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MLB Grind Down: Saturday, June 18th

by Andrew Cook (louiescards) Last Updated 2016-06-19 12:11:48

The RotoGrinders MLB Grind Down will give you an in-depth analysis into the upcoming 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: As always, if you want to try a new DFS site, be sure to click through a RotoGrinders link and use our DraftKings promo code and FanDuel promo code to receive the best perks in the industry.

Toronto at Baltimore – 4:05 PM ET

Toronto Baltimore
torontomlb R.A. Dickey baltimoremlb Yovani Gallardo
RIGHT RIGHT
Vegas Moneyline Vegas Over/Under
TOR -115 9.5
Stats wOBA HR All. K% BB% Stats wOBA HR All. K% BB%
SP vs. Left 0.309 19 13.3% 8.9% SP vs. Left 0.339 10 14.5% 9.2%
SP vs. Right 0.314 18 16.0% 6.2% SP vs. Right 0.307 6 15.2% 8.0%

Pitcher Grind Down

R.A. Dickey
r.a.-dickey-300x200 FanDuel DraftKings
Salary: $6,900 Salary: $5,900
FPPG: 23.7 FPPG: 11.6
Pitcher Rating: 35.9 Pitcher Rank: 24
Statistics Starts PitchPS SIERA ERA K% BB% SS% GB% FB% HH%
L30 Days 6 100.7 5.08 3.96 14.9% 9.7% 8.0% 46.5% 32.5% 29.8%
2016 14 98.6 4.82 4.16 16.0% 8.7% 8.8% 46.0% 32.8% 29.0%
2015 33 98.9 4.76 3.91 14.3% 6.9% 9.1% 41.9% 37.2% 23.9%

R.A. Dickey: Outside of his extremely cheap price point there is not a lot to like about Dickey today. He is facing an Orioles squad that can flat out rake against anyone and especially right handers. The strikeout rate is too low and the walks are too many for me to get behind rostering him in this situation.

Yovani Gallardo
yovani-gallardo-300x200 FanDuel DraftKings
Salary: $7,100 Salary: $5,400
FPPG: 12.8 FPPG: 4.1
Pitcher Rating: 33.3 Pitcher Rank: 25
Statistics Starts PitchPS SIERA ERA K% BB% SS% GB% FB% HH%
2016 4 83.8 5.65 7.00 10.8% 8.4% 5.1% 37.9% 39.4% 26.9%
2015 33 97.8 4.59 3.42 15.3% 8.6% 6.5% 49.3% 28.7% 25.5%

Yovani Gallardo: Gallardo will make the start for Ubaldo Jimenez who has been struggling and I am honestly not sure if that is better or worse for Baltimore. This will be his first start off of the DL and the numbers were very ugly to start the season with a miserable strikeout rate and a SIERA over five and a half. With the way Toronto is hitting the ball there is absolutely no way I am rostering Gallardo today.

Batter Grind Down

Toronto

Virtually the entire lineup is priced up and with good reason as they are shooting up the offensive rankings over the past week or so. This is the Toronto offense we were expecting out of the gates and while it took them some time to get going the runs will be coming in bunches and especially against bad pitching like they will see today. Toronto and Boston figure to be the high priced teams you want today.

Projected Lineup

# Player Bats wOBA vs. RHP ISO vs. RHP wOBA L14 FD Position FD Salary DK Position DK Salary
1 Ezequiel Carrera LEFT 0.308 0.095 0.318 OF $3,100 OF $3,800
2 Josh Donaldson RIGHT 0.392 0.267 0.509 3B $4,500 3B $5,600
3 Edwin Encarnacion RIGHT 0.381 0.276 0.513 1B $4,400 1B $5,500
4 Michael Saunders LEFT 0.356 0.181 0.462 OF $3,700 OF $5,100
5 Justin Smoak SWITCH 0.336 0.218 0.307 1B $3,100 1B $4,000
6 Russell Martin RIGHT 0.308 0.178 0.434 C $3,300 C $4,000
7 Kevin Pillar RIGHT 0.313 0.143 0.420 OF $3,400 OF $5,300
8 Devon Travis RIGHT 0.342 0.169 0.258 2B $3,000 2B $4,300
9 Ryan Goins LEFT 0.294 0.123 0.321 2B $2,200 2B/SS $3,200
Team Averages — 0.337 0.183 0.394 — — — —

Elite Plays – Josh Donaldson , Edwin Encarnacion , Michael Saunders

Secondary Plays – Ezequiel Carrera , Russell Martin , Justin Smoak

Stackability – Cash/GPP

Baltimore

If you like offense then this game is one you should probably check out today as the Orioles also pack a big punch ranking in the top five for most offensive categories we hold dear to us in fantasy. Adam Jones is as hot as we have seen him in some time routinely squaring the ball up and that is just the start of a pitchers trouble as he then has to face the heart of the order who can all leave the yard.

