MLB Daily Grind Down: Sunday, July 7th

by Kyle Koch (Jackandsoda) Last Updated 2013-07-07 21:08:16

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.

The coming of the end of the big events in daily fantasy for the MLB season has brought with it to me the rare summer cold. I must say I have been a little too tired to play daily fantasy. It is kind of poetic. I doubt I will play today either as my current plans are to write this article and go back to bed in the vain attempt to recover by tomorrow. There will be a few more big events to be hammered at so I will be back in full force this week. I hope you are fairing well and have been cashing in your GPPs. Here is today’s Daily Grind Down to help you get your research pointed in the right direction.

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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Detroit vs. Cleveland

1:05 PM	Detroit – ROAD					Cleveland – HOME
TEAM BATTING	AVG	OPS	K%	FPAB		AVG	OPS	K%	FPAB
SEASON	0.281	0.779	16.50%	0.64		0.258	0.756	21.90%	0.67
VS. LEFT/RIGHT	0.280	0.771	16.20%	0.51		0.256	0.754	22.60%	0.52
SP STATS	Fister – RHP					Kluber – RHP
	WHIP	ERA	K/9	FPPG		WHIP	ERA	K/9	FPPG
SEASON	1.21	3.80	6.94	10.06		1.28	4.33	8.44	9.47
LAST 14 DAYS	1.74	7.16	4.47	3.70		1.78	7.47	6.51	5.73
BATTER SPLITS	Note: Batter Splits Below Open in Pop Up Window
	DET vs R		DET BvP			CLE vs R		CLE BvP

What Vegas Says

• Over/Under Total Runs – 8.5

• Favored Team – DET -140

Pitcher Grind Down

• Home Corey Kluber will not look as bad as Carrasco did yesterday but there is no need to take him today versus this potent DET offense even with his 3.14 home ERA. DET has hung him for 11 ER in 2 starts against him. They are batting .262 on the road, .283 versus right-handers, and .272 over the last 7 days. RG Start-Ability 4

• Away Doug Fister has been hit up for 6 ER in 2 of his last 3 starts. He draws a CLE team today. CLE is batting .251 at home, .255 versus right-handers, and .252 over the last 7 days. RG Start-Ability 5

Batter Grind Down

• Home Michael Brantley is 7-25 with 1 HR versus Fister, Jason Kipnis is 6-17 versus him as well. Drew Stubbs has been hot with 20 fp over the past week. RG Stack Rating 4

• Away DET has a .330 BAA as a team versus Kluber so everyone is playable. Miguel Cabrera ‘2 5-12 with 2 HR line jumps out the most. Torii Hunter and Victor Martinez have been hot for DET RG Stack Rating 5

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Baltimore vs. NY Yankees

1:05 PM	Baltimore – ROAD					NY Yankees – HOME
TEAM BATTING	AVG	OPS	K%	FPAB		AVG	OPS	K%	FPAB
SEASON	0.272	0.775	17.80%	0.66		0.240	0.682	20.10%	0.53
VS. LEFT/RIGHT	0.279	0.795	17.60%	0.54		0.240	0.698	20.00%	0.42
SP STATS	Hammel – RHP					Kuroda – RHP
	WHIP	ERA	K/9	FPPG		WHIP	ERA	K/9	FPPG
SEASON	1.41	5.19	6.56	8.42		1.06	2.95	6.36	10.25
LAST 14 DAYS	1.05	4.95	8.55	9.33		1.15	3.72	7.07	10.03
BATTER SPLITS	Note: Batter Splits Below Open in Pop Up Window
	BAL vs R		BAL BvP			NYY vs R		NYY BvP

What Vegas Says

• Over/Under Total Runs – 9

• Favored Team – NYY -135

Pitcher Grind Down

• Home Hiroki Kuroda is dealing with a nagging hip injury that seems to have affected his performance. This same BAL team got to him for 3 HRs the last time they saw him so he is probably not worth the gamble right now. BAL is batting .271 on the road, .277 versus right-handers, and .247 over the last 7 days. RG Start-Ability 4

• Away The only number I can point to from Jason Hammel year that is not dismal is that he is 2-0 with a 2.84 ERA versus NYY on the year. NYY did slump over the last month but my money is on their bats today and not Hammel’s arm. NYY is batting .244 at home, .245 versus right-handers, and .272 over the last 7 days. RG Start-Ability 3

Batter Grind Down

• Home Robinson Cano has been the hottest hitter in baseball with 43.25 fp over the past week. He is 11-29 with 1 HR versus Hammel. Travis Hafner is 3-11 with 2 HRs. Ichiro Suzuki is 8-17 and Vernon Wells is 6-17 with 2 HRs. RG Stack Rating 6

• Away Chris Davis remains hot and has a very fay .353 average versus right-handers, Machado, Roberts and Jones are batting over .300 versus right-handers as well. Chris Davis is 5-15 with 2 HRs versus Kuroda. RG Stack Rating 5

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Minnesota vs. Toronto

1:07 PM	Minnesota – ROAD					Toronto – HOME
TEAM BATTING	AVG	OPS	K%	FPAB		AVG	OPS	K%	FPAB
SEASON	0.248	0.709	20.40%	0.56		0.250	0.731	19.10%	0.62
VS. LEFT/RIGHT	0.244	0.708	20.20%	0.45		0.247	0.675	17.90%	0.39
SP STATS	Diamond – LHP					Redmond – RHP
	WHIP	ERA	K/9	FPPG		WHIP	ERA	K/9	FPPG
SEASON	1.48	5.18	4.44	6.41		1.43	5.79	4.29	1.60
LAST 14 DAYS	1.41	4.76	5.82	7.67
BATTER SPLITS	Note: Batter Splits Below Open in Pop Up Window
	MIN vs R		MIN BvP			TOR vs L		TOR BvP

