MLB Grind Down: Friday, May 23rd
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.
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
Cleveland at Baltimore
| Cleveland | Baltimore | ||||||||
| T.J. House | Vegas Moneyline | Bud Norris | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| LEFT | BAL (-117) | RIGHT | 9.0 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | SP vs. Left | 0.300 | 0.846 | 0.373 | 15.6% | ||||
| SP vs. Right | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.0% | SP vs. Right | 0.239 | 0.623 | 0.289 | 21.9% |
| Batter Splits | CLE BvP  | CLE vs R | Batter Splits | BAL BvP | BAL vs L | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
T.J. House – House has pitched 1 big league inning and will draw his first career start tonight against the Orioles. He is a LHP with pretty decent minor-league numbers this season (2.40 ERA with a K/9 of 7.4). I typically like to wait a start or two when these rookies are making their first career starts. The high run total in this game suggests that it will a high scoring game and House should only be used as a deep tournament play. Rating = 4
Bud Norris – Norris has pitched well this season with a 3.58 ERA and a K/9 of 5.9. He has really pitched well at home, but his biggest weakness is LH batters and the Indians lineup is full of lefties. The Indians are ranked 4th against RH pitching this season with a team .341 wOBA. Norris should only be used as a tournament play tonight. Rating = 5
Batter Grind Down
Cleveland
Michael Brantley – Brantley is batting .305 with an OPS of .893 against RH pitching this season. Combine that with the fact that Norris has given up an OPS of .846 to LHB’s and Brantley appears to be in a terrific spot.
Additional Plays: Lonnie Chisenhall, David Murphy, Asdrubal Cabrera
Baltimore
Adam Jones – Jones has really hit LH pitching well this season. He’s batting .452 against southpaws with an OPS of 1.33. I love the matchup against the rookie House.
Additional Plays: J.J. Hardy, Nelson Cruz
Washington at Pittsburgh
| Washington | Pittsburgh | ||||||||
| Jordan Zimmermann | Vegas Moneyline | Charlie Morton | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| RIGHT | WAS (-103) | RIGHT | 7.0 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.262 | 0.697 | 0.308 | 17.4% | SP vs. Left | 0.288 | 0.719 | 0.353 | 16.2% |
| SP vs. Right | 0.234 | 0.632 | 0.286 | 21.4% | SP vs. Right | 0.236 | 0.577 | 0.273 | 16.4% |
| Batter Splits | WSN BvP | WSN vs R | Batter Splits | PIT BvP | PIT vs R | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
Jordan Zimmermann – Zimmermann has given up 8 earned runs over his last 2 starts which is very uncharacteristic for him. He still owns a 3.70 ERA on the season with a K/9 of 8.1. Tonight he faces a pretty average Pirates’ offense in the pitcher friendly PNC Park. Zimmermann is a nice play on multi-pitcher sites. Rating = 6
Charlie Morton – Morton has pitched well at home over the past 2 seasons. In his last 14 starts at PNC Park, he has posted an ERA under 2.80 with a K/9 of 6.3. He has always been good against RHB’s which bodes well for his matchup tonight against the Nationals who have not been great against RH pitching this season. Rating = 6
Batter Grind Down
Washington
This game has one of the lowest run totals on the board tonight. If you are targeting any Nationals’ hitters, target the LHB’s as Morton has struggled against lefties throughout his career (.353 wOBA over the last 2 seasons).
Pittsburgh
Andrew McCutchen – Again, there aren’t many plays that stand out in this game, but McCutchen hits RH pitching well, he plays well at PNC Park, and he does have 2 career HR’s off of Zimmermann. Cutch is also starting to steal some bases which adds to his fantasy value.
Additional Plays: None
LA Dodgers at Philadelphia
| LA Dodgers | Philadelphia | ||||||||
| Clayton Kershaw | Vegas Moneyline | Roberto Hernandez | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| LEFT | LAD (-180) | RIGHT | 7.5 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.167 | 0.461 | 0.212 | 40.1% | SP vs. Left | 0.292 | 0.851 | 0.385 | 16.1% |
| SP vs. Right | 0.214 | 0.557 | 0.252 | 22.7% | SP vs. Right | 0.261 | 0.678 | 0.311 | 19.7% |
| Batter Splits | LAD BvP | LAD vs R | Batter Splits | PHI BvP | PHI vs L | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
Clayton Kershaw – Kershaw is coming off of a terrible outing as he gave up 6 earned runs in less than 2 innings of work against the D-Backs. But sometimes that just happens in baseball and you have to have a short term memory in daily fantasy sports. Kershaw should bounce back nicely tonight against the Phillies. I like Felix Hernandez slightly more than Kershaw, but it’s hard to go wrong with either as your SP tonight. Rating = 9
Roberto Hernandez – Hernandez has pitched well at home this season with a 2.29 ERA and 17 K’s over 19 innings of work. That said, he faces a tough Dodgers’ offense that is ranked 2nd against RH pitching with a team .343 wOBA. He will also see little to no run support with Kershaw pitching. Rating = 4
Batter Grind Down
L.A. Dodgers
Adrian Gonzalez – A-Gon is batting .320 with an OPS of 1.06 against RH pitching this season and he has a dream matchup against Hernandez who has given up an OPS of .851 to LHB’s since the start of 2013.
