0.992	$2,900	$4,668	$8,600	$3,600	$62,400	$6,100	$8,950

Kole Calhoun

Calhoun has been leading off against right handers for the Angels and still sits at a reasonable number on DK and FD. He hits right handers very well to almost a .800 OPS clip and has all of his homers against righties. Tomlin hasn’t been good lately and is allowed almost a homer per game with a poor WHIP. The Angels have a fairly strong offense and I would expect a nice fantasy day out of Calhoun for a bargain price.

		Michael Morse
		Daily Breakdown			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits			0.203	0.793	8.70%	0.341
		Last 7 Days Splits			0.400	0.944	0.00%	0.423
		Opp SP vs. LR			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Danks – LEFT			0.260	0.765	6.60%	0.338
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DS	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
0.998	0.971	$3,200	$6,524	$8,000	$4,000	$65,300	$7,000	$8,250

Michael Morse

I noted above about how Pence is 2,200 on FD and I would obviously plug him in first but I also like Michael Morse here as well. Morse has always had power and is one of the homer leaders on the year. Even though he’s not overall hitting great against lefties this year he has nice career numbers and has managed 6 homers in 71 at bats making him a great guy to plug in in GPPs against Danks. I’m not going all in vs Danks because of how solid he’s been lately but the low prices on the Giants in a hitter’s park make it intriguing.

		Carlos Santana
		Daily Breakdown			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits			0.155	0.653	4.65%	0.309
		Last 7 Days Splits			0.296	0.848	3.70%	0.375
		Opp SP vs. LR			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Shoemaker – RIGHT			0.300	0.855	7.07%	0.378
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DS	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
0.933	0.992	$3,400	$6,240	$9,150	$4,000	$72,800	$6,200	$9,150

Carlos Santana

I like to use guys when they are at the bottom of their price range when it looks like they are breaking out of their slumps and Santana is looking like that now. He has 2 homers in the last 4 games and XBH in all of those games. He’s cheap everywhere and there is no doubt he brings power. Shoemaker is poor against lefties as noted above and Santana has really improved against RHP. While he doesn’t always hit them for the best average, he’s consistent in hitting bombs off of them.