MLB Grind Down: Friday, July 4th Page Two
NOTE: TODAYS BOSTON VS BALTIMORE GAME HAS BEEN POSTPONED
San Francisco at San Diego
| San Francisco | San Diego | ||||||||
| Matt Cain | Vegas Moneyline | Eric Stults | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| RIGHT | SFG (-118) | LEFT | 6.5 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.208 | 0.631 | 0.288 | 21.1% | SP vs. Left | 0.234 | 0.631 | 0.281 | 14.3% |
| SP vs. Right | 0.248 | 0.730 | 0.324 | 19.4% | SP vs. Right | 0.305 | 0.807 | 0.354 | 14.4% |
| Batter Splits | SFG BvP  | SFG vs L | Batter Splits | SDP BvP | SDP vs R | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
- Matt Cain – Cain struck out 7 batters while only giving up 1 earned run in his last meeting against the Padres and I think we can expect a similar outing from him today. Not only is he facing the worst offensive team in baseball, but he is facing them in the most pitcher-friendly ballpark in all of baseball. Rating = 8
Salaries: $6800 FD, $NA DS, $NA DD, $6700 DK, $57000 FF, $15000 SS, $13300 FTD
- Eric Stults – Stults just hasn’t been able to put it together this season. Even in the pitcher-friendly Petco Park he is sporting a 5.27 ERA. He’s cheap, but until he can string together a few quality outings in a row, I will continue to avoid him. Rating = 4
Salaries: $5100 FD, $ DS, $8200 DD, $5600 DK, $40000 FF, $ SS, $ FTD
Batter Grind Down
San Francisco
Buster Posey – If you have been playing daily fantasy baseball for longer than a few days, then you know that Posey is one of the best hitters in baseball against LH pitching. Target him today against Stults.
Additional Plays: Hunter Pence
San Diego
Even though Cain has struggled at times this season, I really like the Cain side of this matchup. I’ll be avoiding all Padres’ bats today.
Kansas City at Cleveland
| Kansas City | Cleveland | ||||||||
| Yordano Ventura | Vegas Moneyline | Josh Tomlin | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| RIGHT | CLE (-116) | RIGHT | 8.0 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.244 | 0.681 | 0.303 | 20.2% | SP vs. Left | 0.266 | 0.763 | 0.333 | 18.8% |
| SP vs. Right | 0.243 | 0.666 | 0.297 | 20.0% | SP vs. Right | 0.252 | 0.680 | 0.298 | 19.1% |
| Batter Splits | KCR BvP | KCR vs R | Batter Splits | CLE BvP | CLE vs R | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
- Yordano Ventura – This is the first game of the evening slate of games. Most of the tournaments across the industry only include players from this game on. Ventura has rediscovered his velocity, but he’s still only struck out more than 4 batters once in his last 7 starts. He really needs his strikeout total to be higher for him to be a viable fantasy option. I don’t mind him as a GPP play, but think there are better options in cash games. Rating = 5
Salaries: $7500 FD, $NA DS, $13950 DD, $7000 DK, $90100 FF, $NA SS, $NA FTD
- Josh Tomlin – Tomlin is coming off of a 1 hit complete game shutout in which he struck out 11 batters against the Mariners. That start really came out of nowhere and it will be interesting to see what he does for an encore performance. As for the matchup, the Royals strikeout fewer times than any team in baseball. That hurts Tomlin’s value tonight. Rating = 5
Salaries: $6200 FD, $ DS, $13600 DD, $6200 DK, $82200 FF, $ SS, $ FTD
Batter Grind Down
Kansas City
Alex Gordon – Gordon has great power against RH pitching and draws a favorable matchup against Tomlin who has given up a .333 wOBA since the start of 2013.
Additional Plays: Eric Hosmer
Cleveland
Lonnie Chisenhall – Chisenhall owns a .421 wOBA against RH pitching which is a team high. He also is extremely cheap across the industry and should be considered one of the top dollar for dollar plays at 3B.
Additional Plays: Michael Brantley
Tampa Bay at Detroit
| Tampa Bay | Detroit | ||||||||
| Alex Cobb | Vegas Moneyline | Drew Smyly | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| RIGHT | DET (-120) | LEFT | 8.0 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.224 | 0.641 | 0.287 | 23.8% | SP vs. Left | 0.177 | 0.459 | 0.205 | 27.4% |
| SP vs. Right | 0.232 | 0.626 | 0.289 | 22.1% | SP vs. Right | 0.267 | 0.776 | 0.342 | 21.5% |
| Batter Splits | TBR BvP | TBR vs L | Batter Splits | DET BvP | DET vs R | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
- Alex Cobb – Cobb continues to struggle. Every time it looks like he is going to turn the corner, he follows it up with a bad outing in his next start. I’m not a huge fan of his current form or of his matchup against the Tigers. Rating = 5
Salaries: $7200 FD, $NA DS, $13050 DD, $8200 DK, $89300 FF, $NA SS, $NA FTD
- Drew Smyly – Smyly is a very sneaky play tonight against the Rays. This Rays’ offense has really struggled to score runs this season. Smyly has a 3.13 ERA at home and is one of the cheaper starting pitching options that is favored tonight. Rating = 5.5
Salaries: $6500 FD, $ DS, $11300 DD, $7300 DK, $66700 FF, $ SS, $ FTD
Batter Grind Down
Tampa Bay
Evan Longoria – Longo has always hit LH pitching well and this season is no different as he has a .396 wOBA against southpaws. His price is down too which always helps.
