Daily Batter Breakdown: Tuesday, June 9th

by Jon Schiller (Varncass) Last Updated 2015-06-12 13:46:13

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 on FanDuel and DraftKings among other sites, and then a description of why I’ll be targeting him.

We have a Coors Field game today, so like usual hitters from that game will not be included as they are all solid plays today.

		Stephen Vogt
		Daily Breakdown		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits		0.305	0.869	5.03%	0.376
		Last 7 Days Splits		0.409	1.098	4.55%	0.457
		Opp SP vs. LR		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Sanchez – RIGHT		0.221	0.606	1.46%	0.269
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
1.003	0.000	$3,600	$9,050	$3,900	$78,200

Stephen Vogt

I love the Athletics as a hitter matchup today against Nick Martinez, who is meeting regression with his seven earned runs in the last start. Vogt still has a .401 wOBA and a .958 OPS despite his recent struggles and will bring upside. His price is absolutely in the great range across the industry, and at a catcher position where there really are not a ton of great option and a lot of solid pitchers taking the hump today, I have Vogt at the top of my catcher rankings (aside from the Coors Field guys).

		Miguel Cabrera
		Daily Breakdown		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits		0.320	0.915	4.59%	0.393
		Last 7 Days Splits		0.250	0.7	0.00%	0.3
		Opp SP vs. LR		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Gray – RIGHT		0.236	0.597	1.22%	0.270
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
1.003	0.000	$4,800	$10,850	$5,000	$81,700

Miguel Cabrera

Lester has been solid this year but really struggled in his last start against Miami. He gets to fact the righty-heavy Tigers lineup, which features the ever present DFS play Miguel Cabrera. Cabrera is a better cash game play against lefties as he hits for more power against righties, but the real attraction here is his price at $4,600. He is one of the cheaper options on the board at first base and is still a top hitter in the majors.

		Howie Kendrick
		Daily Breakdown		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits		0.285	0.740	1.39%	0.326
		Last 7 Days Splits		0.280	0.748	4.00%	0.326
		Opp SP vs. LR		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Bettis – RIGHT		0.341	0.000		0.415
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
1.501	0.000	$3,600	$7,850	$4,800	$69,500

Howie Kendrick

Having pitched for the Tigers last year, I really liked what Robbie Ray had brought to the table as a spot starter against lefties. The problem is, he allowed a .448 wOBA to right-handed hitters with four homers and a 5.26 xFIP. Kendrick seems to have lost his power against lefties this year but he has great numbers in his career and is extremely cheap today.

		Manny Machado
		Daily Breakdown		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits		0.293	0.824	4.78%	0.360
		Last 7 Days Splits		0.156	0.612	6.25%	0.263
		Opp SP vs. LR		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		McCullers – Right		0.250	0.641	0.00%	0.271
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
1.012	0.000	$3,400	$8,000	$4,300	$63,600

Manny Machado

Machado is a guy I like today for GPP plays. With a lot of the DFS community big on Rodriguez today, I think we could see a very low ownership from Machado despite this being Rodriguez’s second MLB start. Machado is hitting well against righties with a .351 wOBA and a .207 ISO this year and has consistently hit right-handers well in his career along with being one of the guys occupying the Orioles leadoff spot.

		Carlos Correa
		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

Carlos Correa

Yesterday was not a great spot to use the super prospect against Sale, but today is going to be a lot better for him. He faces another hyped prospect in Carlos Rodon, who has been solid to start the year but not a world beater. Correa gets the R/L advantage against Rodon, and with his ridiculous wOBA in previous levels (.520 at AA and .400 at A ball), his price on DraftKings even seems reasonable.

		Eddie Rosario
		Daily Breakdown		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits		0.333	0.891	8.33%	0.365
		Last 7 Days Splits		0.385	1.044	7.69%	0.452
		Opp SP vs. LR		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Rodriguez – Left
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
1.072	0.000	$2,600	$5,000	$3,200	$35,000

Eddie Rosario

Look who is super hot right now! Eddie Rosario is pretty much on fire and hitting in the middle of the Twins lineup. He gets to face arguably the worst pitcher on the slate in Chris Young. Young’s xFIP against lefties is a career 5.00 and 5.50 this year. Young gives up a ton of homers to lefties and Rosario has a .326 wOBA against righties this year with a .145 ISO, not to mention the fact that he is super cheap across the industry.

		Gregory Polanco
		Daily Breakdown		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits		0.260	0.713	1.92%	0.317
		Last 7 Days Splits		0.391	1.156	8.70%	0.492
		Opp SP vs. LR		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Hudson – RIGHT		0.277	0.759	2.13%	0.333
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
0.920	0.000	$3,000	$7,900	$3,400	$64,000

Gregory Polanco

Polanco is incredibly cheap at $3,900 on DraftKings today and gets to face someone with the last name of Jungmann. Jungmann has not been terrible in the minors and has decent K% over the last two years, but I still do not trust him in his first major league game, even if it is in PNC Park. Polanco has been solid lately and has a .320 wOBA and a .124 ISO against RHP. He is well worth his money for the power/speed combo and is a great play today.

		Jose Bautista
		Daily Breakdown		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits		0.262	0.880	5.70%	0.384
		Last 7 Days Splits		0.421	1.184	0.00%	0.494
		Opp SP vs. LR		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Jordan – RIGHT		0.366	0.000		0.453
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
1.068	0.000	$4,600	$10,650	$5,300	$82,300

Jose Bautista

Bautista is so expensive on DraftKings that I doubt a ton of people will have him in GPPs today against Dan Haren, even though he is going to be one of the main guys who has two-homer upside. Haren really does not have bit R/L splits and neither does Bautista, making the R/R matchup not intimidating at all. I would not use Bautista in a cash game because of the high price point, but the amount of great pitchers going today make him a solid upside play.

		Bryce Harper
		Daily Breakdown		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits		0.273	0.833	3.13%	0.370
		Last 7 Days Splits		0.231	1.137	15.38%	0.475
		Opp SP vs. LR		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Buehrle – LEFT		0.275	0.774	3.26%	0.340
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
1.068	0.000	$5,800	$12,000	$5,100	$101,100

Bryce Harper

Harper has somewhat fallen off the map lately after his hot streak, and his usage rate has gone down with his price increasing. His price is now down and he is facing Tanaka coming off of his first MLB start since coming off the DL (which was effective). Harper’s ownership will be down because of that, but Tanaka did not look great in his rehab starts and he has struggled (if you can call it that) against lefties with a .8 HR/9.

		Jake Lamb
		Daily Breakdown		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits		0.280	0.795	3.79%	0.348
		Last 7 Days Splits
		Opp SP vs. LR		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Foltynewicz – Right
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
1.154	0.000		$9,000	$4,000

Jake Lamb

Lamb has been terrible since being reinstated from the DL, but still makes a solid play today against Frias, who has allowed a .408 wOBA against left-handed batters and a 5.01 xFIP this year. Frias is a solid prospect, but the D’Backs have a bunch of decent lefties with Lamb in the lineup and should not be discounted today.