MLB Daily Grind Down: Monday, July 29th

by Kyle Koch (Jackandsoda) Last Updated 2013-07-30 16:06:12

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.

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

St. Louis vs. Pittsburgh

7:05 PM	St. Louis – ROAD					Pittsburgh – HOME
TEAM BATTING	AVG	OPS	K%	FPAB		AVG	OPS	K%	FPAB
SEASON	0.276	0.751	17.30%	0.61		0.243	0.700	22.30%	0.55
VS. LEFT/RIGHT	0.246	0.706	16.90%	0.45		0.242	0.698	22.10%	0.41
SP STATS	Westbrook – RHP					Liriano – LHP
	WHIP	ERA	K/9	FPPG		WHIP	ERA	K/9	FPPG
SEASON	1.40	2.95	3.27	8.51		1.19	2.23	9.39	14.16
LAST 14 DAYS	1.53	3.38	2.06	9.55		1.17	3.75	9.00	11.50
BATTER SPLITS	Note: Batter Splits Below Open in Pop Up Window
	STL vs L		STL BvP			PIT vs R		PIT BvP

What Vegas Says

• Over/Under Total Runs – 7

• Favored Team – PIT -149

Pitcher Grind Down

• Home Francisco Liriano is a fantasy ace again. He has a 1.67 home ERA and is coasting through July. STL is one of the tougher matchups he has seen this month. They have scored the 4th most runs on the year. STL is batting .269 on the road, .245 versus left-handers, and .244 over the last 7 days. RG Start-Ability 8

• Away Jake Westbrook only has 32 Ks in 14 starts. That is about 2.3 a game. He has been a worse pitcher on the road with a 4.50 ERA and PIT is a good home team. PIT is batting .245 at home, .241 versus right-handers, and .243 over the last 7 days. RG Start-Ability 4

Batter Grind Down

• Home Jake Westbrook is allowing left-handers a .336 BAA. PIT as a team has a .328 BAA versus him. Consider everyone playable. Pedro Alvarez ‘s 12-21 with 2 HR line is the most Notable. RG Stack Rating 7

• Away Liriano is holding left-handed hitters to a .116 BAA so avoid Jon Jay, Matt Carpenter, and Matt Adams. Yadier Molina and Allen Craig are both batting over .300 versus right-handers. RG Stack Rating 2

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Chicago White Sox vs. Cleveland

7:05 PM	Chicago White Sox – ROAD					Cleveland – HOME
TEAM BATTING	AVG	OPS	K%	FPAB		AVG	OPS	K%	FPAB
SEASON	0.250	0.687	20.30%	0.53		0.256	0.744	21.50%	0.65
VS. LEFT/RIGHT	0.254	0.697	20.00%	0.41		0.265	0.763	20.00%	0.51
SP STATS	Danks – LHP					McAllister – RHP
	WHIP	ERA	K/9	FPPG		WHIP	ERA	K/9	FPPG
SEASON	1.18	4.81	6.14	7.93		1.44	3.57	6.41	9.02
LAST 14 DAYS	1.39	6.20	4.93	5.70		2.20	5.40	9.00	7.00
BATTER SPLITS	Note: Batter Splits Below Open in Pop Up Window
	CHW vs R		CHW BvP			CLE vs L		CLE BvP

What Vegas Says

• Over/Under Total Runs – 8

• Favored Team – CLE -170

Pitcher Grind Down

• Home Zach McAliister last start did not go poorly in SEA. It was not a great start either but it was encouraging to me that CLE allowed him to throw over 100 pitches in his first start in over a month. If he can get back to the form he showed in May and April then he will be a nice undervalued fantasy option for a few starts. He draws a pretty poor CHW team so today could be one of those starts. CHW is batting .257 on the road, .254 versus right-handers, and .222 over the last 7 days. RG Start-Ability 7

• Away John Danks has a 6.08 ERA and .312 BAA on the road. Plus, he plays for a team that struggles to produce runs. CLE offense is producing again and they really like seeing left-handed pitching. CLE is batting .256 at home, .267 versus left-handers, and .290 over the last 7 days. RG Start-Ability 2

Batter Grind Down

• Home Asdrubal Cabrera, Ryan Raburn, Nick Swisher all have positive BvPs versus Danks. Michael Bourn, Asdrubal Cabrera, Yan Gomes, and Nick Swisher have all been productive for CLE. Bourn, Kipnis, Santana, Gomes, Stubbs, Raburn, and Swisher all hit left-handers for a high average. RG Stack Rating 8

