MLB Grind Down: Friday, May 16th - Page 2
Detroit at Boston
| Detroit | Boston | ||||||||
| Max Scherzer | Vegas Moneyline | Jon Lester | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| RIGHT | DET (-103) | LEFT | 8.0 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.217 | 0.636 | 0.282 | 26.2% | SP vs. Left | 0.241 | 0.669 | 0.293 | 26.7% |
| SP vs. Right | 0.175 | 0.510 | 0.232 | 33.4% | SP vs. Right | 0.250 | 0.685 | 0.309 | 20.1% |
| Batter Splits | DET BvP  | DET vs L | Batter Splits | BOS BvP | BOS vs R | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
Max Scherzer – Scherzer is one of the best pitchers in baseball. This season he has a 2.04 ERA with a very juicy K/9 of 11.2. The only issue that I have with him tonight is that he is facing the Red Sox in Fenway. I still think he has as much upside as any pitcher available tonight, but he may be a bit overpriced for cash games considering the matchup. Rating = 9
Jon Lester – Lester is also having a terrific season. Through 8 starts he has a 2.75 ERA with an impressive K/9 of 10.8. The issue with Lester is the same issue that I have with Scherzer; it’s the matchup. The Tigers are ranked 3rd against LH pitching this season with a team .344 wOBA. Rating = 6
Batter Grind Down
Detroit
Miguel Cabrera – Cabrera basically has success against all LH pitchers, but has had success against this southpaw in particular. Miggy is 10/19 with 3 HR’s off of Lester and has been swinging a hot bat. He’s the top 1B play on the board if you can find a way to get him in your lineups.
Additional Plays: Torii Hunter, Victor Martinez
Boston
Even though I won’t be targeting Scherzer in cash games tonight, I certainly won’t be taking any batters against him. Since the start of last season he has held LH and RH batters under a .285 wOBA.
Toronto at Texas
| Toronto | Texas | ||||||||
| Drew Hutchison | Vegas Moneyline | Yu Darvish | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| RIGHT | TEX (-165) | RIGHT | 8.5 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.255 | 0.741 | 0.324 | 22.3% | SP vs. Left | 0.215 | 0.641 | 0.291 | 29.1% |
| SP vs. Right | 0.254 | 0.729 | 0.328 | 31.4% | SP vs. Right | 0.168 | 0.528 | 0.245 | 37.0% |
| Batter Splits | TOR BvP | TOR vs R | Batter Splits | TEX BvP | TEX vs R | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
Drew Hutchison – Hutchison is a high strikeout pitcher that is often a viable fantasy option when the matchup is right. Even though this Rangers’ offense seems to put up a lot of dud outings, I’m not going to bank on that tonight. Hutchison has a 4.37 ERA on the season and has to pitch in the very hitter friendly Globe Life Park in Arlington. Oh, and I better not forget to mention that Darvish is pitching opposite him. Rating = 4
Yu Darvish – Darvish is pitching in a typical Darvish fashion. He is making batters look silly at the plate. On the season he has a 2.33 ERA with a 1.10 WHIP and a K/9 of 10.6 including 21 K’s over his last 2 starts. The Blue Jays are a very dynamic offense, but Yu’s K-rate should more than make up for the below average matchup. Rating = 9
Batter Grind Down
Toronto
Edwin Encarnacion – I like E5 as a GPP play tonight. Not only did he hit 2 HR’s in last night’s game, but he has also hit 2 HR’s off of Darvish in only 12 career at bats against him. He is a contrarian play at 1B that could pay off nicely.
Additional Plays: None
Texas
Prince Fielder – Since the start of last season, Hutchison has given up a .324 wOBA to LH batters. Fielder is off to a slow start this season, but he is starting to heat up with 7 hits in his last 4 games. This may be your last chance to take Fielder at hit current price point.
Additional Plays: Shin-Soo Choo, Alex Rios
Chicago White Sox at Houston
| Chicago White Sox | Houston | ||||||||
| Jose Quintana | Vegas Moneyline | Collin McHugh | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| LEFT | CWS (-102) | RIGHT | 8.0 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.255 | 0.724 | 0.319 | 20.8% | SP vs. Left | 0.286 | 0.766 | 0.340 | 20.2% |
| SP vs. Right | 0.246 | 0.676 | 0.302 | 19.4% | SP vs. Right | 0.333 | 0.886 | 0.382 | 13.0% |
| Batter Splits | CHW BvP | CHW vs R | Batter Splits | HOU BvP | HOU vs L | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
Jose Quintana – Quintana has a 3.67 ERA with a K/9 of 7.3. He often flies under the fantasy radar because 1. He is not a household name and 2. He pitches for the White Sox. Quintana has a favorable matchup tonight against the Astros who are ranked 19th against LH pitching with a strikeout percentage of 21.1%. Quintana is a better tournament than a cash game play though. Rating = 6
Collin McHugh – McHugh has made 4 starts this season and has looked great in 3 of them. He has 27 K’s over 25 innings of work, but has only struck out 8 batters in his last 2 starts compared to 19 batters in his first 2 starts. He faces a White Sox offense that does strike out a lot, but they also are ranked 6th in the league against RH pitching with a team .331 wOBA. McHugh is a GPP option only tonight. Rating = 5
Batter Grind Down
Chicago White Sox
Alexei Ramirez – Since the start of last season, McHugh has given up a .380 wOBA to RH batters. While I do like Jose Abreu as a tournament play, I think Ramirez makes a better cash game play. He is batting .344 against RH pitching with 12 XBH’s. Editor’s Note – Abreu (ankle) is not expected to be in tonight’s lineup, per DonBest. This could open up some potential value in the White Sox lineup once it’s released, so keep an eye on that.
