MLB Grind Down: Friday, May 2nd - Page 3
Baltimore at Minnesota
| Baltimore | Minnesota | ||||||||
| Ubaldo Jimenez | Vegas Moneyline | Ricky Nolasco | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| RIGHT | BAL (-105) | RIGHT | 8.5 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.228 | 0.668 | 0.301 | 27.3% | SP vs. Left | 0.274 | 0.764 | 0.342 | 17.1% |
| SP vs. Right | 0.271 | 0.747 | 0.334 | 19.6% | SP vs. Right | 0.261 | 0.663 | 0.298 | 19.8% |
| Batter Splits | BAL BvP  | BAL vs R | Batter Splits | MIN BvP | MIN vs R | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
Ubaldo Jimenez – Ubaldo has a 6.59 ERA this season and has yet to record a quality start. The general thought is that the Twins offense is a good team to target pitchers against, but that’s not exactly the case. The Twins have scored the 5th most runs in the majors this season and are 10th in strikeouts. Until Ubaldo turns it around, continue to avoid him for fantasy purposes. Rating = 4
Ricky Nolasco – The Twins starting rotation had the highest ERA in baseball last year and they appear to be rubbing off on Nolasco. After posting a 3.70 ERA in 33 starts last season, Nolasco has gotten off to a rough start this year. He has a 6.67 ERA and has given up 5 or more runs in 4 of his 5 starts. I will not be targeting Nolasco tonight, even against a Davis-less Orioles’ lineup. Rating = 3
Batter Grind Down
Baltimore
Nick Markakis – Markakis isn’t the most flashy daily fantasy baseball player, but he gets the job done. Markakis hit his first HR of the season yesterday and draws an excellent matchup against Nolasco who is giving up a 1.15 OPS to LH batters this season.
Additional Plays: Adam Jones, Nelson Cruz, Matt Wieters
Minnesota
Brian Dozier – Dozier is starting to become a household name in fantasy baseball because he has great power and nice speed. Dozier has already hit 7 HR’s this season and has 8 stolen bases. Ubaldo struggles against RH batters and Dozier makes a very sneaky play at 2B.
Additional Plays: Joe Mauer, Jason Kubel
Detroit at Kansas City
| Detroit | Kansas City | ||||||||
| Rick Porcello | Vegas Moneyline | James Shields | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| RIGHT | KCR (-144) | RIGHT | 7.5 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.299 | 0.799 | 0.357 | 14.9% | SP vs. Left | 0.232 | 0.612 | 0.277 | 21.9% |
| SP vs. Right | 0.238 | 0.598 | 0.266 | 23.5% | SP vs. Right | 0.255 | 0.696 | 0.315 | 20.9% |
| Batter Splits | DET BvP | DET vs R | Batter Splits | KCR BvP | KCR vs R | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
Rick Porcello – Porcello has gotten better in each of the last 3 years and is no longer in jeopardy of losing his spot in the rotation. He always has an ERA right around 4.00 with a K/9 of 7.2. I think he will pitch well here, but the Royals strike out as little as any team in baseball and Porcello is a sizable underdog with Shields taking the mound for the Royals. Rating = 5
James Shields – Shields is off to a great start this season. He has a 2.05 ERA with a 0.95 WHIP and 41 K’s over 40 innings of work. He has had 3 excellent starts in a row and will look to make it 4 with a win tonight against the Tigers. Shields struggled against this Tigers’ lineup last season with with an ERA just under 5.00 in 5 starts. I think Felix Hernandez is worth paying up for tonight instead of taking Shields. Rating = 7
Batter Grind Down
Detroit
Miguel Cabrera – This is one of the few instances that I will reference BvP as a selling point, but the sample size is large enough to have merit. Cabrera is 18/43 against Shields with 2 HR’s and 7 doubles off of Shields. This equates to an OPS of 1.19.
Additional Plays: Victor Martinez
Kansas City
Eric Hosmer – Porcello’s biggest weakness is LH batters. Last season Porcello gave up a .357 wOBA to LH batters. While Hosmer hasn’t hit as many HR’s in the big leagues as most projected him to, he still has nice power against RH pitching and does have 2 HR’s off of Porcello in his career.