• Away Dayan Viciedo remains hot for CHW with 21.5 fp over the last 7 days. Gordon Beckham, De Aza, and Jeff Keppinger have positive BvPs. RG Stack Rating 3

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Colorado vs. Atlanta

7:10 PM	Colorado – ROAD					Atlanta – HOME
TEAM BATTING	AVG	OPS	K%	FPAB		AVG	OPS	K%	FPAB
SEASON	0.264	0.746	19.80%	0.62		0.251	0.735	22.70%	0.60
VS. LEFT/RIGHT	0.267	0.761	19.90%	0.50		0.242	0.710	22.30%	0.46
SP STATS	De La Rosa – LHP					Beachy – RHP
	WHIP	ERA	K/9	FPPG		WHIP	ERA	K/9	FPPG
SEASON	1.27	2.97	6.17	9.72
LAST 14 DAYS	1.17	0.75	6.75	12.00
BATTER SPLITS	Note: Batter Splits Below Open in Pop Up Window
	COL vs R		COL BvP			ATL vs L		ATL BvP

What Vegas Says

• Over/Under Total Runs – 7.5

• Favored Team – ATL -143

Pitcher Grind Down

• Home Brandon Beachy will be making his first start of the year. Gonzalez has already stated that he will be on a pitch count so there is no doubt in my mind that he should be avoided today. COL is batting .248 on the road, .268 versus right-handers, and .241 over the last 7 days. RG Start-Ability 1

• Away Jorge De La Rosa is having a great year. He is 10-5 with a 2.97 ERA. His numbers take a slight dip on the road (if you can believe that) and his K totals are a little low but that number should get a boost today from an ATL team that is second in the league in striking out. ATL offense is back on track and they rank 6th in July in Runs Scored. ATL is batting .260 at home, .243 versus left-handers, and .243 over the last 7 days. RG Start-Ability 6

Batter Grind Down

• Home Dan Uggla and Andrelton Simmons have been producing for ATL. Chris Johnson and Evan Gattis are both batting over .300 versus left-handers. Justin Upton is 6-17 versus De La Rosa. RG Stack Rating

• Away There is a good chance that Beachy will not be sharp in his return so consider everyone playable. Troy Tulowitzki and Michael Cuddyer have been hot for COL. RG Stack Rating 6

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NY Mets vs. Miami

7:10 PM	NY Mets – ROAD					Miami – HOME
TEAM BATTING	AVG	OPS	K%	FPAB		AVG	OPS	K%	FPAB
SEASON	0.236	0.684	22.40%	0.55		0.230	0.623	19.10%	0.43
VS. LEFT/RIGHT	0.235	0.682	22.50%	0.42		0.234	0.620	18.40%	0.31
SP STATS	Hefner – RHP					Turner – RHP
	WHIP	ERA	K/9	FPPG		WHIP	ERA	K/9	FPPG
SEASON	1.24	4.17	6.94	7.86		1.19	2.49	6.23	10.40
LAST 14 DAYS	1.53	10.13	6.18	2.37		1.55	3.27	8.18	8.50
BATTER SPLITS	Note: Batter Splits Below Open in Pop Up Window
	NYM vs R		NYM BvP			MIA vs R		MIA BvP

What Vegas Says

• Over/Under Total Runs – 7

• Favored Team – MIA -112

Pitcher Grind Down

• Home He is only 10 starts into this season but those 10 starts have all been good for Jacob Turner. His Ks are a little on the low side but be has put in a quality start in 8 of his 10 outings. He faces a NYM team that has found its offensive stroke. The Mets rank 4th in runs scored for the month of July but Turner has a 1.80 ERA and Vegas has put the numbers on his side today with a low OU and MIA listed as the slight favorite. NYM is batting .248 on the road, .235 versus right-handers, and .249 over the last 7 days. RG Start-Ability 7

• Away Jeremy Hefner has been slightly better on the road than he is at home. A matchup versus MIA looks like an easy one. They have scored the least amount of runs on the year and even though their offense has gotten better over the last month, they have the second least runs scored for the month of July. MIA is batting .235 at home, .233 versus right-handers, and .242 over the last 7 days. RG Start-Ability 7

Batter Grind Down

• Home Giancario Stanton has been the hottest player in baseball with 42 fp over the last 7 days. Hefner is allowing left-handers to bat .290 against him. Logan Morrison is a left-hander who hits right-handers at a high clip. RG Stack Rating 2

• Away Daniel Murphy has been super hot over the last 7 days with 35.5 fp. Murphy and David Wright are both batting near .300 versus right-handed pitching. RG Stack Rating 3

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