MLB Daily Grind Down April 30th
The RotoGrinders MLB Grind Down article will give you an in-depth analysis into the MLB schedule. This article will break down the numbers for every single game and give you analysis on which trends you can exploit.
While matchups are a major factor in daily fantasy baseball, there are plenty of other factors to consider such as injuries, weather, and salaries. The analysis should point you in the right direction, but it is still up to you to decipher the information and make your own selections. No sport has more variance than baseball. The best choice is not always the right choice but following the trends will win you money over time.
I don’t know if I have ever been this excited for a Tuesday night. Not only do we have the Fanduel DFBC qualifier and the Starstreet Playboy Mansion qualifier, but Draftstreet is having their first ever MLB Big Shot that is giving away $10,000 to first place. There are big tournaments all across the industry so make sure to start joining these leagues early. And hopefully the Grind Down can lead you in the right direction with your picks.
Houston at NY Yankees
| Houston | NY Yankees | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yankee Stadium | 7:05 PM | ||||||
| Philip Humber – (0-5), 7.99 ERA, 5.04 K/9, 1.82 WHIP | Hiroki Kuroda – (3-1), 2.79 ERA, 6.83 K/9, 1.03 WHIP | ||||||
| PvB | (15-66 H/AB) 0.227 BA-A, 0.18 K%, 0.773 OPS-A | PvB | (10-46 H/AB) 0.217 BA-A, 0.24 K%, 0.5 OPS-A | ||||
| ROAD | (0-3), 6.11 ERA, 2 HRA, 5.6 K/9, 1.528 WHIP | HOME | (2-1), 2.76 ERA, 2 HRA, 5 K/9, 1.041 WHIP | ||||
| BATTER SPLITS BREAKDOWN | |||||||
HOU BvP  | HOU vs R | NYY BvP | NYY vs R | ||||
| Note: Batter Splits Above Open in Pop Up Window | |||||||
Las Vegas
- OU 8.0
- Favored NYY -265
Pitchers
- Home Every once in a while the Astros offense will explode for a bunch of runs and Andy Pettite was on the wrong side of that equation last night. I think the Astros get back to their old ways of struggling on offense and striking out more than any other team tonight. That means that Hiroki Kuroda is certainly in play and he should end up being one of the top pitchers tonight.
- Away Phillip Humber takes the mound tonight with an ERA of 8 on the season and he is coming off of two horrendous starts in which he has given up 15 earned runs. Stack or mini stack the Yankees tonight and avoid Humber like the plague.
Batters
- Home While I was high on the Yankees hitters last night, Harrell is a decent pitcher and he pitched a great game. Do not expect that to happen again tonight. The Yankees bats are all in play, especially all of the left handed bats such as Gardner, Cano, Hafner, and Boesch.
- Away The Astros offense came alive last night against Pettite, but I don’t think they are going to be able to replicate that tonight against Kuroda. The Vegas line, BvP stats, and common sense all lead toward avoiding the Stros.
Philadelphia at Cleveland
| Philadelphia | Cleveland | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Progressive Field | 7:05 PM | ||||||
| Roy Halladay – (2-2), 5.08 ERA, 8.97 K/9, 1.09 WHIP | Zach McAllister – (1-3), 3.52 ERA, 7.83 K/9, 1.3 WHIP | ||||||
| PvB | (39-134 H/AB) 0.291 BA-A, 0.27 K%, 0.851 OPS-A | PvB | (8-17 H/AB) 0.471 BA-A, 0.06 K%, 1.235 OPS-A | ||||
| ROAD | (1-1), 4.76 ERA, 2 HRA, 8.7 K/9, 1.324 WHIP | HOME | (1-1), 3.18 ERA, 1 HRA, 10.3 K/9, 1.235 WHIP | ||||
| BATTER SPLITS BREAKDOWN | |||||||
| PHI BvP | PHI vs R | CLE BvP | CLE vs R | ||||
| Note: Batter Splits Above Open in Pop Up Window | |||||||
Las Vegas
- OU 8.0
- Favored PHI -105
Pitchers
- Home Zach McAllister has been pretty decent this season. He seems to give up a few runs every game but manages to strike out 5 or 6 each time and ends up scoring a decent amount of fantasy points. He is neither fantasy gold or kryptonite and that’s what he is tonight too.
- Away Don’t look now but Roy Halladay is 2-0 in his last 3 starts and has racked up 16 K’s over that stretch while only allowing 3 runs. I think he is in play today against the Indians, but only if he is much cheaper than your other ace pitchers.
Batters
- Home Not a lot of BvP to go off of in this one, but if you think Halladay is going to get blasted, then you might want to take a chance on a couple Indians hitters. Jason Kipnis is dirt cheap right now and finally got his first HR last night and Asdrubal Cabrera has been swinging the bat much better of late.
- Away I rarely like to play any of the Phillies hitters unless there is a great matchup and tonight’s matchup is about average. I think Chase Utley could have a solid game, but the Phillies just don’t score many runs.