Additional Plays: Gordon Beckham
Houston
Matt Dominguez – Dominguez is a great value play at 3B tonight. He has been batting clean-up the last few times that the Astros have faced LH pitchers and his price is very affordable. Dominguez is batting .326 against southpaws this season.
Additional Plays: Jose Altuve, George Springer
Seattle at Minnesota
| Seattle | Minnesota | ||||||||
| Chris Young | Vegas Moneyline | Kyle Gibson | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| RIGHT | SEA (-101) | RIGHT | 8.0 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.190 | 0.631 | 0.280 | 13.7% | SP vs. Left | 0.325 | 0.810 | 0.365 | 8.4% |
| SP vs. Right | 0.170 | 0.510 | 0.238 | 9.1% | SP vs. Right | 0.268 | 0.745 | 0.338 | 15.6% |
| Batter Splits | SEA BvP | SEA vs R | Batter Splits | MIN BvP | MIN vs R | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
Chris Young – Young has actually pitched very well this season. He hasn’t given up more than 4 hits in any of his last 4 starts. The only issue with Young is that he does not have a very high K-rate. He has only struck out 18 batters this season over 37 innings of work. The Twins are ranked 9th against RH pitching this season and I think I’ll be avoiding Young tonight. Rating = 4
Kyle Gibson – Gibson is in the same boat as Young in that he is not a high strikeout pitcher. He only has 17 K’s over 38 innings of work this season. Gibson also has a high ERA of 4.74 and a high WHIP of 1.52. He can safely be avoided in all leagues. Rating = 3
Batter Grind Down
Seattle
Robinson Cano – We saw one LH batter (Ortiz) have incredible success at Target Field in the Twins’ last series and may see another one in this series. Gibson has given up a .365 wOBA to LH batters over the last 2 seasons and Cano has always hit RH pitching well.
Additional Plays: Kyle Seager, Justin Smoak
Minnesota
Trevor Plouffe – Plouffe has great power in his bat and I love his price on almost every site across the industry. If you are looking to save some cap space, Plouffe makes a great value play against the RHP Young.
Additional Plays: Joe Mauer, Jason Kubel
Baltimore at Kansas City
| Baltimore | Kansas City | ||||||||
| Chris Tillman | Vegas Moneyline | Jeremy Guthrie | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| RIGHT | BAL (-107) | RIGHT | 8.0 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.252 | 0.743 | 0.330 | 19.3% | SP vs. Left | 0.323 | 0.900 | 0.393 | 11.5% |
| SP vs. Right | 0.227 | 0.694 | 0.306 | 22.7% | SP vs. Right | 0.226 | 0.607 | 0.278 | 13.0% |
| Batter Splits | BAL BvP | BAL vs R | Batter Splits | KCR BvP | KCR vs R | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
Chris Tillman – Tillman looked great in his first 3 starts of the season, but has now given up at least 3 earned runs in each of his last 5 starts. He does have a nice matchup against the Royals who are ranked 23rd against RH pitching, but the Royals do not strike out often and only have a 14% strikeout percentage against RH pitching. Tillman is a slightly above average option tonight. Rating = 6
Jeremy Guthrie – Guthrie is not a great daily fantasy baseball pitcher. He has an above average ERA (4.70) and a below average K-rate (4.5 per 9 innings). He really struggles against LH batters and that doesn’t bode well for him tonight against Chris Davis and the Orioles. Rating = 4
Batter Grind Down
Baltimore
Chris Davis – Davis is one of my top plays at 1B tonight. Since the start of last season, Guthrie has given up a .393 wOBA with an OPS of .900 to LH batters. We all know the type of power that Davis has in his bat and his price is down on most sites. Ignore the 1/16 BvP against Guthrie in his career.
Additional Plays: Nick Markakis, Adam Jones
Kansas City
Eric Hosmer – Hosmer is not a flashy player in that he doesn’t hit very many HR’s, but he’s batting .324 against RH pitching this season with 10 XBH’s.
Additional Plays: Alex Gordon