Daily Batter Breakdown: Wed, April 9th

by Jon Schiller (Varncass) Last Updated 2014-04-09 19:24:54

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.
Let’s hope you had some of Jose Abreu and Avisail Garcia last night because both of them went nuts on the Rockies pitching as did most of the rest of the White Sox. Also had some pretty solid games from Jose Bautista and Melky Cabrera so we will look to keep that going tonight in a matchup that might be even better for those two. Let’s get right into it tonight.

		Brian McCann
		Daily Breakdown			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits			0.266	0.869	6.75%	0.375
		Last 7 Days Splits			0.200	0.431	0.00%	0.2
		Opp SP vs. LR			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Gonzalez – RIGHT			0.241	0.685	8.71%	0.307
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DS	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
1.087	1.040	$3,300	$5,587	$8,950	$4,300	$67,000	$5,800	$7,800

Brian McCann

McCann has really struggled at the beginning of this season for the Yankees being not much more than a rally killer for them. He was brought in for power, but hasn’t demonstrated much of it lately. I am not too worried as he has proven throughout his career he can hit in tough parks and it’s only a matter of time before he starts hitting bombs out of Yankee Stadium. I like the Yankees matchup today and I think they get revenge from the drubbing that Orioles put on them yesterday with McCann being a big part of it. McCann has hit right handers to the tune of an .801 OPS in the last couple of years and Gonzalez got roughed up bad in his first start against the Tigers.

		Brandon Belt
		Daily Breakdown			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits			0.297	0.867	3.59%	0.375
		Last 7 Days Splits			0.269	0.885	11.54%	0.388
		Opp SP vs. LR			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Arroyo – RIGHT			0.295	0.854	4.74%	0.368
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DS	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
0.869	0.999	$3,700	$7,124	$9,100	$4,000	$73,200	$7,400	$8,700

Brandon Belt

Brandon has been Belting balls out of the park with regularity in this early part of 2014. He has always hit right handers pretty well and is still relatively cheap across the industry. I am going to ride the heater here in GPPs against Arroyo who just loves to give up the long ball as he has allowed 67 homers and a .873 OPS to left handed batters in the last 3 years, adding another one in this short season so far. AT&T park doesn’t really effect me today as I am basically using Belt as a solo player and hoping to get a dinger.

		Ian Kinsler
		Daily Breakdown			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits			0.265	0.733	2.84%	0.324
		Last 7 Days Splits			0.368	0.895	5.26%	0.398
		Opp SP vs. LR			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Beckett – RIGHT			0.261	0.778	4.12%	0.339
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DS	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
0.868	0.958	$3,900	$8,173	$10,500	$4,400	$85,500	$7,000	$10,500

Ian Kinsler

I’m really struggling to find a high dollar guy at 2nd base who I am really all in on other than maybe Cano, but I like Kinsler in this matchup. He should still hit 2nd behind Davis and if Davis is able to get on base, autosteal should put Kinsler into a few nice RBI opportunities. It’s not the greatest matchup, but he’s against Beckett who I have no faith in anymore, he’s been solid to start the season and he’s hitting in a part of the order where he’s going to have a bunch of chances to do some damage. Second base reminds me of 3rd from last night where you may just want positive points to do well.

		Brett Lawrie
		Daily Breakdown			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits			0.266	0.742	2.62%	0.327
		Last 7 Days Splits			0.143	0.36	0.00%	0.178
		Opp SP vs. LR			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Harrell – RIGHT			0.329	0.888	11.55%	0.400
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DS	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
1.118	1.060	$2,900	$5,575	$8,550	$3,700	$64,100	$6,000	$8,100

Brett Lawrie

I noticed a lot of people were on Lawrie last night, and for good reason, but he did not produce at all which might cause people to lay off him tonight. I would advise against that as I like his matchup even better tonight than I did last night. The Blue Jays are projected to score a half run more than last night and Lawrie has hit right handers better than left handers in his career. Lucas Harrell was complete garbage in his first start and he really has never been able to get right handers out consistently. I think you are making a mistake if you used him last night and are fading him tonight.

		Yangervis Solarte
		Daily Breakdown			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits
		Last 7 Days Splits			0.450	1.172	0.00%	0.513
		Opp SP vs. LR			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Gonzalez – RIGHT			0.241	0.685	8.71%	0.307
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DS	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
1.087	1.040	$3,000	$6,267	$5,000	$3,500	$25,000	$6,300	$8,700

Yangervis Solarte

All Solarte has done since he has came up has hit, and although he hasn’t hit a homer yet he’s still at the top of the batting average leaders. He is still a risky play but on a few sites like DraftDay and FantasyFeud he is minimum salary making him extremely hard to fade as long as he is in the lineup. Gonzalez got rocked by the Tigers righties in the first game and for minimum price on those sites is a fantastic punt play.

