MLB Daily Grind Down May 7th
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.
Tuesdays are usually one of the best days of the week for fantasy baseball and this Tuesday is not going to disappoint. There are qualifiers and big tournaments all across the industry so make sure to get in as many as you possibly can because all you need is to qualify for one of them and it is worth all of your effort. Today’s Grind Down is highlighted Carlos Santana who is batting right in the middle of the hot Indians offense.
Seattle at Pittsburgh
| Seattle | Pittsburgh | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PNC Park | 7:05 PM | ||||||
| Aaron Harang – (1-3), 8.68 ERA, 8.41 K/9, 1.61 WHIP | James McDonald – (2-2), 5.76 ERA, 7.71 K/9, 1.65 WHIP | ||||||
| PvB | (29-89 H/AB) 0.326 BA-A, 0.1 K%, 0.944 OPS-A | PvB | (4-16 H/AB) 0.25 BA-A, 0.19 K%, 0.625 OPS-A | ||||
| ROAD | (0-1), 15.43 ERA, 3 HRA, 9.6 K/9, 2.143 WHIP | HOME | (1-2), 3.07 ERA, 0 HRA, 8 K/9, 1.364 WHIP | ||||
| BATTER SPLITS BREAKDOWN | |||||||
SEA BvP  | SEA vs R | PIT BvP | PIT vs R | ||||
| Note: Batter Splits Above Open in Pop Up Window | |||||||
Las Vegas
- OU 8.0
- Favored PIT -132
Pitchers
- Home James McDonald has had some really bad outings this season. His ERA and WHIP are both up from last season while his K rate per game is down. Usually when selecting a pitcher, these aren’t signs that inspire confidence in a guy, but I still think he has decent upside tonight against the Mariners. I wouldn’t take him as my only pitcher, but he could be worth a shot in GPP’s. He’s a favorite in what should be a fairly low scoring game.
- Away Baseball is a funny sport, Aaron Harang had been lit up in his first 3 starts and then last game he comes out and gets the win against a tough Orioles team. You can just never completely predict what is going to happen. That said, all signs point towards avoiding Harang tonight. He is not a great pitcher on the road and the Pirates have solid BvP numbers against him.
Batters
- Home Garrett Jones, Russell Martin, and even Clint Barmes all have solid BvP numbers against Harang and I think you are safe to play a couple of Pirates today. Jones hits RHP extremely well and McCutchen and Martin both have been swinging the bat well.
- Away Not much history to go on between McDonald and the M’s batters, but the M’s have been scoring runs lately and are in a decent spot. Michael Morse is always in play thanks to his HR potential and Kyle Seager is batting .329 against RHP.
Kansas City at Baltimore
| Kansas City | Baltimore | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Camden Yards | 7:05 PM | ||||||
| Ervin Santana – (3-1), 2 ERA, 7.75 K/9, 1.03 WHIP | Wei-Yin Chen – (2-3), 3.5 ERA, 5.5 K/9, 1.19 WHIP | ||||||
| PvB | (42-167 H/AB) 0.251 BA-A, 0.21 K%, 0.826 OPS-A | PvB | (15-42 H/AB) 0.357 BA-A, 0.19 K%, 1.167 OPS-A | ||||
| ROAD | (1-1), 4.15 ERA, 3 HRA, 10.4 K/9, 0.923 WHIP | HOME | (1-0), 1.5 ERA, 0 HRA, 3 K/9, 1.167 WHIP | ||||
| BATTER SPLITS BREAKDOWN | |||||||
| KCR BvP | KCR vs L | BAL BvP | BAL vs R | ||||
| Note: Batter Splits Above Open in Pop Up Window | |||||||
Las Vegas
- OU 8.5
- Favored BAL -117
Pitchers
- Home Wei-Yin Chen has been a very similar pitcher to the one he was last season. He has a fairly low WHIP and ERA, but doesn’t K very many batters so his upside is relatively low. He is in play today against the Royals, but not a fantastic option considering the other options out there.
- Away Ervin Santana has been in full beast mode lately and had what would have been another great start wiped away by the baseball gods thanks to the rain. This is one of those cases where you have to decide whether you trust a hot player or the situation more? A matchup in Baltimore is extremely tough and Santana is a slight underdog in this one. I think he is in play, but again be careful, those Orioles can put up runs in a hurry.
Batters
- Home Santana has some pretty good numbers against the big bats of the Orioles. Jones, Davis, and Wieters have all struggled against him in the past, but Vegas like the Orioles to score some runs today. I think Adam Jones is still in play as is Nate McLouth who is batting .333 against RHP this season.
- Away The Royals are batting .293 against LHP this season which is much better than their average against RHP. Lorenzo Cain, Billy Butler, and Salvador Perez have all hit lefties well in their careers and are all in play today. I wouldn’t get too happy with the Royals bats though, because like I said, Chen usually doesn’t give up many runs.
