MLB Daily Grind Down: April 10th
And the award for the early season MVP goes to……. BRANDON MAURER. He single handedly turned the Astros into a dynamic offense. Wow what was that yesterday Maurer? I seem to have the pitcher curse. First it was Roy Halladay and then last night it was the lethal combo of Maurer and C.J. Wilson. That’s fantasy baseball for you. Sometimes you just have to chalk it up to a loss and move on to the next game. On the positive side though was that there were some great batter picks, so hopefully today we can continue that and find a way to end this pitcher curse.
NOTE: There are three parts to the MLB Daily Grind Down Article. Each page is broken up into 5 game segments. Please check the link at the bottom of the page to continue reading.
Toronto at Detroit
| Toronto | Detroit |
| Comerica Park | 1:05 PM |
| BALLPARK RATINGS (LEFT) | BALLPARK RATINGS (RIGHT) |
| Left Handed Batters – 1.03 L-Rating, 0.028 HR/AB | Right Handed Batters – 1.01 R-Rating, 0.03 HR/AB |
| Mark Buehrle | Rick Porcello |
| SEASON | 0-0 REC, 10.13 ERA, 6.2 Avg IP | SEASON | 0-1 REC, 5.06 ERA, 5.2 Avg IP |
| PvB | (101-346) H/AB, 30 XBHA, 9 HRA, 47 KA | PvB | (36-81) H/AB, 11 XBHA, 3 HRA, 3 KA |
| LAST 3 | 0-0 REC, 5.1 IP, 10.13 ERA | LAST 3 | 0-1 REC, 5.1 IP, 5.06 ERA |
| ROAD | 93 IP, 4.45 ERA, 0.272 BAA, 4.9 K/9 | HOME | 91.2 IP, 4.71 ERA, 0.314 BAA, 5.2 K/9 |
| BATTER SPLITS BREAKDOWN |
TOR BvP  | DET BvP |
| TOR vs R | DET vs L |
| Note: Batter Splits Above Open in Pop Up Window |
Toronto
- Mark Buehrle gave up 6 earned runs in his first start this season and draws another tough matchup today against the Tigers. Especially considering the fact that this one is in Detroit, I’m not a fan of Buehrle today.
- Good BvP stats for the Jays today. Jose Reyes is 3/3, Melky Cabrera is 7/14, and Jose Bautista is 5/10. I like all of their value today and think that Edwin Encarnacion is a great play as well.
Detroit
- Rick Porcello is the definition of average. He gets an average amount of K’s and has an average ERA. Nothing too exciting here. I expect the Tigers to win this one, but the Jays should be able to score some runs on Porcello.
- There are some great options on the Tigers today. I expect them to knock Buehrle around quite a bit. Austin Jackson and Victor Martinez both have great BvP against Buehrle and Miguel Cabrera is always in play. I don’t love the lefty/lefty matchup for Prince Fielder though, I would rather take any of the other three Tigers.
Cincinnati at St. Louis
| Cincinnati | St. Louis |
| Busch Stadium | 1:45 PM |
| BALLPARK RATINGS (LEFT) | BALLPARK RATINGS (RIGHT) |
| Left Handed Batters – 1.02 L-Rating, 0.023 HR/AB | Right Handed Batters – 0.99 R-Rating, 0.026 HR/AB |
| Homer Bailey | Jake Westbrook |
| SEASON | 1-0 REC, 0.00 ERA, 5.2 Avg IP | SEASON | 0-1 REC, 0.00 ERA, 6.0 Avg IP |
| PvB | (41-130) H/AB, 16 XBHA, 7 HRA, 19 KA | PvB | (31-103) H/AB, 10 XBHA, 5 HRA, 10 KA |
| LAST 3 | 1-0 REC, 6.0 IP, 0.00 ERA | LAST 3 | 0-1 REC, 6.2 IP, 0.00 ERA |
| ROAD | 108.2 IP, 2.32 ERA, 0.213 BAA, 7.4 K/9 | HOME | 91.1 IP, 4.04 ERA, 0.291 BAA, 5.3 K/9 |
| BATTER SPLITS BREAKDOWN |
| CIN BvP | STL BvP |
| CIN vs R | STL vs R |
| Note: Batter Splits Above Open in Pop Up Window |
Cincinnati
- Homer Bailey has pitched pretty well against the Cardinals in the past and has historically been a much better pitcher away from home which is rare for pitchers. Vegas has this game as a pick em basically so if you are looking for a pitcher that should get an easy win, you may want to look elsewhere.