		Jose Bautista
		Daily Breakdown			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits			0.261	0.842	5.83%	0.367
		Last 7 Days Splits			0.222	1.162	16.67%	0.49
		Opp SP vs. LR			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Harrell – RIGHT			0.329	0.888	11.55%	0.400
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DS	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
1.118	1.060	$4,800	$9,504	$13,350	$4,900	$91,700	$8,700	$11,900

Jose Bautista

We rolled with Joey Bats last night and he paid off, so I don’t see any reason to quit that now in just as good of a matchup or even better for the Jays. Again they are at home in homer-happy Rogers Centre with the highest over/under of the night, so stack away with these guys. Bautista has had a price correction since last night but he’s still my favorite play on the day with how hot he has been to start the season. As noted above, Harrell hasn’t been good to start the season or against right handers, so you should feel comfortable about rolling Jose out again tonight.

		Andrew McCutchen
		Daily Breakdown			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits			0.302	0.864	3.54%	0.374
		Last 7 Days Splits			0.200	0.71	0.00%	0.329
		Opp SP vs. LR			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Hammel – RIGHT			0.263	0.698	4.84%	0.314
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DS	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
1.192	1.011	$4,500	$7,241	$12,700	$4,600	$98,400	$8,100	$10,900

Andrew McCutchen

Here we have another Wrigley game where the wind is blowing out to left field, right where it’s easiest for McCutchen to pull the ball. He’s a little bit more expensive than I would have thought, but he loves Wrigley, his walk rate has been incredible and I think he gets his first HR of the season here. Hammel was solid in his first outing against the Pirates, but PNC park and Wrigley Field with the wind blowing out is a completely different beast. The Pirates are set at 4.5 runs at this time so I am definitely going to be itching for a piece of them today.

		Melky Cabrera
		Daily Breakdown			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits			0.290	0.717	0.82%	0.317
		Last 7 Days Splits			0.333	1	11.11%	0.44
		Opp SP vs. LR			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Harrell – RIGHT			0.255	0.768	13.23%	0.347
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DS	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
1.118	1.045	$3,200	$6,823	$7,950	$3,500	$67,400	$7,400	$8,100

Melky Cabrera

Another guy with the theory if if it’s not broke, don’t fix it. He’s price is still menial around the industry for a guy who could be one of the bounce-back players of the year. He’s homered in 4 straight games and even though he’s not known as a home run hitter, Rogers Centre can let anyone go deep. Cabrera is scorching hot right now and I want him on my team for the prices that he’s being offered at especially against Harrell tonight and that he will most likely lead off.

		Victor Martinez
		Daily Breakdown			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits			0.314	0.813	2.37%	0.354
		Last 7 Days Splits			0.235	0.529	0.00%	0.235
		Opp SP vs. LR			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Beckett – RIGHT			0.318	0.882	11.22%	0.402
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DS	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
0.868	0.974	$3,200	$5,785	$9,100	$4,000	$72,600	$5,600	$9,400

Victor Martinez

Call me crazy, or call me a homer, but I like the Tigers as contrarian GPP plays. In the last couple of years when Beckett has been bad, he’s been really bad, and the Tigers have the lineup to take advantage of that. They have a few things going against them in that they are away and most of their lineup is right handed, there is no DH, and Martinez doesn’t have a place to play. Last game they moved Cabrera to 3rd and Martinez to first to get his bat in the lineup and I think they do so today again. Martinez is pretty cheap everywhere and could be a nice contrarian 1b or C as he will get RBI opportunites and has hit Beckett very well in the past.

		Albert Pujols
		Daily Breakdown			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits			0.213	0.690	3.37%	0.285
		Last 7 Days Splits			0.192	0.53	0.00%	0.238
		Opp SP vs. LR			Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Elias – LEFT
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DS	DD	DK	FF	SS	FTD
0.991	0.990	$3,700	$8,540	$11,350	$4,300	$81,100	$7,200	$9,200

Albert Pujols

I have never heard of Roenis Elias before this season, but one thing I am sure of is that he is not a 1.8 ERA pitcher in the majors. He was solid last year with a tick over 3 in Double-A but never pitched above that until this year. I feel as if his upside is very limited against a team with the likes of Mike Trout, Pujols and Hamilton giving the Angels time to work against the Pen. Pujols hasn’t been great and he is very price dependent but I really like him here in this spot against an unproven pitcher in a powerful lineup.