MLB Daily Grind Down: Monday, June 17th
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.
I had a near miss yesterday on the DraftStreet Qualifier. It was a low scoring day all around and my pitiful score in the low 50s was enough to squeak me into second. The winner’s score was not much better than mine either. This week offers plenty more chances for redemption. Tonight features 12 games, all at night, which is really good for a Monday. Here is today’s Daily Grind Down to help get you ready.
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
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Washington vs. Philadelphia
| 7:05 PM | Washington – ROAD | Philadelphia – HOME | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TEAM BATTING | AVG | OPS | K% | FPAB | AVG | OPS | K% | FPAB | |
| SEASON | 0.233 | 0.668 | 21.80% | 0.50 | 0.251 | 0.708 | 19.70% | 0.55 | |
| VS. LEFT/RIGHT | 0.212 | 0.609 | 21.70% | 0.33 | 0.254 | 0.705 | 19.20% | 0.42 | |
| SP STATS | Haren – RHP | Lannan – LHP | |||||||
| WHIP | ERA | K/9 | FPPG | WHIP | ERA | K/9 | FPPG | ||
| SEASON | 1.40 | 5.70 | 7.35 | 7.78 | 1.27 | 6.14 | 4.44 | 3.73 | |
| LAST 14 DAYS | 1.78 | 10.00 | 8.00 | 3.50 | |||||
| BATTER SPLITS | Note: Batter Splits Below Open in Pop Up Window | ||||||||
WSN vs L  | WSN BvP | PHI vs R | PHI BvP | ||||||
What Vegas Says
- Over/Under Total Runs – 8.5
- Favored Team – WAS -110
Pitcher Grind Down
- Home Even at his best, John Lannan is a matchup play. He is coming off an injury and nowhere near his best. I would be surprised if he pitches past 5 innings today and he is not a high K guy anyway. Plus, WAS is looking a whole lot more formidable at the plate. All things considered, this could be a long day for the left-hander. WAS is batting .212 on the road, .212 versus left-handers, and .252 over the last 7 days. Start-ability 1
- Away Dan Haren ‘s 5.70 ERA is one of the worst amongst starters. His 1.39 WHIP, however, is slightly above average. Haren’s problem this year has been with the long ball and fly balls in general. He has already surrendered 17 in 13 starts and has given up 9 HRs in the last 5 starts. That to me is a mixed bag because he is showing a trend of allowing teams to score on him but he could also put in a great performances if he can keep the ball from going yard. He struck out this PHI team 10 times the last time he faced them. He also surrender 3 ER off of 2 HRs. PHI is batting .250 at home, .253 versus right-handers, and .265 over the last 7 days. I think he gets the win today but I am not sure how much damage he will take. Start-ability 5
Batter Grind Down
- Home Michael Young, Jimmy Rollins, and Delmon Young all have nice BvPs versus Haren. When a player is struggling with the long ball, you can consider everyone in play particularly the big bats. Domonic Brown, Ryan Howard, Erik Kratz, and Young have all taking Haren deep before. Ben Revere is hot with 22.25 fp over the last week. Stack-ability 4
- Away Jayson Werth is 8-24 with 4 HRs versus Lannan. Ian Desmond, Ryan Zimmerman, and Anthony Rendon have all been hot. Rendon is batting .391 versus right-handed pitching. Things could get real ugly for Lannan so consider everyone playable. Stack-ability 6
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Chicago Cubs vs. St. Louis
| 7:05 PM | Chicago Cubs – ROAD | St. Louis – HOME | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TEAM BATTING | AVG | OPS | K% | FPAB | AVG | OPS | K% | FPAB | |
| SEASON | 0.243 | 0.705 | 19.90% | 0.56 | 0.277 | 0.750 | 18.10% | 0.62 | |
| VS. LEFT/RIGHT | 0.246 | 0.711 | 19.30% | 0.44 | 0.233 | 0.674 | 16.80% | 0.41 | |
| SP STATS | Wood – LHP | Miller – RHP | |||||||
| WHIP | ERA | K/9 | FPPG | WHIP | ERA | K/9 | FPPG | ||
