MLB Daily Grind Down May 4th Day Games
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.
Wake up people! It is Saturday and we have another perfect split of games today with 7 in the morning and 8 at night. I have been playing back on DraftStreet a little and I noticed that they still do the all day GPPs in which you can build a roster for the early games and then pray when the LUs are released that the players you selection actually end up playing that night. I cannot believe sites still do these.
DraftKings is the one site it makes sense to do it since they allow for edits after the start of the games and they split the action giving you two separate sets of GPPs, one for the night and one for the day. I like this approach much more because it makes Saturday feel like two days rolled into one.
Here’s todays Daily Grind Down to get you pointed in the right direction no matter where you might play.
Cincinnati at Chicago Cubs
| Cincinnati | Chicago Cubs | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wrigley Field | 1:05 PM | ||||||
| Tony Cingrani – (2-0), 1.5 ERA, 14 K/9, 0.89 WHIP | Jeff Samardzija – (1-4), 3.35 ERA, 11.37 K/9, 1.17 WHIP | ||||||
| PvB | (5-22 H/AB) 0.227 BA-A, 0.32 K%, 0.682 OPS-A | PvB | (20-85 H/AB) 0.235 BA-A, 0.28 K%, 0.718 OPS-A | ||||
| ROAD | NO DATA | HOME | (0-1), 3 ERA, 0 HRA, 7.5 K/9, 1.333 WHIP | ||||
| BATTER SPLITS BREAKDOWN | |||||||
CIN BvP  | CIN vs R | CHC BvP | CHC vs L | ||||
| Note: Batter Splits Above Open in Pop Up Window | |||||||
Las Vegas
- OU 7
- Favored CIN -120
Pitchers
- Home Jeff Samardzija is the one CHC starter that I am tempted to gamble on. He has high K/9 upside but he has been known to get hit hard from time to time so he is GPP gold when you can catch him on the right day. He was a horrible day game pitcher a year ago with a 5.08 ERA but has pitched well in them so far. He draws a CIN team batting .218 on the road, .226 vs. right-handers, .216 over the last 7 days, and .258 in day games. In Play
- Away Tony Cingrani ‘s K totals are impressive but what is more impressive to me is his 0.89 WHIP. The Kid has been dominANT in his first 3 starts. He went 7 IP with 2 ER and 9 Ks when he faced this same team 10 days ago. CHC is batting .285 at home, .250 vs Left-handers, .286 over the last 7 days, and .241 in day games. Vegas has him as the slight favorite in a game with a Low OU. Target
Batters
- Home Starlin Castro is a .400 hitter in day games and gets the righty/lefty split today. Alfonso Soriano is batting .400 on the year versus left-handers. Anthony Rizzo has been the hottest CHC producing 23 fp over the past week and he is batting .318 versus left-handers also. Darwin Barney has good splits also today if he plays.
- Away Joey Votto, Brandon Phillips and Shin-Shoo Choo are all batting over .300 so far this year in day games. The BvP data is very small for all players but Todd Frazier has taking Samardzija deep in 2 AB.
Minnesota at Cleveland
| Minnesota | Cleveland | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Progressive Field | 1:05 PM | ||||||
| Kevin Correia – (3-1), 2.23 ERA, 3.74 K/9, 1.07 WHIP | Scott Kazmir – (0-1), 8.64 ERA, 8.89 K/9, 2.16 WHIP | ||||||
| PvB | (29-98 H/AB) 0.296 BA-A, 0.27 K%, 0.888 OPS-A | PvB | (16-44 H/AB) 0.364 BA-A, 0.23 K%, 1.068 OPS-A | ||||
| ROAD | (0-1), 3.68 ERA, 0 HRA, 1.2 K/9, 1.227 WHIP | HOME | NO DATA | ||||
| BATTER SPLITS BREAKDOWN | |||||||
| MIN BvP | MIN vs L | CLE BvP | CLE vs R | ||||
| Note: Batter Splits Above Open in Pop Up Window | |||||||
Las Vegas
- OU 9
- Favored MIN -108
Pitchers
- Home Scott Kazmir looked much better in his second start but he still looks a little rusty. The Ks are there but with a 2.16 WHIP, he is not making it deep enough into the game. MIN is batting .229 on the road, .271 vs. left-handers, .232 in day games, and .248 over the last 7 days. Avoid
- Away Kevin Correia could be a nice value play today. Sure he does not get enough Ks but his 1.07 WHIP on the season is upper tier. He has run into some trouble on the road this year but Vegas has him slated to get the win. CLE is batting .261 at home, .270 in day games, .269 vs. right-handers, and .341 over the last 7 days with 12 HRs so the splits are in their favor. The BvPs mostly favor Correia. In Play
Batters
- Home Mark Reynolds is 13-44 with 3 HRs vs. Correia. Ryan Raburn, Carlos Santana, Michael Brantley, and Asdrubal Cabrera have been hot. Reynolds is batting .375 in day games. Santana is batting a super hot .625 with 2 HRs in day games, also.
