MLB Daily Grind Down May 31st
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. (any fp listed uses Fanduel’s scoring system)
It is Friday. I do not to need to tell you what a big night it is in the industry. There is not an easy choice at SP tonight with most of the best pitcher playing on the road against tough teams. This should make for some interesting GPP play. GPPs or often won by the players that are either too stupid to know that what they are doing is wrong or the players with big enough stones to take a wild play even though they know it could blow up in their face. Either Kershaw, Strasburg, Scherzer, or Moore should come up big tonight and offer that seperation you need from the field. CC Sabathia at home is the obvious play. He could pitch well but I will be fading him in the Qs because of overlay. I hope to make a strong showing tonight but I know one of you fellow grinders will if I do not. Here is todays Daily Grind Down to get your research headed in the right direction on this big night.
Milwaukee at Philadelphia
| Milwaukee | Philadelphia | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Citizens Bank Park | 7:05 PM | ||||||
| Yovani Gallardo – (3-4), 4.5 ERA, 6.67 K/9, 1.466 WHIP | Cole Hamels – (1-7), 4.45 ERA, 8.25 K/9, 1.286 WHIP | ||||||
| PvB | (17-78 H/AB) 0.218 BA-A, 24.36 K%, 0.641 OPS-A | PvB | (34-143 H/AB) 0.238 BA-A, 27.97 K%, 0.79 OPS-A | ||||
| ROAD | (1-3), 5.32 ERA, 0 HRA, 6.1 K/9, 1.682 WHIP | HOME | (0-4), 5.35 ERA, 6 HRA, 7 K/9, 1.188 WHIP | ||||
| BATTER SPLITS BREAKDOWN | |||||||
MIL BvP  | MIL vs L | PHI BvP | PHI vs R | ||||
| Note: Batter Splits Above Open in Pop Up Window | |||||||
Las Vegas
- OU 8
- Favored PHI -127
Pitchers
- Home Am I crazy to suggest a 1-8 pitcher as in play today? Cole Hamels has not been good at home with a 5.35 ERA but his K/9 and WHIP totals are both reasonable and MIL is just not the same team on the road. Plus, Ryan Braun ‘s thumb injury really seems to be affecting him. MIL is batting .241 on the road, .269 versus left-handers, and .229 over the last 7 days. They rank 22nd in runs scored and have recorded the 13th fewest Ks. It might be too risky but I love his upside. In Play
- Away Is it the right night to trust a struggling Yovani Gallardo? Yes he is giving up ERs every start but his K/9 totals are still there. The PHI are no offensive juggernaut either. He is 27 and off to worst start of his career but this guy has been pretty good before that. He is holding left-handed batters to a .243 average. PHI three best hitters are left-handed. PHI is batting .246 at home, .252 versus left-handers, and .225 over the last 7 days. They rank 27th in runs scored and have recorded the14th fewest strikeouts in the league. In Play
Batters
- Home Ryan Howard is 3-8 with 1 HR versus Gallardo. Domonic Brown Is crazy hot with 38 fp. He gets the traditional splits in his favor today.
- Away Much has been written about MIL ability to hit left-handed pitching. They have tapered off a bit this year but Ryan Braun is batting .379 verus left-handers. Jean Segura has a .378 betting average versus them. Carlos Gomez has a .333 batting average versus left-handers/ He is also ssuper hot producing 34.5 fp over the last week. Ryan Braun has 3 HRs in 25 AB versus Hamels but I am personally worried about the thumbs so I will be avoiding him.
Detroit at Baltimore
| Detroit | Baltimore | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Camden Yards | 7:05 PM | ||||||
| Max Scherzer – (6-0), 3.61 ERA, 10.87 K/9, 0.918 WHIP | Miguel Gonzalez – (2-2), 4.25 ERA, 5.77 K/9, 1.306 WHIP | ||||||
| PvB | (29-110 H/AB) 0.264 BA-A, 29.09 K%, 0.645 OPS-A | PvB | (5-21 H/AB) 0.238 BA-A, 14.29 K%, 0.905 OPS-A | ||||
| ROAD | (2-0), 1.2 ERA, 1 HRA, 11.4 K/9, 0.7 WHIP | HOME | (1-0), 4.34 ERA, 4 HRA, 4.8 K/9, 1.232 WHIP | ||||
| BATTER SPLITS BREAKDOWN | |||||||
| DET BvP | DET vs R | BAL BvP | BAL vs R | ||||
| Note: Batter Splits Above Open in Pop Up Window | |||||||
Las Vegas
- OU 9
- Favored DET -125
Pitchers
- Home Someone sent me a message asking me if I was a Tigers fan because I always recommend avoiding the pitcher they are playing. No, I am not a Tigers fan but it hard to ignore the fact that they rank 3rd in runs scored and have recorded the 26th fewest Ks. So if you want to take a player like Miguel Gonzalez who has limited K/9 potential versus a team that does not strikeout and who will most likely score some runs on him as well, then go right ahead. I chose to avoid him because this play will lose 3x more than it will ever win. Avoid
- Away Max Scherzer has been a 1.20 pitcher on the road this year. That is hard to ignore but BAL is a tough draw and he will be pitching in a hitter’s park. I know I just talked up DET but BAL is just as tough. They are batting .268 at home, .287 versus right-handers and .323 over the last 7 days with 16 HRs. They rank 2nd in runs scored, and 28th in Ks. I think for his price he is a bad play today. Avoid
Batters
- Home Nick Markakis, Adam Jones, Chris Davis and Matt wieters all have positive BvPs versus Scherzer. Chris Davis has been out of this world hot producing 46 fp over the last week. He is also batting .392 versus right-handed pitching.