| SEASON | 1.00 | 2.65 | 6.35 | 10.77 | 0.97 | 2.21 | 10.10 | 13.85 | |
| LAST 14 DAYS | 0.92 | 2.08 | 6.92 | 10.00 | 0.92 | 4.50 | 14.25 | 14.50 | |
| BATTER SPLITS | Note: Batter Splits Below Open in Pop Up Window | ||||||||
| CHC vs R | CHC BvP | STL vs L | STL BvP | ||||||
What Vegas Says
- Over/Under Total Runs – 7.5
- Favored Team – STL -200
Pitcher Grind Down
- Home Shelby Miller with his 10.07 K/9 at home with his 1.12 ERA against the cubs with their .229 road batting average is the top play at pitcher tonight. No need to bore you with any more stats. The only thing you need to worry about is overlay. Start-ability 10
- Away Travis Wood numbers take a dip on the road but a 3.38 road ERA is still pretty good. STL has a career .327 BAA versus Wood but he held this same STL team to only 1 ER in 6.1 IP the last time he faced them. However, that start was at home where STL is great, meanwhile they are not bad on the road. Given the OU, I think he is playable in GPPs as an against the grain pick but understand that this selection could mean the end of your LU. Miller gave up 2 HRs to the Mets last time out he could struggle again today. He is, after all, only a rookie. STL is batting .282 at home, .232 versus left-handers, and .281 over the last 7 days. Start-ability 6
Batter Grind Down
- Home Allen Craig is 5-13 with 2 HRs versus Wood. Matt Holliday is 6-20 with 2 HRs. Yadier Molina is 5-17 with 2 HRs. Carlos Beltran is 3-9 with 1 HR. Matt Carpenter is 2-6 with 1 HR. Allen Craig has been hot with 25.25 fp over the last week. Both he and Yadier Molina currently have good batting averages versus left-handers. Stack-ability 6
- Away Nate Schierholtz has been hot with 29 fp over the last week. He is also batting .309 versus right-handers and is still cheap on most sites if you want to play the fade. Stack-ability 1
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Kansas City vs. Cleveland
| 7:05 PM | Kansas City – ROAD | Cleveland – HOME | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TEAM BATTING | AVG | OPS | K% | FPAB | AVG | OPS | K% | FPAB | |
| SEASON | 0.258 | 0.682 | 17.60% | 0.53 | 0.256 | 0.749 | 22.60% | 0.65 | |
| VS. LEFT/RIGHT | 0.249 | 0.661 | 17.80% | 0.36 | 0.252 | 0.741 | 23.50% | 0.50 | |
| SP STATS | Shields – RHP | Carrasco – RHP | |||||||
| WHIP | ERA | K/9 | FPPG | WHIP | ERA | K/9 | FPPG | ||
| SEASON | 1.11 | 2.79 | 8.10 | 11.93 | 3.06 | 15.26 | 3.75 | -1.40 | |
| LAST 14 DAYS | 1.50 | 2.57 | 7.71 | 11.00 | 3.25 | 13.50 | 2.25 | -1.00 | |
| BATTER SPLITS | Note: Batter Splits Below Open in Pop Up Window | ||||||||
| KCR vs R | KCR BvP | CLE vs R | CLE BvP | ||||||
What Vegas Says
- Over/Under Total Runs – 8
- Favored Team – KAN -130
Pitcher Grind Down
- Home Cleveland’s prayers are finally answered. Carlos Carrasco returns from his suspension to help end the Tribe’s skid. In case you did not realize it, I was being sarcastic. Carrasco has not been great in his career but he was awful to start the season with a 15.26 ERA and 2.87 WHIP in 2 starts. It cannot get any worse than that. The OU suggest that he should pitch well enough, but he is not worth taking today. He is not worth the energy to wonder “why”? KAN is batting .265 on the road, .249 versus right-handers, and .262 over the last 7 days. Start-ability 2
- Away All KC needs to do to make the playoffs is start James Shields everyday. He has been every bit of the ace they had hoped for and is just as good on the road as he is at home. He faces a very potent offense today but one that has cooled off to a border line slump over the past few weeks. He has GPP winning upside and will probably be the least played out of all the stud pitchers going this evening and is a near lock to get the win. CLE is batting .253 at home, .250 versus right-handers, and .233 over the past 7 days. Start-ability 8