- Away Justin Morneau is 5-14 with 2 HRs versus Kazmir. Josh Willingham has been the hottest Twin producing 24 fp. He is batting .333 vs left-handed pitching. Oswaldo Arcia has a .375 average vs. lefties and is still cheap.
Oakland at NY Yankees
| Oakland | NY Yankees | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yankee Stadium | 1:05 PM | ||||||
| Bartolo Colon – (3-0), 3.38 ERA, 5.63 K/9, 1.03 WHIP | Phil Hughes – (0-2), 4.67 ERA, 8.33 K/9, 1.52 WHIP | ||||||
| PvB | (102-324 H/AB) 0.315 BA-A, 0.17 K%, 0.954 OPS-A | PvB | (13-61 H/AB) 0.213 BA-A, 0.18 K%, 0.639 OPS-A | ||||
| ROAD | (2-0), 2.08 ERA, 1 HRA, 6.2 K/9, 0.923 WHIP | HOME | (0-1), 6.3 ERA, 5 HRA, 5.4 K/9, 1.7 WHIP | ||||
| BATTER SPLITS BREAKDOWN | |||||||
| OAK BvP | OAK vs R | NYY BvP | NYY vs R | ||||
| Note: Batter Splits Above Open in Pop Up Window | |||||||
Las Vegas
- OU 8.5
- Favored NYY -115
Pitchers
- Home Phil Hughes is 2-0 over his last starts throwing 13 IP with 4 ER and 15 Ks. He was a much better pitcher at home a year ago but has run into trouble there this year. His last outing at home went well, though. OAK is batting .281 on the road, .255 in day games, .243 vs right-handed, and .253 over the last 7 days. OAK has only a .213 BAA vs. Hughes. In Play
- Away Does anyone else remember Bartolo Colon ‘s tenure in NYY? He finally got hit hard in his last start by BAL and I think that his return to NYY will be something similar. NYY is batting .255 at home, .260 in day games, .284 vs. right-handers and .268 over the last 7 days.
Batters
- Home Lyle Overbay has been productive over the last week. He is batting .301 vs. right-handers. Robinson Cano is batting .385 and Travis Hafner is batting .321 vs. them. Everyone gets a huge boost from being at home. Cano and Ichiro Suzuki have nice BvPs today.
- Away Josh Donaldson is still hot producing 26.25 fp. He has been a .323 hitter in day games and a .299 hitter vs. right-handers. Jed Lowrie is batting .379 in day games and .338 vs. right handed hitters. Yoenis Cespedes bat is rounding into shape producing 25.75 fp.
Seattle at Toronto
| Seattle | Toronto | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rogers Centre | 1:07 PM | ||||||
| Hisashi Iwakuma – (2-1), 1.67 ERA, 8.95 K/9, 0.69 WHIP | R.A. Dickey – (2-4), 4.5 ERA, 7 K/9, 1.31 WHIP | ||||||
| PvB | (0-0 H/AB) 0 BA-A, 0 K%, 0 OPS-A | PvB | (18-65 H/AB) 0.277 BA-A, 0.11 K%, 0.8 OPS-A | ||||
| ROAD | (1-1), 2.84 ERA, 4 HRA, 9.9 K/9, 0.789 WHIP | HOME | (1-2), 5.4 ERA, 3 HRA, 8.6 K/9, 1.44 WHIP | ||||
| BATTER SPLITS BREAKDOWN | |||||||
| SEA BvP | SEA vs R | TOR BvP | TOR vs R | ||||
| Note: Batter Splits Above Open in Pop Up Window | |||||||
Las Vegas
- OU 7.5
- Favored TOR -125
Pitchers
- Home After 2 bad starts, R. A. Dickey had 2 good ones to reel us back in before having 2 more bad ones. His WHIP has been okay and he is getting enough Ks so he is certainly capable of a great outings. It just seems a little too risky these days but he does draw a nice match-up today. SEA is batting .230 at home, .235 in day games, .250 vs. right-hander, and .285 over the last 7 games. In Play
- Away Joe Saunders went 9 IP in his last start giving up 2 ER with 2 Ks. He had 20 ground ball outs in that start. His problems have not been at home this but on the road where he has a 12.51 ERA. TOR is batting .226 at home, .248 in day games, .232 versus left-handers, and .235 over the last 7 games. Avoid
Batters
- Home Emilo Bonifacio, Rajai Davis, Adam Lind, and J.P. Arencibia all have nice BvPs versus Saunders. Jose Bautista has been hot this past week. They way Saunders has been pitching on the road everyone is in play.
- Away Jason Bay has become fantasy relevant over the last 7 days going 7-16 with 2 HRs over that time. Michael Morse is hot again producing 23.25 fp. Raul Ibanez has a nice set of BvPs vs. Dickey if he plays