Minnesota at Detroit
| Minnesota | Detroit | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Comerica Park | 7:05 PM | ||||||
| Vance Worley – (0-3), 6.38 ERA, 6 K/9, 1.83 WHIP | Justin Verlander – (2-2), 1.95 ERA, 9.25 K/9, 1.24 WHIP | ||||||
| PvB | (9-35 H/AB) 0.257 BA-A, 0.11 K%, 0.6 OPS-A | PvB | (45-185 H/AB) 0.243 BA-A, 0.26 K%, 0.768 OPS-A | ||||
| ROAD | (0-0), 3.75 ERA, 1 HRA, 6.8 K/9, 1.5 WHIP | HOME | (0-1), 2.51 ERA, 1 HRA, 5 K/9, 1.256 WHIP | ||||
| BATTER SPLITS BREAKDOWN | |||||||
| MIN BvP | MIN vs R | DET BvP | DET vs R | ||||
| Note: Batter Splits Above Open in Pop Up Window | |||||||
Las Vegas
- OU 7.5
- Favored DET -245
Pitchers
- Home Justin Verlander is a great play today. He is always a great play when pitching at home, but he has owned the Twins in his career and if he can manage to avoid letting Joe Mauer on base, he should be in for a big night. I expect him to be close to double digit strikeouts tonight. Target
- Away Vance Worley has been everyone’s favorite pitcher to stack against, but he has pitched much better in his last couple of starts and the Tigers are so expensive that I don’t think a stack makes sense here. But playing either Prince Fielder or Miguel Cabrera certainly does.
Batters
- Home
- Away
Boston at Toronto
| Boston | Toronto | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rogers Centre | 7:07 PM | ||||||
| Jon Lester – (4-0), 2.27 ERA, 8.08 K/9, 1.11 WHIP | Brandon Morrow – (0-2), 5.27 ERA, 6.31 K/9, 1.54 WHIP | ||||||
| PvB | (52-244 H/AB) 0.213 BA-A, 0.27 K%, 0.693 OPS-A | PvB | (32-100 H/AB) 0.32 BA-A, 0.22 K%, 1.05 OPS-A | ||||
| ROAD | (3-0), 1.89 ERA, 0 HRA, 8.5 K/9, 0.895 WHIP | HOME | (0-1), 4.76 ERA, 2 HRA, 9.5 K/9, 1.588 WHIP | ||||
| BATTER SPLITS BREAKDOWN | |||||||
| BOS BvP | BOS vs R | TOR BvP | TOR vs L | ||||
| Note: Batter Splits Above Open in Pop Up Window | |||||||
Las Vegas
- OU 8.0
- Favored BOS -111
Pitchers
- Home Brandon Morrow has been very inconsistent this season and anytime that he has a good matchup, he pitches terribly and when he has a bad matchup, he ends up pitching well. If you follow that logic, then he should pitch well tonight against the Red Sox, but for me he is too risky to touch.
- Away Jon Lester is 4-0 with a 2.27 ERA on the season and has pitched really well on the road this season. He has solid BvP against the Rays and could be in line for another quality start. I don’t think he is as high on my list as a few other guys, but could be a solid play if you want to go against the grain.
Batters
- Home The Rays bats have been heating up lately thanks to Bautista and Encarnacion’s HR parties, but the whole team has struggled against Lester in the past. I think both of those guys are in play for GPP’s due to their HR potential, but I would stay away from them in H2H’s and 50/50’s.
- Away Like I said, you never know which Brandon Morrow is going to show up. The BvP certainly favors the Red Sox. Pedroia is 10/20 with 2 HR’s, Ellsbury is 8/18 with 3 HR’s, and Ortiz is 6/14 with 2 HR’s. Might not be a bad idea to get one of these guys in your lineup.
Washington at Atlanta
| Washington | Atlanta | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Turner Field | 7:10 PM | ||||||
| Gio Gonzalez – (2-1), 4.5 ERA, 8.68 K/9, 1.14 WHIP | Tim Hudson – (2-1), 4.5 ERA, 5.79 K/9, 1.32 WHIP | ||||||
| PvB | (19-81 H/AB) 0.235 BA-A, 0.22 K%, 0.815 OPS-A | PvB | (71-270 H/AB) 0.263 BA-A, 0.17 K%, 0.722 OPS-A | ||||
| ROAD | (0-0), 11.25 ERA, 0 HRA, 11.3 K/9, 2.25 WHIP | HOME | (1-0), 3.27 ERA, 1 HRA, 8.2 K/9, 1.273 WHIP | ||||
| BATTER SPLITS BREAKDOWN | |||||||
| WSN BvP | WSN vs R | ATL BvP | ATL vs L | ||||
| Note: Batter Splits Above Open in Pop Up Window | |||||||
Las Vegas
- OU 7.0
- Favored ATL -108
Pitchers
- Home Tim Hudson has been a mixed bag of tricks so far this season, but he has pitched well at home and Vegas likes him to pitch well tonight against the Braves. Jayson Werth does seem to have his number, but if he can get around him and Harper, he should be in line for a quality start. In play
- Away Gio Gonzalez finally had a good start in his win over the Reds. He 8 innings, struck out 7, and only allowed one hit. That is the Gio that we came to know last season. I think he is a bit overpriced today considering he is on the road, but could be a solid GPP play. In play
Batters
- Home This game looks to be a pitcher’s duel. I usually like to avoid games like this as far as hitters are concerned, but Justin Upton remains in play.
- Away Jayson Werth is 15/39 with 7 XBH’s against Hudson so he is certainly in play and the way Harper is playing, he could always get you a HR. I think there are better options out there, but taking a chance on them could be what you need to do in these big tournaments.