- Brandon Phillips is 8/20 off of Westbrook in his career and is a solid option at 2B, but my pick on the Reds today is Joey Votto. I think that he gets a couple hits in this one and piles up the RBI’s.
St. Louis
- I’ve never been a big fan of taking Jake Westbrook. He is a ground ball pitcher which can be good or it can be bad. It seems like everytime I take him, those ground balls find the gaps and he gives up a bunch of runs.
- The only Cardinals with a good track record against Homer are Matt Holliday and Yadier Molina. Holliday is 11/25 with 5 extra base hits and Molina is 6/16 with 4 extra base hits. Both are in play today if the price is right.
Tampa Bay at Texas
| Tampa Bay | Texas |
| Rangers Ballpark | 2:05 PM |
| BALLPARK RATINGS (LEFT) | BALLPARK RATINGS (RIGHT) |
| Left Handed Batters – 1.1 L-Rating, 0.042 HR/AB | Right Handed Batters – 1.05 R-Rating, 0.033 HR/AB |
| Matt Moore | Derek Holland |
| SEASON | 1-0 REC, 0.00 ERA, 5.2 Avg IP | SEASON | 0-0 REC, 2.57 ERA, 5.2 Avg IP |
| PvB | (0-3) H/AB, 0 XBHA, 0 HRA, 1 KA | PvB | (29-124) H/AB, 16 XBHA, 6 HRA, 32 KA |
| LAST 3 | 1-0 REC, 6.0 IP, 0.00 ERA | LAST 3 | 0-0 REC, 7.0 IP, 2.57 ERA |
| ROAD | 78.1 IP, 4.14 ERA, 0.232 BAA, 8.8 K/9 | HOME | 94 IP, 5.55 ERA, 0.256 BAA, 8 K/9 |
| BATTER SPLITS BREAKDOWN |
| TBR BvP | TEX BvP |
| TBR vs L | TEX vs L |
| Note: Batter Splits Above Open in Pop Up Window |
Tampa Bay
- Matt Moore is a very good young pitcher, but when pitchers visit Arlington, it usually doesn’t go very well. Vegas has him as an underdog and while he may have 7-8 K’s, I think he gives up quite a few runs in the process.
- Evan Longoria is 9/22 with 7 extra base hits including 3 HR’s off of Holland. I am making it official, today is the day Longo comes up huge. I also like Ben Zobrist in this one even though his BvP isn’t anything spectacular.
Texas
- As I said with Moore, pitchers just don’t perform well in Arlington. Derek Holland had an ERA of 5.55 at home last season and will likely continue to struggle there.
- Moore should get a decent number of K’s today, so I am looking to batters that don’t strike out often. I’m thinking Elvis Andrus will have a good game and score a couple of runs. Ian Kinsler is another guy to watch, he is great at home and against lefties and he gets both today.