Detroit at Washington
| Detroit | Washington | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nationals Park | 7:05 PM | ||||||
| Anibal Sanchez – (3-2), 1.82 ERA, 11.48 K/9, 1.06 WHIP | Jordan Zimmermann – (5-1), 1.64 ERA, 5.52 K/9, 0.75 WHIP | ||||||
| PvB | (38-195 H/AB) 0.195 BA-A, 0.3 K%, 0.554 OPS-A | PvB | (3-17 H/AB) 0.176 BA-A, 0.06 K%, 0.647 OPS-A | ||||
| ROAD | (1-1), 1.45 ERA, 0 HRA, 7.7 K/9, 1.232 WHIP | HOME | (3-0), 1.23 ERA, 1 HRA, 3.7 K/9, 0.864 WHIP | ||||
| BATTER SPLITS BREAKDOWN | |||||||
| DET BvP | DET vs R | WSN BvP | WSN vs R | ||||
| Note: Batter Splits Above Open in Pop Up Window | |||||||
Las Vegas
- OU 7.0
- Favored Pick ‘Em
Pitchers
- Home Jordan Zimmerman continues to quietly dominate. He largely goes unnoticed because he isn’t a pitcher that gets a ton of K’s, but he is sporting a 1.64 ERA this season with a WHIP of 0.750 which is crazy good. He runs into a great offense today in the Tigers though and his price has risen quite a bit on most sites. I think he is in play, but there are safer options.
- Away Anibal Sanchez has really picked up his strikeout numbers this season. Last year he averaged about 8 K’s per 9 innings and this season he has bumped that up to over 11 K’s per 9 innings. For us, this is exactly the type of pitcher we love to take because even if he allows a couple of runs, the K’s usually make up for it. He is certainly in play today against the Nats.
Batters
- Home Bryce Harper has been down the past week or so which has made him much more affordable across the board. I think he is always in play against RHP, especially at home. Other than Harper, maybe take a look at Ian Desmond who is 8/25 with 3 XBH’s against Sanchez.
- Away For the Tigers, it’s hard to recommend taking anyone not named Miguel Cabrera or Prince Fielder. I think they are both probably a bit overpriced today considering their matchup, but either one could go yard at any time.
Oakland at Cleveland
| Oakland | Cleveland | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Progressive Field | 7:05 PM | ||||||
| Tommy Milone – (3-3), 3.69 ERA, 8.31 K/9, 1.18 WHIP | Zach McAllister – (2-3), 3.3 ERA, 7.2 K/9, 1.2 WHIP | ||||||
| PvB | (11-46 H/AB) 0.239 BA-A, 0.2 K%, 0.522 OPS-A | PvB | (15-39 H/AB) 0.385 BA-A, 0.23 K%, 1.077 OPS-A | ||||
| ROAD | (1-1), 6.17 ERA, 1 HRA, 8.5 K/9, 1.629 WHIP | HOME | (2-1), 2.95 ERA, 3 HRA, 8.3 K/9, 1.091 WHIP | ||||
| BATTER SPLITS BREAKDOWN | |||||||
| OAK BvP | OAK vs R | CLE BvP | CLE vs L | ||||
| Note: Batter Splits Above Open in Pop Up Window | |||||||
Las Vegas
- OU 8.5
- Favored CLE -105
Pitchers
- Home Zach McAllister has actually been pretty solid for the Indians, but for our purposes, he is usually pretty irrelevant fantasy wise. He is not a high strikeout pitcher and has a tough matchup against this A’s offense whom he has struggled against in the past.
- Away Tommy Milone is a solid young pitcher, but his one weakness is pitching on the road. Until he gets that figured out, I don’t think taking him on the road is your best option. He is a slight underdog against a hot Indians offense. Avoid
Batters
- Home The Indians offense has been on fire the last couple of weeks and it has been HR after HR after HR. The guys to target tonight are Carlos Santana (.432 against lefties), Mark Reynolds (.275 with 4 HR’s against lefties), and Asdrubal Cabrera (.286 against lefties last season).
- Away The A’s offense is always so hard to predict. It seems like they always score runs when you expect them to, but it’s never from the obvious plays that day. Almost all of the A’s have good BvP against McAllister so I will let you decide which players you think will do well.
Chicago White Sox at NY Mets
| Chicago White Sox | NY Mets | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Citi Field | 7:10 PM | ||||||
| Hector Santiago – (1-1), 2.29 ERA, 7.97 K/9, 1.02 WHIP | Matt Harvey – (4-0), 1.56 ERA, 10.32 K/9, 0.82 WHIP | ||||||
| PvB | (0-0 H/AB) 0 BA-A, 0 K%, 0 OPS-A | PvB | (0-0 H/AB) 0 BA-A, 0 K%, 0 OPS-A | ||||
| ROAD | (1-0), 0.75 ERA, 1 HRA, 8.3 K/9, 0.5 WHIP | HOME | (2-0), 1.8 ERA, 1 HRA, 10.8 K/9, 0.75 WHIP | ||||
| BATTER SPLITS BREAKDOWN | |||||||
| CHW BvP | CHW vs R | NYM BvP | NYM vs L | ||||
| Note: Batter Splits Above Open in Pop Up Window | |||||||
Las Vegas
- OU 6.5
- Favored NYM -150
Pitchers
- Home If you play on a site that only allows one starting pitcher, then stop researching pitchers because you should be taking Matt Harvey tonight. This kid is something else (it’s weird calling him kid when I’m only 26). He has a 1.56 ERA, a .823 WHIP, and is averaging 10 K’s per 9 innings. He should make quick work of this White Sox lineup.
- Away Hector Santiago is a solid reliever, but I’m not sold that he can make it as a starter. He has a decent matchup against the Mets, but he will likely get stuck with the loss, so I am going to avoid here.
Batters
- Home None of the Mets have ever faced Santiago, but David Wright and John Buck both hit lefties well and are both in play. Just don’t expect a ton of runs in this one.
- Away Stay away from White Sox bats unless you like losing fantasy points.