Additional Plays: Yasiel Puig, Dee Gordon, Hanley Ramirez
Philadelphia
Even though Kershaw gave up 6 earned runs in his last outing, I will not be using any Nationals’ bats tonight. You could roll out a few in a GPP, but I’ll be avoiding them altogether.
Oakland at Toronto
| Oakland | Toronto | ||||||||
| Scott Kazmir | Vegas Moneyline | Liam Hendriks | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| LEFT | OAK (-109) | RIGHT | 9.0 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.241 | 0.590 | 0.264 | 22.9% | SP vs. Left | 0.327 | 0.921 | 0.405 | 10.3% |
| SP vs. Right | 0.254 | 0.720 | 0.323 | 23.3% | SP vs. Right | 0.326 | 0.858 | 0.381 | 21.4% |
| Batter Splits | OAK BvP | OAK vs R | Batter Splits | TOR BvP | TOR vs L | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
Scott Kazmir – Kazmir was ejected in his last start after arguing with the umpire over strikes and balls. His pitching is much like his personality in that he is a spit-fire. Kazmir has incredible K-potential, but has not been a consistent option in cash games this season. Tonight he faces a Blue Jays’ offense that is ranked 7th against LH pitching this season with a team .334 wOBA. His upside puts him in play for tournaments, but he’s a very risky cash game option. Rating = 5
Liam Hendriks – Hendriks will be making his first start of the season. In 2013, he made 8 starts and posted a 6.85 ERA while giving up a .380+ wOBA to both LH and RH batters. He is not a recommended option tonight against the A’s. Rating = 2
Batter Grind Down
Oakland
Brandon Moss – The A’s are in a terrific spot tonight and you will likely see plenty of A’s stacks across the industry. Hendriks gave up a wOBA of .405 to LHB’s last season and if you have ever read this column, you know that I love taking Moss against average RH pitchers.
Additional Plays: Coco Crisp, Josh Donaldson, Josh Reddick, Yoenis Cespedes, John Jaso
Toronto
Jose Bautista – Bautista is batting .442 against LH pitching this season with an OPS 1.41. He has just been mashing against southpaws this season and is one of the top OF’s on the board tonight.
Additional Plays: Edwin Encarnacion, Melky Cabrera
Texas at Detroit
| Texas | Detroit | ||||||||
| Scott Baker | Vegas Moneyline | Anibal Sanchez | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| RIGHT | DET (-170) | RIGHT | 8.0 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.172 | 0.571 | 0.252 | 12.9% | SP vs. Left | 0.242 | 0.656 | 0.295 | 26.5% |
| SP vs. Right | 0.186 | 0.671 | 0.302 | 8.3% | SP vs. Right | 0.201 | 0.545 | 0.246 | 27.4% |
| Batter Splits | TEX BvP | TEX vs R | Batter Splits | DET BvP | DET vs R | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
Scott Baker – Baker will be making his 2nd appearance this season and this will only be his 4th start in the last 2 seasons. Baker draws a tough matchup against the Tigers who are ranked 6th against RH pitching with a team .330 wOBA. He’s an easy pitcher to avoid tonight. Rating = 3
Anibal Sanchez – This will be Sanchez’s 2nd start since coming back from the DL. While he looked sharp in his last start, he only threw 80 pitches. You have to think the Tigers will let him go a little deeper into this game, but a possible pitch count certainly hurts his fantasy value. I think he is in play on multi-pitcher site, but I wouldn’t anchor your single pitcher lineup with him tonight. Rating = 6
Batter Grind Down
Texas
Shin-Soo Choo – Sanchez has been good against LHB’s, but even better against RHB’s. Choo is really the only option that stands out on the Rangers. He has a .281 average against RH pitching this season with an OPS of .908.
Additional Plays: Adrian Beltre
Detroit
Miguel Cabrera – Miggy is the obvious play here, but that doesn’t mean that he’s not a good one. Miggy is batting .353 with an OPS of .938 against RH pitching this season. He has also hit Baker well in his career and has 3 HR’s off of him.
Additional Plays: Victor Martinez