Batter Grind Down
- Home Mike Aviles is 6-18 with 2 HRs versus Shields and has been producing over the last 7. Jason Kipnis has been very hot with 31.5 fp. Stack-ability 2
- Away Billy Butler is 6-13 with 2 HRs versus Carrasco. Salvador Perez is batting .331 versus right-handers and has been hot over the past week. Stack-ability 6
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Baltimore vs. Detroit
| 7:05 PM | Baltimore – ROAD | Detroit – HOME | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TEAM BATTING | AVG | OPS | K% | FPAB | AVG | OPS | K% | FPAB | |
| SEASON | 0.271 | 0.774 | 17.20% | 0.66 | 0.279 | 0.772 | 16.80% | 0.64 | |
| VS. LEFT/RIGHT | 0.275 | 0.782 | 17.20% | 0.52 | 0.277 | 0.767 | 16.10% | 0.50 | |
| SP STATS | Arrieta – RHP | Scherzer – RHP | |||||||
| WHIP | ERA | K/9 | FPPG | WHIP | ERA | K/9 | FPPG | ||
| SEASON | 1.63 | 6.63 | 9.47 | 7.25 | 0.88 | 3.19 | 10.59 | 15.39 | |
| LAST 14 DAYS | 0.79 | 1.93 | 9.64 | 17.00 | |||||
| BATTER SPLITS | Note: Batter Splits Below Open in Pop Up Window | ||||||||
| BAL vs R | BAL BvP | DET vs R | DET BvP | ||||||
What Vegas Says
- Over/Under Total Runs – 8.5
- Favored Team – DET -183
Pitcher Grind Down
- Home Max Scherzer has been shaky at home with a 4.57 ERA and he faces a BAL team that is 3rd in the league in runs scored and hits pretty well on the road. Max carries with him a hefty price tag so you need a dominant performance from him if you chose to take him. He just recorded 10 Ks against this same BAL team 3 starts ago but he did surrender 3 ER in that outing. He has GPP winning upside and is in play every time he takes the hill and seems a great bet to get the win today (-183). BAL is batting .279 on the road, .276 versus right-handers, and .286 over the last 7 days. Start-ability 8
- Away Jake Arrieta got shelled to start the season and sent down to AAA. He did not perform much better down there, but still gets the call-up today to make the spot start. It could not be against a tougher team. DET is the best home team in baseball. They are batting .302 at home, .278 versus right-handers, and .241 over the last 7 days. Start-ability 1
Batter Grind Down
- Home Hit’em High! Hit’em Hard! Stack! Stack! Stack! Stack-ability 10
- Away Adam Jones is 8-15 versus Max with 1 HR. Both Matt Wieters and Chris Davis are 5-14 versus him and Nick Markakis is 4-13 vs him as well. Chris Davis, Manny Machado, and Adam Jones have been hot producing over 20 fp in the last 7 days. Davis, Machado, Jones, And Markakis are all batting around .300 versus right-handers. Stack-ability 3
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Colorado vs. Toronto
| 7:07 PM | Colorado – ROAD | Toronto – HOME | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TEAM BATTING | AVG | OPS | K% | FPAB | AVG | OPS | K% | FPAB | |
| SEASON | 0.276 | 0.789 | 18.40% | 0.68 | 0.252 | 0.731 | 19.10% | 0.61 | |
| VS. LEFT/RIGHT | 0.279 | 0.808 | 18.50% | 0.57 | 0.246 | 0.659 | 17.40% | 0.37 | |
| SP STATS | De La Rosa – LHP | Johnson – RHP | |||||||
| WHIP | ERA | K/9 | FPPG | WHIP | ERA | K/9 | FPPG | ||
| SEASON | 1.33 | 3.49 | 5.96 | 9.29 | 1.67 | 5.40 | 8.37 | 6.87 | |
| LAST 14 DAYS | 1.52 | 4.67 | 7.89 | 9.03 | 1.25 | 3.00 | 7.50 | 9.00 | |
| BATTER SPLITS | Note: Batter Splits Below Open in Pop Up Window | ||||||||
| COL vs R | COL BvP | TOR vs L | TOR BvP | ||||||
What Vegas Says
- Over/Under Total Runs – 9
- Favored Team – TOR -145
Pitcher Grind Down
- Home Josh Johnson is an up and down pitcher. He shows signs of his former self but he simply cannot stay healthy for long enough to instill confidence in using him. The latest injury is a blister and his start has been pushed back to today versus COL. COL is much better at home and a little banged up but TOR has been known to help the hitters out as well. COL is batting .263 on the road, .280 versus right-handers, and .319 over the last 7 days. Start-ability 4
