MLB Daily Grind Down: Friday, June 21st
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.
Another great Friday in store for us. Tonight favors the Veterans of the industry as there are no real obvious choices and a bunch of gut plays to be made. The cream will rise to the top. Good luck to all my fellow Grinders in all of the events. Here is todays Daily Grind Down to help you get ready for another action field start to the weekend.
Note: Any Fantasy Point Average Listed Uses FanDuel Scoring. For more info on FanDuel’s MLB Scoring System, check out the scoring systems section of our FanDuel Review
- FPAB – Fantasy Points Per At Bat
- K% – Strikeout Percentage
- K/9 – Strikeouts Per 9 IP
What Vegas Says
- Over/Under Total Runs – 8.5
- Favored Team – CHC -180
Pitcher Grind Down
- The lone early game features Home Matt Garza versus Away Dallas Keuchel. The best thing about this game is that it takes two of the teams everyone likes to target against out of tonight’s GPPs . I love the way Kuechel is pitching and if you chose to play an early start GPP then he is worth a look if he is still cheap.
Batter Grind Down
- There are better matchups to be had but Jason Castro at C might be a good play since you never know who will sit later at that position. He is 1-3 with 1 HR versus Garza and has been hot. Alfonso Soriano at home versus a left-hander is also a good play.
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NY Mets vs. Philadelphia
| 7:05 PM | NY Mets – ROAD | Philadelphia – HOME | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TEAM BATTING | AVG | OPS | K% | FPAB | AVG | OPS | K% | FPAB | |
| SEASON | 0.226 | 0.661 | 23.00% | 0.51 | 0.250 | 0.703 | 19.80% | 0.54 | |
| VS. LEFT/RIGHT | 0.220 | 0.644 | 22.00% | 0.38 | 0.254 | 0.705 | 19.20% | 0.42 | |
| SP STATS | Hefner – RHP | Hamels – LHP | |||||||
| WHIP | ERA | K/9 | FPPG | WHIP | ERA | K/9 | FPPG | ||
| SEASON | 1.27 | 3.96 | 6.72 | 7.29 | 1.27 | 4.40 | 8.52 | 9.67 | |
| LAST 14 DAYS | 1.46 | 1.64 | 5.73 | 8.00 | 1.00 | 2.70 | 10.35 | 13.67 | |
| BATTER SPLITS | Note: Batter Splits Below Open in Pop Up Window | ||||||||
NYM vs L  | NYM BvP | PHI vs R | PHI BvP | ||||||
What Vegas Says
- Over/Under Total Runs – 7.5
- Favored Team – PHI -175
Pitcher Grind Down
- Home If Cole Hamels loses 20 games this year, will he be the best pitcher to ever achieve such a feat? He is the heavy favorite again today. His numbers are all significantly down this year except for his WHIP, which is only slightly higher so you could think that the other numbers should level out. Hamels’ problem this year has come from surrendering the long ball. He has given up 12 in 15 games. Worse yet, he has surrendered 8 in 7 games at home, which is why his home ERA is a dismal 5.36. He will get you Ks and he pitches deep into games so he is always playable. The Mets are a very favorable matchup. NYM is batting .244 on the road, .226 versus left-handers, and .237 over the last 7 days. They rank 25th in runs scored and have recorded the 6th most Ks. Start-ability 7
- Away To understand what I am saying about Hamels, you need to look no farther than Jeremy Hefner ‘s numbers. Hefner has the exact same WHIP on the year at 1.27 and has also struggled with the long ball with 12 in 14 games, but his ERA is a half a point lower. Hamels records much more Ks so the law of averages would say that his ERA should be slightly lower than Hefner’s. Either way you look at it, one of these two players numbers are out of line with where they should be. Hefner as not been good on the road with a 5.14 road ERA and has surrendered 10 runs in his last 3 outings lasting only 18 IP. PHI is batting .249 at home, .253 versus right-handers, and .282 over the last 7 days. They rank 24th in runs scored and have recorded the 15th fewest Ks. Start-ability 3
Batter Grind Down
- Home Ryan Howard has been hot over the last week with 26 fp. Michael Young has also been hot with 23.25 fp. Hefner is struggling as of late and has not been good on the road so consider everyone playable. Stack-ability 6
- Away Anytime a pitcher is struggling with the long ball you can consider everyone playable because there is a chance that you luck into catching the right guy that takes him yard. John Buck has 2 HRs in 25 AB versus Hamels. David Wright is 18-54 with 4 HRs versus him and had 2 HRs yesterday. Marlon Byrd has also been hot over the last 7 days. Stack-ability 2
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Colorado vs. Washington
