MLB Grind Down: Monday, May 26th
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
Boston at Atlanta
| Boston | Atlanta | ||||||||
| Clay Buchholz | Vegas Moneyline | Ervin Santana | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| RIGHT | ATL (-145) | RIGHT | 7.0 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.328 | 0.836 | 0.377 | 14.3% | SP vs. Left | 0.270 | 0.742 | 0.329 | 17.3% |
| SP vs. Right | 0.360 | 0.957 | 0.414 | 17.0% | SP vs. Right | 0.252 | 0.661 | 0.291 | 27.0% |
| Batter Splits | BOS BvP  | BOS vs R | Batter Splits | ATL BvP | ATL vs R | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
- Clay Buchholz – Buchholz’s struggles continue. He’s given up at least 3 earned runs in 3 straight outings and is now looking at a pitching line of a 6.32 ERA, a 1.85 WHIP, and an average of 5.2 innings pitched per start. The good news for Buchholz is that he is facing a Braves’ offense that is ranked 29th against RH pitching and this game will be played under NL rules which means he’ll get to face the opposing pitcher at least a couple of times in the lineup. He’s not a recommended cash game option, but I do think he’s a decent upside play for the price. Rating = 5
Salaries: $6400 FD, $8799 DS, $13600 DD, $6400 DK, $80200 FF, $13000 SS, $11900 FTD
- Ervin Santana – After a terrific start to the season, Santana has now given up 11 earned runs in his last 2 outings which has brought his ERA up to 3.42 and his WHIP up to 1.24. He has a pretty nice matchup today though. While the Red Sox offense is a big name, they are ranked 21st against RH pitching this season with a K-percentage of 20.8. Rating = 6
Salaries: $8700 FD, $13375 DS, $16800 DD, $10300 DK, $94900 FF, $24400 SS, $15200 FTD
Batter Grind Down
Boston
David Ortiz – Ortiz has always hit RH pitching well and Santana has given up a .329 wOBA to LH batters this season. Ortiz is batting .270 with an OPS of .869 against RH pitching and makes a nice play on all sites that have him listed at 1B.
Additional Plays: A.J. Pierzynski
Atlanta
Justin Upton – Upton has been on fire at home all season long. He’s batting .378 at Turner Field with an OPS of 1.21. While I really like the LHB’s against Buchholz, he has also struggled against RHB’s this season given up a .414 wOBA.
Additional Plays: Jason Heyward, Freddie Freeman
Pittsburgh at NY Mets
| Pittsburgh | NY Mets | ||||||||
| Brandon Cumpton | Vegas Moneyline | Jacob Degrom | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| RIGHT | PIT (-110) | RIGHT | 7.0 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.200 | 0.435 | 0.240 | 17.6% | SP vs. Left | 0.125 | 0.484 | 0.217 | 26.9% |
| SP vs. Right | 0.250 | 0.604 | 0.309 | 17.1% | SP vs. Right | 0.263 | 1.048 | 0.462 | 13.6% |
| Batter Splits | PIT BvP | PIT vs R | Batter Splits | NYM BvP | NYM vs R | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
- Brandon Cumpton – Cumpton has made 2 starts this season and has given up 6 earned runs and has struck out 9 batters over 12 innings of work. I typically don’t like to target pitchers with limited upside, but Cumpton has a nice matchup against the Met who are ranked 28th against RH pitching this season with a team .282 wOBA. He makes an interesting tournament play today. Rating = 5
Salaries: $4200 FD, $12723 DS, $9750 DD, $5700 DK, $NA FF, $NA SS, $11700 FTD
- Jacob Degrom – In his first 2 career starts, Degrom has struck out 10 batters over 13 innings of work while giving up 4 earned runs. Degrom is in the same boat as Cumpton in that he could be a decent tournament play, but can safely be avoided in cash games. His $3,000 price tag on FD would allow you to basically fill out the rest of your lineup with All-Star bats. Rating = 5
Salaries: $3000 FD, $9490 DS, $11000 DD, $8500 DK, $64000 FF, $20500 SS, $9600 FTD
Batter Grind Down
Pittsburgh
Andrew McCutchen – Even though it’s a very small sample size, Degrom has given up a .462 wOBA to RHB’s. McCutchen hits RH pitching well (.299 batting average and an OPS of .840 this season) and has a nice combination of both speed and power.
Additional Plays: Starling Marte
NY Mets
Curtis Granderson – The Grandy Man got off to an incredibly slow start this season, but has picked it up over the last month of play and has been red hot in his last 5 games with 9 hits, 4 of which went for extra bases.