Colorado at San Francisco
| Colorado | San Francisco |
| AT&T Park | 3:45 PM |
| BALLPARK RATINGS (LEFT) | BALLPARK RATINGS (RIGHT) |
| Left Handed Batters – 0.86 L-Rating, 0.022 HR/AB | Right Handed Batters – 0.85 R-Rating, 0.022 HR/AB |
| Jeff Francis | Barry Zito |
| SEASON | 1-0 REC, 1.50 ERA, 5.2 Avg IP | SEASON | 1-0 REC, 0.00 ERA, 6.0 Avg IP |
| PvB | (28-76) H/AB, 12 XBHA, 4 HRA, 11 KA | PvB | (48-212) H/AB, 12 XBHA, 3 HRA, 44 KA |
| LAST 3 | 1-0 REC, 6.0 IP, 1.50 ERA | LAST 3 | 1-0 REC, 7.0 IP, 0.00 ERA |
| ROAD | 60 IP, 4.35 ERA, 0.292 BAA, 6.5 K/9 | HOME | 101.1 IP, 4 ERA, 0.255 BAA, 5.5 K/9 |
| BATTER SPLITS BREAKDOWN |
| COL BvP | SFG BvP |
| COL vs L | SFG vs L |
| Note: Batter Splits Above Open in Pop Up Window |
Colorado
- In the last game we had two pretty good pitchers in a hitters park. In this one we have two below average pitchers in a pitchers park. If you have to choose between the two, take a pitcher from this game. Although, I wouldn’t make that selection be Jeff Francis, he has terrible numbers against the Giants hitters.
- The Rockies do not have very good numbers against Zito. Most of that is probably from at bats years and years ago, but Zito is still a decent pitcher. I’m going to trust the stats on this one.
San Francisco
- Barry Zito is old, but he still gets outs and he still is worth a look if he is cheap enough. He has great numbers against Fowler, Tulo, and Cuddyer so if he can pitch around Carlos Gonzalez I think he can keep the damage to a minimum and is a good cheap option today.
- Buster Posey got the night off last night and now gets to face a weak lefty. I love his value today. He is also 5/8 off of Francis in his career. Pablo Sandoval could also be a good pick.
NY Mets at Philadelphia
| NY Mets | Philadelphia |
| Citizens Bank Park | 7:05 PM |
| BALLPARK RATINGS (LEFT) | BALLPARK RATINGS (RIGHT) |
| Left Handed Batters – 0.97 L-Rating, 0.03 HR/AB | Right Handed Batters – 0.99 R-Rating, 0.034 HR/AB |
| Jeremy Hefner | Kyle Kendrick |
| SEASON | 0-1 REC, 1.50 ERA, 5.1 Avg IP | SEASON | 0-1 REC, 7.94 ERA, 5.1 Avg IP |
| PvB | (7-14) H/AB, 1 XBHA, 0 HRA, 0 KA | PvB | (24-107) H/AB, 10 XBHA, 3 HRA, 10 KA |
| LAST 3 | 0-1 REC, 6.0 IP, 1.50 ERA | LAST 3 | 0-1 REC, 5.2 IP, 7.94 ERA |
| ROAD | 47.1 IP, 3.99 ERA, 0.267 BAA, 5.9 K/9 | HOME | 85.2 IP, 4.41 ERA, 0.247 BAA, 7.2 K/9 |
| BATTER SPLITS BREAKDOWN |
| NYM BvP | PHI BvP |
| NYM vs R | PHI vs R |
| Note: Batter Splits Above Open in Pop Up Window |
NY Mets
- Jeremy Hefner is a young pitcher that isn’t a top prospect like his teammate Matt Harvey. I am not too high on Hefner and a matchup on the road against the Phillies isn’t my favorite.
- Kendrick has good BvP against all of the Mets except for David Wright and he should be the one that Kendrick is most worried about. I like Wright to have a solid game, but I don’t think the Mets score that many runs.
Philadelphia
- Kyle Kendrick isn’t exactly what we look for in fantasy baseball. He doesn’t have a high K per 9 rate, he is on a bad team, and he is coming off of a bad outing. Plenty of better options today.
- I am drinking the Phillies Kool-Aid after that performance last night. I am going to go ahead and say that they will repeat it again tonight. Ryan Howard is incredibly cheap and needs to be in your lineup, Chase Utley has been hot and is a good play, and old man Michael Young is worth a look as well.
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