What Vegas Says

• Over/Under Total Runs – 9.5

• Favored Team – TOR -165

Pitcher Grind Down

• Home Todd Redmond is a middle reliever making a spot start. There are a ton of these guys today. He probably will not pitch past 80 pitches so do not fall into the trap of taking him even though he is the favorite. MIN is batting .229 at home, .243 versus right-handers, and .247 over the last 7 days.RG Start-Ability 2

• Away Scott Diamond sometimes pitches well but even when he does, will not get you enough Ks to matter. He has been getting hit hard over the last month and draws a TOR team that is tough at home. TOR is batting .258 at home, .247 versus left handers, and .253 over the last 7 days. RG Start-Ability 3

Batter Grind Down

• Home Consider everyone playable versus this struggling lefty. A hot Jose Bautista with the traditional splits in his favor looks extra tasty. RG Stack Rating 7

• Away Of course, Justin Morneau and Joe Mauer are good plays versus the right-hander. I also like Chris Parmelee who is another left-handed bat and has been producing lately. Brian Dozier has 25.75 fp over the past 7 days. Clete Thomas is still batting leadoff and is a lefty as well. RG Stack Rating 5

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Seattle vs. Cincinnati

1:10 PM	Seattle – ROAD					Cincinnati – HOME
TEAM BATTING	AVG	OPS	K%	FPAB		AVG	OPS	K%	FPAB
SEASON	0.236	0.683	21.90%	0.51		0.248	0.722	19.90%	0.58
VS. LEFT/RIGHT	0.239	0.686	21.80%	0.42		0.249	0.729	19.50%	0.46
SP STATS	Saunders – LHP					Arroyo – RHP
	WHIP	ERA	K/9	FPPG		WHIP	ERA	K/9	FPPG
SEASON	1.47	4.74	4.85	7.36		1.18	3.50	4.90	9.13
LAST 14 DAYS	1.62	4.41	5.03	7.03		1.29	4.76	3.71	6.33
BATTER SPLITS	Note: Batter Splits Below Open in Pop Up Window
	SEA vs R		SEA BvP			CIN vs L		CIN BvP

What Vegas Says

• Over/Under Total Runs – 8.5

• Favored Team – CIN -200

Pitcher Grind Down

• Home Bronson Arroyo has been fantastic at home on the year with a 2.42 ERA. He is 6-1 there thanks to the luxury of playing in front of a great home team. He draws SEA today, which is one of the best matchups on paper, but the team has been hot. SEA is batting .233 on the road, .240 versus right-handers, and .274 over the last 7 days with 13 HRs RG Start-Ability 6

• Away Joe Saunders had a great June with a 3.68 ERA and has continued his success here in July with a 1.35 ERA. I can in no way recommend taking a player with only 54 Ks on the year though unless the matchup is really good. CIN at home is not a really good matchup. CIN is batting .259 at home, .253 versus left-handers, and .271 over the last 7 days. RG Start-Ability 4

Batter Grind Down

• Home Todd Frazier and Brandon Phillips are the obvious plays. Joey Votto, Jay Bruce and Shin-Soo Choo have positive BvPs versus Saunders. Both Bruce and Votto hit left-handers well so do not worry about the lefty/lefty thing if you want to play them. RG Stack Rating 5

• Away Kyle Seager has been super hot with 38.25 fp over the last week. Rual Ibanez has been hot as well and is 5-12 with 1 HR versus Arroyo. RG Stack Rating 3

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San Diego vs. Washington

1:35 PM	San Diego – ROAD					Washington – HOME
TEAM BATTING	AVG	OPS	K%	FPAB		AVG	OPS	K%	FPAB
SEASON	0.249	0.702	20.80%	0.57		0.235	0.670	21.80%	0.50
VS. LEFT/RIGHT	0.246	0.691	21.20%	0.41		0.216	0.619	21.50%	0.34
SP STATS	Erlin – LHP					Strasburg – RHP
	WHIP	ERA	K/9	FPPG		WHIP	ERA	K/9	FPPG
SEASON	1.32	4.34	6.43	5.24		1.04	2.24	8.81	11.82
LAST 14 DAYS	1.30	4.50	7.20	6.50		0.95	1.29	9.00	14.33
BATTER SPLITS	Note: Batter Splits Below Open in Pop Up Window
	SDP vs R		SDP BvP			WSN vs L		WSN BvP

What Vegas Says

• Over/Under Total Runs – 7.5

• Favored Team – WAS -240

Pitcher Grind Down

• Home Stephen Strasburg has GPP winning upside but his ceiling is lower than the other guys in his price range because he pitches too deep into counts and never seems to make it past the 7th inning. He is a huge favorite to get the win today. He has been pitching fantastic and he seems to be a lock to get the win versus Erlin. SDG is batting .250 on the road, .241 versus right-handers, and .204 over the last 7 days. RG Start-Ability 9

• Away It is funny how quickly things change in baseball. A month ago, I would of told you that Robbie Erlin could be a nice matchup play versus a struggling WAS offense. Now, I am telling you to avoid him at all cost versus this resurgent team. WAS is batting .264 at home, .215 versus left-handers, and .279 over the last 7 days. RG Start-Ability 2

Batter Grind Down

• Home Jayson Werth has been super hot with35.5 fp over the last week. Ian Desmond, and Adam LaRoche have been hot as well. Erlin has allowed .355 BAA versus left-handers on the year so I would even consider Bryce Harper. RG Stack Rating 4

• Away If you are playing the fade then Jesus Guzman and Carlos Quentin have been hot for SDG. RG Stack Rating 1

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