Daily Batter Breakdown: Wednesday, July 8th

by Jon Schiller (Varncass) Last Updated 2015-07-10 16:12:42

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 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.

		John Jaso
		Daily Breakdown		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits		0.272	0.795	3.18%	0.350
		Last 7 Days Splits
		Opp SP vs. LR		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Guthrie – RIGHT		0.306	0.863	4.46%	0.376
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DD	DK	FF
0.912	0.000	$2,800	$5,000	$3,500

John Jaso

Jaso is back in the Rays’ lineup and eligible at catcher everywhere. He instantly is in play as he has a career .354 wOBA against right-handed pitchers and got off to a hot start upon his return to the lineup last night. He faces a right-hander in Jeremy Guthrie who is notorious for allowing left-handed batters to do a lot of damage against him, and with a .402 wOBA allowed this year and Jaso leading off with his small price, he is one of the better bargains of the night.

		Paul Goldschmidt
		Daily Breakdown		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits		0.386	1.129	5.71%	0.475
		Last 7 Days Splits		0.304	0.883	0.00%	0.384
		Opp SP vs. LR		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Harrison – LEFT		0.293	0.824	1.72%	0.375
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DD	DK	FF
1.206	0.000	$5,200	$12,650	$5,900	$104,900

Paul Goldschmidt

It is Goldschmidt against a lefty tonight. Do I need to say anything more? I didn’t think so, I will just to show how ridiculously good Goldy has been. He’s posted a .471 wOBA and a .202 wRC+, numbers that are similar to his season long numbers for 2014, he is one of the top hitters against left-handed pitching. Yeah, you are going to have to pay, but the numbers make him well worth the bargain. Matt Harrison has had success in the past, but injuries and right-handed batters have been his downfall, and he makes for a nice punching bag tonight in his first start back.

		Brock Holt
		Daily Breakdown		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits		0.284	0.735	1.09%	0.327
		Last 7 Days Splits		0.333	0.718	0.00%	0.325
		Opp SP vs. LR		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Koehler – RIGHT		0.237	0.682	2.69%	0.304
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DD	DK	FF
1.115	0.000	$3,100	$5,950	$3,300	$50,000

Brock Holt

Holt was popular last night and should be popular again tonight. He will again hit towards the top of the lineup and will come in incredibly cheap on all sites. He also gets to face Tom Koehler and while Koehler has not been terrible, he has allowed ten homers to left-handed batters and has a 5.58 FIP against them. Holt has great numbers against right-handed pitching and should be a solid filler play today as the Red Sox have a nice over/under.

		Dee Gordon
		Daily Breakdown		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits		0.302	0.722	0.42%	0.317
		Last 7 Days Splits		0.160	0.552	4.00%	0.237
		Opp SP vs. LR		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Porcello – RIGHT		0.271	0.755	2.77%	0.329
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DD	DK	FF
1.115	0.000	$3,200	$8,250	$4,700	$68,200

Dee Gordon

Gordon has not been a world beater lately but he has been productive, and today he gets to face Rick Porcello in a lefty-friendly park. Gordon is an elite base stealer against right-handed pitching and should try to swipe a couple today if he does get on base. I always like targeting him at second base because of his sky-high potential and generally low ownership as he has cooled from his great start to the season.

		Josh Donaldson
		Daily Breakdown		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits		0.292	0.998	8.33%	0.424
		Last 7 Days Splits		0.290	0.849	6.45%	0.369
		Opp SP vs. LR		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Danks – LEFT		0.281	0.840	3.96%	0.365
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DD	DK	FF
0.745	0.000	$4,900	$11,100	$4,900	$94,500

Josh Donaldson

There are a few guys today who have ridiculously awesome splits against pitchers of the opposite hand. Donaldson is one of those guys, and along with Goldschmidt, is someone who just obliterates lefties. He has homers in his last two against lefties who are much better than the guy he faces today, John Danks, and he has a .443 wOBA against lefties in general. With a .386 wOBA allowed and 12 HRs to the right side allowed along with a sky high career xFIP, Danks’ recent successes are not phasing me against the best hitting team against lefties in the majors.

		Eugenio Suarez
		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

Eugenio Suarez

Suarez has a .389 wOBA this year against left-handed pitching (albeit in an extremely small sample). He looks good at the plate and is helping the Reds with their shortstop problems. Suarez goes up against Gio Gonzalez, who has been having a poor year and has allowed a .339 wOBA to right-handed batters. This is not a great matchup, but I really like the price on Suarez, who is cheap across the industry and has a solid shot at continuing to put up points.

		Tommy Pham
		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

Tommy Pham

Pham’s price went up, and then it came back down. At $2,500 on both FanDuel and DraftKings, he makes for a solid play. He has been leading off, and with Kolten Wong suffering from a concussion, that lineup spot might be safe for the foreseeable future. People have been disappointed with Pham lately, but he had great numbers in the minors and should continue to put up points in the long run that are greater than his $2,500 salary. Pham makes for a great salary relief play, even against Jason Hammel, who has not been great lately.

		Danny Valencia
		Daily Breakdown		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits		0.333	0.857	1.79%	0.375
		Last 7 Days Splits		0.190	0.642	4.76%	0.283
		Opp SP vs. LR		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Danks – LEFT		0.281	0.840	3.96%	0.365
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DD	DK	FF
0.745	0.000	$2,800	$6,000	$3,200	$57,000

Danny Valencia

The Donaldson/Valencia/Colabello stack against left-handers is so clutch that I want to use it every time. Valencia continues to be extremely underpriced and faces a lefty in Danks that we talked about above. Danks is not great – he gets lit up to right-handers a lot – and with Valencia having a nice .374 career wOBA against left-handers, he is going to be a staple in my lineups. He should be hitting in the middle of the lineup tonight, as well.

		Grady Sizemore
		Daily Breakdown		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits		0.189	0.519	0.94%	0.236
		Last 7 Days Splits		0.313	0.688	0.00%	0.3
		Opp SP vs. LR		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Kershaw – LEFT		0.202	0.534	1.26%	0.238
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DD	DK	FF
1.046	0.000	$2,500	$5,350	$2,900	$35,000

Grady Sizemore

I talked a bit about Jeremy Guthrie intense struggles against left-handed hitting, and with Jaso back in the Rays’ lineup, they are looking a bit more lethal against right-handed pitching. Sizemore has great career numbers against righties, but this year he is struggling mightily. Even through tons of injuries, he is a better hitter against righties than he is showing and I would expect that to reflect in his game logs in a couple of weeks if he can stay in the Rays’ lineup. He is cheap with proven history here.

		A.J. Pollock
		Daily Breakdown		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Left/Right Splits		0.317	0.936	4.17%	0.403
		Last 7 Days Splits		0.370	0.969	3.70%	0.42
		Opp SP vs. LR		Avg	OPS	HR%	wOBA
		Harrison – LEFT		0.293	0.824	1.72%	0.375
PARK-1	PARK-LR	FD	DD	DK	FF
1.206	0.000	$3,800	$9,150	$4,700	$78,900

A.J. Pollock

Pollock is one of the best hitters against left-handers that you will never hear about. The guy has a .364 wOBA against them and a .385 wOBA this year with a 143 wRC+. Pollock steals a huge number of bases (not as likely against lefties, however, but later relievers should help), and will hit at the top of the lineup. His price is not as high as some of the other studs and his ownership will not be as well, but he does have the same amount of upside as a lot of the other mashers.