Additional Plays:
NY Mets at Colorado
| NY Mets | Colorado | ||||||||
| Zack Wheeler | Vegas Moneyline | Jorge De La Rosa | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| RIGHT | COL (-136) | LEFT | 9.5 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.272 | 0.796 | 0.356 | 19.6% | SP vs. Left | 0.205 | 0.528 | 0.243 | 23.8% |
| SP vs. Right | 0.234 | 0.619 | 0.284 | 21.4% | SP vs. Right | 0.280 | 0.753 | 0.344 | 14.7% |
| Batter Splits | NYM BvP | NYM vs L | Batter Splits | COL BvP | COL vs R | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
Zack Wheeler – Wheeler has now made 3 consecutive quality starts. Something tells me that run will come to an end tonight though. We all know how many runs Coors Field yields and with Wheeler being an underdog in a game that features a total of 9.5 runs, he is an easy pitcher to avoid. Rating = 2
Jorge De La Rosa – De La Rosa has defied the odds by pitching much better at home than he has on the road. Either way, I’m not going to break my cardinal rule of never targeting pitchers in Coors Field for De La Rosa. Rating = 2
Batter Grind Down
N.Y. Mets
David Wright – No one knows exactly why, but visiting teams seem to struggle to score runs in the first game of the series in Colorado. Maybe it’s the altitude or just getting used to the park, but the Mets were scoreless after 7 innings last night. I expect a much more productive outing tonight and that all starts with Wright who is very good against LH pitching.
Additional Plays: Chris Young, Eric Young, Daniel Murphy
Colorado
Troy Tulowitzki – There are a lot of Rockies’ bats in play tonight. Wheeler does give up a much higher wOBA to LH batters than he does to RH batters, but I love Tulo tonight. He batting an insane .556 at home with an OPS of 1.68. Those are video game type of numbers.
Additional Plays: Wilin Rosario, Charlie Blackmon, Justin Morneau, Carlos Gonzalez (if in lineup after hurting index finger last night)
Texas at LA Angels
| Texas | LA Angels | ||||||||
| Colby Lewis | Vegas Moneyline | Hector Santiago | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| RIGHT | LAA (-134) | LEFT | 9.0 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.341 | 0.920 | 0.409 | 16.7% | SP vs. Left | 0.237 | 0.641 | 0.311 | 22.0% |
| SP vs. Right | 0.211 | 0.596 | 0.281 | 27.3% | SP vs. Right | 0.247 | 0.741 | 0.339 | 20.1% |
| Batter Splits | TEX BvP | TEX vs L | Batter Splits | LAA BvP | LAA vs R | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
Colby Lewis – Lewis has pitched well at times this season, but still owns a 4.60 ERA with a 1.51 WHIP. The Angels are a very potent offense and not one that I want to take a struggling starting pitcher against. Rating = 4
Hector Santiago – Santiago has a 4.44 ERA on the season with a 1.46 WHIP and 23 K’s over 26 innings of work. He is a decent sized favorite in this game, but the total is set at 9.0 runs which suggests that both offenses should have some success tonight. There are much better options out there tonight. Rating = 5
Batter Grind Down
Texas
Alex Rios – Rios has always hit LH pitching well and even though this season is a small sample size, Rios is batting .403 against LH pitching with an OPS of 1.09. Rios always seems to be the forgotten man in the Rangers’ lineup, but I will be targeting him heavily tonight.
Additional Plays: Adrian Beltre
L.A. Angels
Mike Trout – As I always say, if you can afford Trout and he is facing an average pitcher, get him in your lineups. Trout is a fantasy baseball superstar that rarely has bad games offensively. He can hit HR’s and steal bases which is a lethal combination in daily fantasy baseball.
Additional Plays: Albert Pujols, Erick Aybar, Howie Kendrick
Arizona at San Diego
| Arizona | San Diego | ||||||||
| Bronson Arroyo | Vegas Moneyline | Andrew Cashner | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| RIGHT | SDP (-150) | RIGHT | 7.0 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.291 | 0.829 | 0.360 | 11.7% | SP vs. Left | 0.242 | 0.676 | 0.302 | 20.0% |
| SP vs. Right | 0.243 | 0.655 | 0.296 | 17.2% | SP vs. Right | 0.225 | 0.577 | 0.264 | 17.6% |
| Batter Splits | ARI BvP | ARI vs R | Batter Splits | SDP BvP | SDP vs R | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
Bronson Arroyo – Petco Park is pretty much the only place that you would ever want to target Arroyo. Arroyo has an ERA well over 7.00 this season, but this is Petco Park we are talking about. This ballpark surrendered the fewest runs in baseball last season and with a total set at only 7.0 runs, Arroyo could make a great contrarian play. Rating = 5
Andrew Cashner – I’ve been touting Cashner all season long and even though he has given up 4 earned runs in back to back starts, I’m not concerned. He still owns a 2.68 ERA with a 1.14 WHIP and a K/9 of 8.1. He has been close to untouchable at Petco over the last two seasons and is actually my second favorite pitcher tonight after Felix Hernandez. Rating = 9
Batter Grind Down
Arizona
Cashner has been dominant at home over the last two seasons and I expect a big outing from him tonight. Therefore, I will not be targeting any D-Backs hitters tonight.
San Diego
There aren’t any batters that stand out here, but with Arroyo giving up runs like they are hot this season, the Padres’ bats are certainly in play if you are looking for some cheap punt options.
Additional Plays: Everth Cabrera, Seth Smith, Chris Denorfia, Yonder Alonso