- Away Jorge De La Rosa is also nursing a finger injury. De La Rosa has not gotten the run he deserves this year. He has 3.49 ERA and has played half of his starts in COL. His ERA stays the same and his K/9 leaves a little to be desired but he continues to put in quality starts. I do not trust the finger against this hard hitting TOR team today, though. TOR is batting .262 at home, .251 versus left-handers, and .264 over the last 7 days. Start-ability 4
Batter Grind Down
- Home Colby Rasmus, Adam Lind, Jose Bautista, and Edwin Encarnacion have all been hot over the last 7 days. Adam Lind is currently batting over .500 versus left-handed hitters and .321 at home. Jose Bautista is batting .378 at home. Stack-ability 6
- Away Carlos Gonzalez has been super hot with 38.25 fp over the last 7 days. Tyler Colvin and Wilin Rosario have been hot as well with over 20 fp in that time. Michael Cuddyer and Carlos Gonzalez are both batting over .300 versus right-handers Stack-ability 5
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Pittsburgh vs. Cincinnati
| 7:10 PM | Pittsburgh – ROAD | Cincinnati – HOME | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TEAM BATTING | AVG | OPS | K% | FPAB | AVG | OPS | K% | FPAB | |
| SEASON | 0.238 | 0.684 | 22.50% | 0.53 | 0.252 | 0.728 | 20.00% | 0.60 | |
| VS. LEFT/RIGHT | 0.241 | 0.690 | 22.70% | 0.41 | 0.256 | 0.742 | 19.70% | 0.47 | |
| SP STATS | Liriano – LHP | Leake – RHP | |||||||
| WHIP | ERA | K/9 | FPPG | WHIP | ERA | K/9 | FPPG | ||
| SEASON | 1.26 | 2.36 | 10.50 | 14.29 | 1.24 | 2.76 | 6.54 | 10.71 | |
| LAST 14 DAYS | 1.39 | 2.77 | 6.92 | 13.50 | 0.85 | 2.77 | 6.23 | 11.00 | |
| BATTER SPLITS | Note: Batter Splits Below Open in Pop Up Window | ||||||||
| PIT vs R | PIT BvP | CIN vs L | CIN BvP | ||||||
What Vegas Says
- Over/Under Total Runs – 8
- Favored Team – CIN -114
Pitcher Grind Down
- Home Mike Leake is putting it all together this year and his 2.76 ERA reflects that fact. He is not walking a lot of batters. He has only given up 7 HRs in 13 starts and he is inducing a high number of ground balls. What is not to like? His ERA takes a dip at home to 3.20. He is more of a control pitcher so he has limited GPP upside. He is playable in single pitcher formats and worth a strong look on a multiple pitcher site. PIT is batting .231 on the road, .242 versus right-handers, and .282 over the last 7 days. Start-ability 6
- Away Francisco Liriano has been great no matter where he has pitched. Both his road and home ERA are in the 2s. CIN poses a tough matchup. They are a great home team and play in a hitter friendly park. The best thing that Liriano has going for him today is that he is left-handed and CIN best hitters are also lefties. The last time he faced this CIN team he recorded 11 Ks in 6 IP. CIN is batting .260 at home, .257 versus left-handers, and .250 over the last 7 days. Start-ability 7
Batter Grind Down
- Home Jay Bruce has been hot over the last 7 days with 27 fp. He is also batting .302 versus left-handers on the year so I would not worry about the lefty/lefty matchup. Brandon Phillips has a .319 batting average versus left-handers and Zack Cozart, another righty, is hot with 20.5 fp over the last week. Stack-ability 3
- Away PIT has a .307 BAA as a team versus Leake so there are positive BvPs to be had by everyone. Andrew McCuthchen and Pedro Alvarez are the only 2 starters with negative BvPs versus Leake but they have both been hot over the last 7 days. Alex Presley ‘s 8-18 with 2 HRs are the most notable. Stack-ability 3
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