MLB Daily Grind Down: Tuesday, September 3rd Part 2

by Ethan Haskell (Ethan) Last Updated 2013-09-03 05:47:51

Detroit vs. Boston

7:10 PM	Detroit – ROAD					Boston – HOME
TEAM BATTING	AVG	OPS	K%	FPAB		AVG	OPS	K%	FPAB
SEASON	0.282	0.785	16.90%	0.65		0.273	0.780	20.40%	0.68
VS. LEFT/RIGHT	0.273	0.782	18.30%	0.53		0.282	0.807	20.20%	0.56
SP STATS	Scherzer – RHP					Lester – LHP
	WHIP	ERA	K/9	FPPG		WHIP	ERA	K/9	FPPG
SEASON	0.93	2.90	9.88	14.86		1.31	3.99	7.33	10.43
LAST 14 DAYS	1.46	4.09	13.09	13.00		1.09	1.66	5.52	12.73
BATTER SPLITS	Note: Batter Splits Below Open in Pop Up Window
	DET vs L		DET BvP			BOS vs R		BOS BvP

Pitcher Grind Down

• Max Scherzer – He’ll take his second stab at 20 wins against the Red Sox on Tuesday night. He’s coming off a disappointing start against the A’s and the BoSox are one of the best offensive teams in baseball. Watching Fister shut them down on Monday increased my confidence in Scherzer a bit, but it’s still tough to imagine him reaching his high price tag tonight. Starter Rating: 7 out of 10

• Jon Lester – I love how well he’s been pitching lately but this Detroit team eats left handers alive. In his only appearance against them he let up 2 HR in 5 2/3 IP with 3 ER and 9 hits. It’ll be tough for him to get the win and the O/U is surprisingly high at 8.5. Starter Rating: 3 out of 10

Batter Grind Down

• The two biggest bats in this game have impressive BvP splits. Miggy is 10-16 with 2 doubles and a HR off Lester. Papi is 7-13 with 3 HR off of Scherzer.
• Pedroia has 2 HR and 3 hits in 13 AB’s against Scherzer as well.
• This, much like the STL/CIN game, is a tough one to approach. Two really good pitchers and two great offenses. I like some of the value bats for Detroit like Tuiasosopo and Infante who hit 2 HRs on Saturday

Miami vs. Chicago Cubs

8:05 PM	Miami – ROAD					Chicago Cubs – HOME
TEAM BATTING	AVG	OPS	K%	FPAB		AVG	OPS	K%	FPAB
SEASON	0.231	0.623	19.80%	0.43		0.240	0.702	20.10%	0.54
VS. LEFT/RIGHT	0.232	0.619	19.20%	0.31		0.244	0.707	19.40%	0.44
SP STATS	Koehler – RHP					Jackson – RHP
	WHIP	ERA	K/9	FPPG		WHIP	ERA	K/9	FPPG
SEASON	1.41	4.72	6.15	6.00		1.43	4.90	7.01	8.20
LAST 14 DAYS	1.58	5.25	4.50	5.50		1.48	4.97	6.64	7.10
BATTER SPLITS	Note: Batter Splits Below Open in Pop Up Window
	MIA vs R		MIA BvP			CHC vs R		CHC BvP

Pitcher Grind Down

• Tom Koehler – Just when you thought he might be a value play, he comes out and gives up 6 ER over 5 IP with 2 HRA against Washington in his last start. He definitely has the ability to slow offenses down at times but that is more the exception than it is the rule. Avoid. Starter Rating: 2 out of 10

• Edwin Jackson – I really want to buy into Edwin tonight and for the right price I’m sure a high percentage of people will. But he struggled a bit against these Marlins in an earlier start and he hasn’t had a solid start, in terms of FP-output, since late July. The Marlins are even hitting better of late. Starter Rating: 5 out of 10

Batter Grind Down

• Righties are hitting for an .807 OPS against Koehler and Lefties are just below that at .750 against. He’s not very good and Cubs bats are definitely in play.
• Schierholtz and Rizzo are the two Cubs bats that come to mind, although none of them have been hitting very well of late.
• For Miami, I really like Giancarlo Stanton who’s 3-7 in a small sample against Jackson. Jackson is HR-prone and Giancarlo can definitely poke one out of Wrigley.

Seattle vs. Kansas City

8:10 PM	Seattle – ROAD					Kansas City – HOME
TEAM BATTING	AVG	OPS	K%	FPAB		AVG	OPS	K%	FPAB
SEASON	0.243	0.706	21.70%	0.54		0.258	0.688	16.60%	0.54
VS. LEFT/RIGHT	0.231	0.661	22.10%	0.39		0.257	0.687	16.70%	0.40
SP STATS	Ramirez – RHP					Chen – LHP
	WHIP	ERA	K/9	FPPG		WHIP	ERA	K/9	FPPG
SEASON	1.35	5.18	7.84	9.13		1.16	2.79	6.10	5.11
LAST 14 DAYS	1.32	2.92	8.93	12.05		1.87	7.71	4.95	5.05
BATTER SPLITS	Note: Batter Splits Below Open in Pop Up Window
	SEA vs L		SEA BvP			KCR vs R		KCR BvP