Additional Plays: David Wright
Miami at Washington
| Miami | Washington | ||||||||
| Nathan Eovaldi | Vegas Moneyline | Tanner Roark | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| RIGHT | WAS (-125) | RIGHT | 7.0 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.326 | 0.873 | 0.382 | 16.4% | SP vs. Left | 0.231 | 0.718 | 0.321 | 17.5% |
| SP vs. Right | 0.196 | 0.517 | 0.236 | 25.7% | SP vs. Right | 0.232 | 0.562 | 0.264 | 19.4% |
| Batter Splits | MIA BvP | MIA vs R | Batter Splits | WSN BvP | WSN vs R | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
- Nathan Eovaldi – Eovaldi has struggled in his last 3 outings. He has given up a combined 9 earned runs while only striking out a combined 7 batters. The good news is that his velocity is still up there with the top pitchers in baseball. He also faces a Nationals’ offense that is ranked 22nd against RH pitching with a .298 team wOBA. He is in play on multi-pitcher sites as a contrarian play. Rating = 5
Salaries: $6600 FD, $10947 DS, $14650 DD, $8300 DK, $77000 FF, $21400 SS, $13300 FTD
- Tanner Roark – Roark has struggled on the road this season, but has been excellent at Nationals Park with a 1.01 ERA and 19 K’s over 26 innings of work. He faces a Marlins’ offense that has really struggled on the road this season. They are ranked 19th on the road with a team .298 wOBA and a K-percentage of 26.0. The upside is certainly there in this favorable matchup. Rating = 6
Salaries: $6300 FD, $13417 DS, $14700 DD, $9000 DK, $131700 FF, $22000 SS, $11900 FTD
Batter Grind Down
Miami
Garrett Jones – Jones is batting .308 with an OPS of .976 against RH pitching this season. He has been an extra base hit machine with 21 against righties already this season. He draws a decent matchup against Roark who has given up a .321 wOBA to LH batters this season.
Additional Plays: Christian Yelich
Washington
*There aren’t any options that really stand out here. However, if you are targeting any hitters against the RHP Eovaldi, target batters from the left side of the plate as he has given up a .382 wOBA to LH batters this season.
Baltimore at Milwaukee
| Baltimore | Milwaukee | ||||||||
| Chris Tillman | Vegas Moneyline | Kyle Lohse | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| RIGHT | MIL (-140) | RIGHT | 8.0 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.269 | 0.732 | 0.328 | 19.0% | SP vs. Left | 0.275 | 0.764 | 0.337 | 16.9% |
| SP vs. Right | 0.218 | 0.677 | 0.301 | 15.0% | SP vs. Right | 0.196 | 0.508 | 0.227 | 22.2% |
| Batter Splits | BAL BvP | BAL vs R | Batter Splits | MIL BvP | MIL vs R | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
- Chris Tillman – Tillman has really been struggling of late. He’s given up 3+ earned runs in 6 of his last 7 starts and has struck out less than 4 batters in each of his last 4 starts. His price has come down across the board, but I will not be targeting him today against a Brewers’ offense that has been hitting the ball well over the last week. Rating = 4
Salaries: $7000 FD, $10590 DS, $13250 DD, $7200 DK, $65900 FF, $17300 SS, $11900 FTD
- Kyle Lohse – Lohse has pitched well this season with a 2.67 ERA, a 1.06 WHIP, and a K/9 of 7.3. While the Orioles are ranked 12th against RH pitching this season, they will be without Chris Davis again today as he is on paternity leave until tomorrow night’s game. Lohse is a pretty decent favorite and is in play on multi-pitcher sites. Rating = 6
Salaries: $6600 FD, $16249 DS, $14850 DD, $10200 DK, $111700 FF, $25200 SS, $13400 FTD
Batter Grind Down
Baltimore
Nick Markakis – Markakis is a decent value play in the OF today. Lohse has given up a .337 wOBA to LH batters this season and Markakis is batting .301 against RH pitching.
Additional Plays: Manny Machado
Milwaukee
- Ryan Braun – Braun had a 4-hit game yesterday in which he was a HR shy of the cycle. He now travels back to Miller Park where he has been terrific throughout his career. Braun is batting .303 with an OPS of .924 against RH pitching this season and he’s catching Tillman at the right time.
Additional Plays: Scooter Gennett, Jean Segura
Texas at Minnesota
| Texas | Minnesota | ||||||||
| Nick Tepesch | Vegas Moneyline | Kevin Correia | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| RIGHT | TEX (-110) | RIGHT | 9.0 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.233 | 0.790 | 0.344 | 20.6% | SP vs. Left | 0.293 | 0.836 | 0.361 | 8.8% |
| SP vs. Right | 0.000 | 0.077 | 0.053 | 38.5% | SP vs. Right | 0.333 | 0.843 | 0.370 | 15.2% |
| Batter Splits | TEX BvP | TEX vs R | Batter Splits | MIN BvP | MIN vs R | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
- Nick Tepesch – Tepesch has a 3.09 ERA on the season with a 1.07 WHIP and 12 K’s over 11 innings of work. Tepesch has been extremely efficient against RH batters this season though holding them to a .053 wOBA, but is one of the many average pitching options to take the mound on Memorial Day. The run total of 9.0 runs scares me off of both pitchers in this one. Rating = 4
Salaries: $4500 FD, $13144 DS, $12200 DD, $9100 DK, $62400 FF, $24300 SS, $9500 FTD
- Kevin Correia – Correia is not a great fantasy option. He has a 6.52 ERA with a 1.58 WHIP and a low K/9 of 4.8. He also has a less than appealing matchup against the Rangers. Rating = 3
Salaries: $4500 FD, $5340 DS, $9350 DD, $5500 DK, $50900 FF, $14000 SS, $9500 FTD
Batter Grind Down
Texas
Adrian Beltre – Beltre has a terrific matchup against Correia who has given up a .370 wOBA to RH batters this season. Beltre also has a nice history against Correia with 2 HR’s off of him in only 16 career at-bats.
Additional Plays: Alex Rios, Shin-Soo Choo, Mitch Moreland
Minnesota
Joe Mauer – Mauer is not a flashy name at 1B because he doesn’t hit many HR’s, but he’s batting .304 against RH pitching this season and he has a nice matchup against Tepesch who has given up a .344 wOBA to LHB’s this season.
Additional Plays: Chris Parmelee, Jason Kubel