- Away DET cooled off a bit in interleague play but consider all of their talented hitters in play today in a game that’s OU is 9.
Cincinnati at Pittsburgh
| Cincinnati | Pittsburgh | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PNC Park | 7:05 PM | ||||||
| Johnny Cueto – (2-0), 3.22 ERA, 10.59 K/9, 1.131 WHIP | Wandy Rodriguez – (5-2), 3.4 ERA, 6.65 K/9, 1.058 WHIP | ||||||
| PvB | (41-195 H/AB) 0.21 BA-A, 21.03 K%, 0.646 OPS-A | PvB | (72-278 H/AB) 0.259 BA-A, 21.94 K%, 0.73 OPS-A | ||||
| ROAD | (1-0), 3.86 ERA, 1 HRA, 10.6 K/9, 1.071 WHIP | HOME | (4-1), 1.93 ERA, 2 HRA, 7.7 K/9, 0.735 WHIP | ||||
| BATTER SPLITS BREAKDOWN | |||||||
| CIN BvP | CIN vs L | PIT BvP | PIT vs R | ||||
| Note: Batter Splits Above Open in Pop Up Window | |||||||
Las Vegas
- OU 7
- Favored PIT -107
Pitchers
- Home I think Wandy Rodriguez is the trap of the night. Not that I can predict if Wandy will pitch well or not. He has a sick home record and is left-handed which speaks well for him versus CIN. On a night like tonight where there are few easy choices going, He is an easy choice but know that everyone else in your GPP will be selecting him as well. He gets limited Ks so your best bet is to look elsewhere but if your strategy is not to loss at SP then this is your man. CIN is batting .242 on the road, .265 vs. left-handers, and .262 over the last 7 days. CIN ranks 7th in runs scored and and has recorded the 10th most Ks. Target
- Away Johnny Cueto is a 3.83 pitcher on the road this year but he was a 1.57 pitcher in this park a year ago. PIT is a pitcher’s park and Cueto certainly has talent if you want to gamble. His 1.06 WHIP speaks for itself. PIT is batting .241 on the road, .245 versus right-handers, .245 over the last 7 days. PIT is ranked 21st in run scored, and has recorded the 7th most Ks on the year.
Batters
- Home Pedro Alvarez and Garrett Jones have nice BvPs versus Cueto. Andrew McCuthchen also has 3 HRs in 37 AB. McCuthen is batting .345 at home this year. Neli Walker has been super hot producing 38 fp over the last week.
- Away Joey Votto is 19-51 versus Wandy with 1 HR. He is also hot with 27 fp over the last 7days. Brandon Phillips is alsoi hot and gets the righty/lefty split in his favor. He is batting .316 versus left-handed pitching.
Boston at NY Yankees
| Boston | NY Yankees | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yankee Stadium | 7:05 PM | ||||||
| Jon Lester – (6-1), 3.15 ERA, 7.18 K/9, 1.074 WHIP | CC Sabathia – (4-3), 3.43 ERA, 7.73 K/9, 1.334 WHIP | ||||||
| PvB | (112-423 H/AB) 0.265 BA-A, 22.93 K%, 0.783 OPS-A | PvB | (60-247 H/AB) 0.243 BA-A, 29.15 K%, 0.696 OPS-A | ||||
| ROAD | (4-1), 3.89 ERA, 4 HRA, 7.6 K/9, 1.159 WHIP | HOME | (3-2), 3.27 ERA, 5 HRA, 8.7 K/9, 1.403 WHIP | ||||
| BATTER SPLITS BREAKDOWN | |||||||
| BOS BvP | BOS vs L | NYY BvP | NYY vs L | ||||
| Note: Batter Splits Above Open in Pop Up Window | |||||||
Las Vegas
- OU 8
- Favored NYY -113
Pitchers
- Home CC Sabathia at home puts him in play no matter who he is playing. He only has a 5.40 ERA versus BOS over the last 3 years, however. They always seem to play him tough and they have a .348 BAA against him on the year. Like I said before, there are no easy plays today and CC at home against a tough BOS team might be the play that wins. In Play
- Away Jon Lester has been great on the year but is only a 3.89 ERA on the road. What he has working for him is that he is a left-hander and NYY hits lefties very poorly. NYY is batting .250 at home, .235 versus left-handers and .236 over the last 7 days. They rank 17th in runs scored and have the 12th fewest Ks in the league. He could be a rewarding GPP play. In Play
Batters
- Home Lyle Overbay is 9-25 with 2 HRs versus Lester. Ichiro Suzuki has good numbers also. Brett Gardner has been hot producing 25 fp over the last 7 days. Vernon Wells is batting .308 versus left-handers. David Adams is batting .462 versus them as well.
- Away Jonny Gomes and Dustin Predoria hit lefties well and they have positive BvPs versus Sabathia. Jacony Elisbury has been very hot producing 44.5 fp over the last week.