| 7:05 PM | Colorado – ROAD | Washington – HOME | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TEAM BATTING | AVG | OPS | K% | FPAB | AVG | OPS | K% | FPAB | |
| SEASON | 0.273 | 0.779 | 18.80% | 0.67 | 0.232 | 0.664 | 21.70% | 0.49 | |
| VS. LEFT/RIGHT | 0.279 | 0.808 | 18.50% | 0.57 | 0.240 | 0.689 | 21.80% | 0.42 | |
| SP STATS | Chatwood – RHP | Strasburg – RHP | |||||||
| WHIP | ERA | K/9 | FPPG | WHIP | ERA | K/9 | FPPG | ||
| SEASON | 1.39 | 2.33 | 7.30 | 10.74 | 1.06 | 2.50 | 8.76 | 11.24 | |
| LAST 14 DAYS | 2.00 | 3.60 | 1.80 | 8.00 | 1.00 | 1.80 | 7.20 | 8.00 | |
| BATTER SPLITS | Note: Batter Splits Below Open in Pop Up Window | ||||||||
| COL vs R | COL BvP | WSN vs R | WSN BvP | ||||||
What Vegas Says
- Over/Under Total Runs – 6.5
- Favored Team – WAS -170
Pitcher Grind Down
- Home Stephen Strasburg only went 5 IP and threw 82 pitches in his first start back from an oblique strain. WAS may open him up and let him pitch this start but they might also limit him to those same totals. Given his history with injuries, I think they are going to take it slow with him. His 1.09 home ERA is fantastic and he looks to be a lock to get the win but I think there is too big a risk that he simply is not out there long enough to score the points needed to win a GPP. COL is batting .254 on the road, .274 versus right-handers, and .263 over the last 7 days. They rank 4th in the league in runs scored and have recorded the 12th most Ks. Start-ability 5
- Away I know it is just 3 starts but Tyler Chatwoodhas a 0.56 ERA on the road. that number came against CIN, LAD and SFO all of which are better offensive teams then WAS. He is not a player who gets you a lot of Ks and he has yet to throw over a 100 pitches in a game so he is not playable in a single pitcher format but he might be worth a look if he is cheap enough on a multiple pitcher site. WAS is batting .260 at home, .241 versus right-handers, and .220 over the last 7 days. They rank 27th in runs scored and have recorded the 10th most Ks. Start-ability 5
Batter Grind Down
- Home Ian Desmond, Jayson Werth, and Anthony Rendon have all been hot over the last 7 days. Rendon is batting .357 versus right-handed pitching. Adam LaRoche has looked good in his past 2 games and I have a hunch about the lefty tonight.
- Away Tyler Colvin is 3-3 with 2 HRs versus Strasburg. Carlos Gonzalez remains red hot with 35.5 fp over the last 7 days. Wilin Rosario is also hot with 26.5 fp. This game could open up after Strasburg leaves (if he leaves) so taking a few COL players might not be as crazy as you think.
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Minnesota vs. Cleveland
| 7:05 PM | Minnesota – ROAD | Cleveland – HOME | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TEAM BATTING | AVG | OPS | K% | FPAB | AVG | OPS | K% | FPAB | |
| SEASON | 0.244 | 0.700 | 20.50% | 0.55 | 0.253 | 0.742 | 22.50% | 0.65 | |
| VS. LEFT/RIGHT | 0.253 | 0.680 | 20.70% | 0.39 | 0.252 | 0.741 | 23.50% | 0.50 | |
| SP STATS | Deduno – RHP | Kazmir – LHP | |||||||
| WHIP | ERA | K/9 | FPPG | WHIP | ERA | K/9 | FPPG | ||
| SEASON | 1.36 | 3.26 | 4.49 | 9.22 | 1.66 | 5.89 | 9.00 | 7.82 | |
| LAST 14 DAYS | 1.42 | 3.00 | 4.50 | 9.00 | 2.20 | 9.35 | 7.68 | 3.10 | |
| BATTER SPLITS | Note: Batter Splits Below Open in Pop Up Window | ||||||||
| MIN vs L | MIN BvP | CLE vs R | CLE BvP | ||||||
What Vegas Says
- Over/Under Total Runs – 9
- Favored Team – CLE -125
Pitcher Grind Down
- Home After giving up 3 HRs to WAS, I am officially off of the Scott Kazmir bandwagon. He has given up 12 HR in 11 starts and has dismal ERA of 5.89. Outside of 1 good start, he has been awful on the year. MIN is batting .226 on the road, .266 versus left-handers and .269 over the last 7 days. They rank 17th in runs scored and have recorded the 13th most Ks. Start-ability 4
- Away Samuel Dedunois pitching well but is unplayable because of his K/9. He might be worth a look in multiple pitcher formats but I would rather take a gamble on a guy wit higher K/9. CLE is batting .249 at home, .248 versus right-handers, and .213 over the last 7 days. Start-ability 3
Batter Grind Down
- Home Jason Kipnis has been hot with 22 fp over the last week. Deduno does not K that many but he has been solid so I would not dig too deep into this order today.
- Away Justin Morneau is 5-17 with 2 HRs versus Kazmir. Joe Mauer is 4-13 versus him. Brian Dozier has been very hot with 32 fp over the past 7 days.