Pitcher Grind Down

• Erasmo Ramirez – I was all set to dismiss Erasmo tonight until I looked at the numbers. He has 12 K’s in his last 12 1/3 IP and hasn’t allowed more than 2 ER in any of his last 3 starts. He has some nice upside and with the hit-or-miss Bruce Chen starting for the other side, he may even get a W. Starter Rating: 6 out of 10

• Bruce Chen – Chen boggles my mind. He throws 6 straight quality starts then gets roughed up so bad in back-to-back outings that I was all set to stack Minnesota against him. And he responds with a near quality start (1/3 of an inning short). His upside is limited though and even when he’s good he isn’t striking out a ton of hitters. Starter Rating: 5 out of 10

Batter Grind Down

• Erasmo has struggled mightily against lefties, allowing 5 HR in 109 AB’s against with an .819 OPS. Gordon, Hosmer, Moose Tacos, and Lough could be great options at a relatively cheap price point tonight.
• The Mariners really don’t hit lefties well, except Kendrys Morales who is hitting .280 against on the season.
• Michael Zunino came off the DL on Monday and provides some pop from the right side for SEA.

Pittsburgh vs. Milwaukee

8:10 PM	Pittsburgh – ROAD					Milwaukee – HOME
TEAM BATTING	AVG	OPS	K%	FPAB		AVG	OPS	K%	FPAB
SEASON	0.245	0.705	22.40%	0.55		0.254	0.714	19.70%	0.57
VS. LEFT/RIGHT	0.241	0.696	22.10%	0.41		0.251	0.713	18.90%	0.43
SP STATS	Cole – RHP					Gallardo – RHP
	WHIP	ERA	K/9	FPPG		WHIP	ERA	K/9	FPPG
SEASON	1.21	3.80	6.45	9.58		1.43	4.39	6.97	8.82
LAST 14 DAYS	1.60	3.38	6.18	8.55		1.15	1.38	6.92	12.50
BATTER SPLITS	Note: Batter Splits Below Open in Pop Up Window
	PIT vs R		PIT BvP			MIL vs R		MIL BvP

Pitcher Grind Down

• Gerrit Cole – This is another matchup we’ve seen recently. Cole allowed 10 hits in 7 1/3 IP in his last start versus these Brewers. It was the 2nd straight game where he allowed 10 hits. I’m on the fence with this play. Starter Rating: 5 out of 10

• Yovani Gallardo – Gallardo has had decent success against the Pirates, allowing them to hit just .239 with a 24% K-rate in 184 AB’s against. He also just shut the Pirates out through 7 IP. I’m going to ignore the fact that he’s listed as an underdog at home tonight and have him on a few GPP rosters. Starter Rating: 7 out of 10

Batter Grind Down

• Pedro Alvarez can’t hit Gallardo. Period. He’s 1-20 with 9 K’s.
• Scooter Gennett and Carlos Gomez both got to Cole the other day and Aramis took him deep for a 2-run shot.
• Aramis came into Monday with 4 HR over the past 14 days and is showing signs of the dominant hitter he can be when hot.
• Newly acquired Pirate John Buck is 5-13 with a HR off Gallardo and could be a great value punt at catcher tonight.

Minnesota vs. Houston

8:10 PM	Minnesota – ROAD					Houston – HOME
TEAM BATTING	AVG	OPS	K%	FPAB		AVG	OPS	K%	FPAB
SEASON	0.241	0.698	22.20%	0.54		0.239	0.683	25.60%	0.54
VS. LEFT/RIGHT	0.238	0.695	22.00%	0.43		0.246	0.697	26.30%	0.42
SP STATS	Hernandez – LHP					Cosart – RHP
	WHIP	ERA	K/9	FPPG		WHIP	ERA	K/9	FPPG
SEASON	1.70	5.54	4.61	5.01		1.28	1.59	4.41	8.88
LAST 14 DAYS						1.58	3.00	5.25	7.50
BATTER SPLITS	Note: Batter Splits Below Open in Pop Up Window
	MIN vs R		MIN BvP			HOU vs L		HOU BvP

Pitcher Grind Down

• Pedro Hernandez – So what he’s facing Houston? He was sent down with a 5.61 ERA and couldn’t get a right handed batter out to save his life. Houston has plenty of righties who can expose him in his return to the MLB game. Starter Rating: 2 out of 10

• Jarred Cosart – For the right price I’m all about this play tonight. Minnesota seems to ‘play to their competition’ and hit studs pretty well while struggling against guys they haven’t seen as often. He went 7 IP allowing just 1 ER and striking out 4 in a prior game against the Twins and is consistently hitting the 100 pitch mark (averaging 105 pitches per game). Starter Rating: 7 out of 10

Batter Grind Down

• Cosart has held lefties to a .109 batting average against while righties are hitting .271 against him.
• Trevor Plouffe went yard on Monday and appears to be heating up for the Twins, with hits in each of his past 7.
• Before being sent down, Hernandez allowed righties to hit an obscene .346 with a 1.037 OPS against. All of the Astros right handed bats, especially Castro, Altuve, Grossman and Barnes, are in play.
• The Astros may be one of the best mini-stacks of the day against Hernandez.

Grind Down: Page 2 – Page 3