Additional Plays: Sean Rodriguez
Detroit
Miguel Cabrera – How about the game that Miggy had last night? He went 4/4 and scored 4 runs. This Tigers’ offense is on a roll right now and I expect it to continue tonight against Cobb.
Additional Plays: Victor Martinez
Seattle at Chicago White Sox
| Seattle | Chicago White Sox | ||||||||
| Roenis Elias | Vegas Moneyline | Chris Sale | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| LEFT | CWS (-180) | LEFT | 7.5 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.206 | 0.686 | 0.302 | 24.3% | SP vs. Left | 0.129 | 0.317 | 0.167 | 31.9% |
| SP vs. Right | 0.237 | 0.671 | 0.310 | 20.5% | SP vs. Right | 0.236 | 0.640 | 0.290 | 26.1% |
| Batter Splits | SEA BvP | SEA vs L | Batter Splits | CHW BvP | CHW vs L | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
- Roenis Elias – Elias has been a tough pitcher to predict all season long. He seems to struggle in the favorable matchups and pitch well in the tough matchups. I like to see more consistency from my starting pitchers and with Sale pitching opposite him, he’s an easy avoid tonight. Rating = 4
Salaries: $6400 FD, $NA DS, $13600 DD, $8300 DK, $86700 FF, $NA SS, $NA FTD
- Chris Sale – Sale is the top pitching option on the board tonight. He has a 2.30 ERA on the season with 84 K’s over 78 innings of work. He has a very favorable matchup against a LH heavy Mariners’ offense that is ranked 29th against lefties this season. If you can afford him, get him in your lineups. Rating = 10
Salaries: $9900 FD, $ DS, $ DD, $11000 DK, $130600 FF, $29600 SS, $20500 FTD
Batter Grind Down
Seattle
Avoid all Mariners’ tonight against Sale.
Chicago White Sox
Jose Abreu – We all know the type of upside that Abreu has, but he’s also showing us another side of his game as he is currently riding a league high 16 game hitting streak. He should be able to keep it going tonight.
Additional Plays: Alexei Ramirez, Dayan Viciedo
Milwaukee at Cincinnati
| Milwaukee | Cincinnati | ||||||||
| Kyle Lohse | Vegas Moneyline | Alfredo Simon | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| RIGHT | CIN (-118) | RIGHT | 8.0 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.249 | 0.688 | 0.307 | 16.3% | SP vs. Left | 0.231 | 0.708 | 0.320 | 14.7% |
| SP vs. Right | 0.248 | 0.642 | 0.286 | 16.1% | SP vs. Right | 0.215 | 0.543 | 0.264 | 17.9% |
| Batter Splits | MIL BvP | MIL vs R | Batter Splits | CIN BvP | CIN vs R | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
- Kyle Lohse – Lohse has pitched well this season, but is rarely ever targeted by daily fantasy baseball gamers. While he’s not flashy, all of his pitching stats suggest that he’s a good play, but no one ever seems to notice. All that said, I’m not a huge fan of him tonight against the Reds in the very small Great American Ballpark. Rating = 5
Salaries: $7100 FD, $NA DS, $NA DD, $8400 DK, $107000 FF, $NA SS, $NA FTD
- Alfredo Simon – Simon is sort of in the same boat as Lohse. No one really pays any attention to him despite his 2.81 ERA and 1.06 WHIP. I’d love to say target him in all of your leagues, but I just can’t do it because I’ll likely be looking elsewhere. That said, the numbers suggest that he could be in for another quality outing. Rating = 5
Salaries: $7200 FD, $ DS, $15300 DD, $8100 DK, $109000 FF, $ SS, $ FTD
Batter Grind Down
Milwaukee
Scooter Gennett – The Brewers don’t have many LHB’s to face Simon tonight, but they do have Gennett. In Scooter we trust! Scooter has a .388 wOBA against RH pitching and should benefit from playing in this ballpark.
Additional Plays: Ryan Braun
Cincinnati
Joey Votto – Votto’s price is down and this is the perfect time to buy low on him as he heads back hom for a series against a mediocre rotation from the Brewers.
Additional Plays: Devin Mesoraco