Projected Lineup

# Player Bats wOBA vs. RHP ISO vs. RHP wOBA L14 FD Position FD Salary DK Position DK Salary
1 Adam Jones RIGHT 0.341 0.219 0.373 OF $3,500 OF $5,000
2 Hyun-Soo Kim LEFT 0.373 0.099 0.289 OF $2,600 OF $3,700
3 Manny Machado RIGHT 0.387 0.249 0.364 SS $4,200 3B/SS $5,400
4 Chris Davis LEFT 0.397 0.325 0.450 1B $3,800 1B $5,200
5 Mark Trumbo RIGHT 0.342 0.197 0.332 OF $3,400 OF $4,600
6 Matt Wieters SWITCH 0.330 0.162 0.278 C $2,700 C $3,700
7 Jonathan Schoop RIGHT 0.358 0.232 0.346 2B $2,900 2B $4,200
8 Joey Rickard RIGHT 0.270 0.071 0.369 OF $2,900 OF $3,700
9 Ryan Flaherty LEFT 0.272 0.133 0.287 3B $2,200 3B $2,700
Team Averages — 0.341 0.187 0.343 — — — —

Elite Plays – Adam Jones , Chris Davis , Manny Machado

Secondary Plays – Mark Trumbo , Hyun-Soo Kim , Joey Rickard

Stackability – Cash/GPP

Seattle at Boston – 4:05 PM ET

Seattle Boston
seattlemlb Adrian Sampson bostonmlb Rick Porcello
RIGHT RIGHT
Vegas Moneyline Vegas Over/Under
BOS -153 10.0
Stats wOBA HR All. K% BB% Stats wOBA HR All. K% BB%
SP vs. Left SP vs. Left 0.318 20 20.8% 5.6%
SP vs. Right SP vs. Right 0.337 17 20.4% 4.5%

Pitcher Grind Down

Adrian Sampson
adrian-sampson-300x200 FanDuel DraftKings
Salary: Salary:
FPPG: FPPG:
Pitcher Rating: 22.1 Pitcher Rank: 29
Statistics Starts PitchPS SIERA ERA K% BB% SS% GB% FB% HH%

Adrian Sampson: With a sub 20% strikeout rate in the minors it is safe to say that Sampson is not the type of pitcher we want to roster making his first start against the Boston Red Sox. He does not walk a ton of batter which is about the only positive I can find from his minor league file and that does not help us a ton in terms of fantasy production.

Rick Porcello
rick-porcello-300x200 FanDuel DraftKings
Salary: $8,300 Salary: $8,200
FPPG: 34.3 FPPG: 17.9
Pitcher Rating: 54.1 Pitcher Rank: 16
Statistics Starts PitchPS SIERA ERA K% BB% SS% GB% FB% HH%
L30 Days 5 101.4 4.04 4.31 18.3% 3.8% 7.7% 45.9% 37.8% 28.6%
2016 13 103.5 3.78 3.81 21.4% 5.0% 7.5% 46.3% 35.8% 28.7%
2015 28 98.0 3.73 4.92 20.2% 5.2% 8.5% 45.7% 32.5% 32.8%

Rick Porcello: Porcello will be facing a very tough Mariners offense today in Fenway and I have a hard time believing that he comes out of this one ok in the end. The strikeouts are too few and far between for us to risk him here and we have seen him allow three runs or more in three of his last five starts. I am expecting a ton of offense in Boston and staying away from the pitching is advised.

Batter Grind Down

Seattle

This is a Seattle team that has been sneaky good on offense all season long and are picking up steam in the ownership department. Today is the type of matchup where I like the idea of going with just about anyone one through six in the lineup and with the higher pricing now we could see those numbers drop a bit as people might not be fully committing to them.

Projected Lineup

# Player Bats wOBA vs. RHP ISO vs. RHP wOBA L14 FD Position FD Salary DK Position DK Salary
1 Norichika Aoki LEFT 0.319 0.108 0.233 OF $2,900 OF $3,100
2 Seth Smith LEFT 0.344 0.188 0.199 OF $3,100 OF $3,800
3 Robinson Cano LEFT 0.376 0.219 0.344 2B $3,900 2B $5,200
4 Nelson Cruz RIGHT 0.372 0.229 0.392 OF $4,100 OF $4,800
5 Kyle Seager LEFT 0.349 0.197 0.302 3B $3,900 3B $4,500
6 Adam Lind LEFT 0.350 0.200 0.225 1B $2,800 1B $3,900
7 Chris Iannetta RIGHT 0.266 0.148 0.556 C $2,800 C $3,300
8 Leonys Martin LEFT 0.300 0.154 0.292 OF $3,200 OF $4,200
9 Ketel Marte SWITCH 0.314 0.086 0.236 SS $2,400 SS $3,600
Team Averages — 0.332 0.170 0.309 — — — —

Elite Plays – Robinson Cano , Nelson Cruz

Secondary Plays – Seth Smith , Kyle Seager , Adam Lind

Stackability – GPP

Boston

I would expect the Red Sox to be very popular today and while their pricing is pretty high it would be hard to ignore their projected totals. This is a Boston team that can hit up and down the lineup and will make a great option as a cash game stack if you have the pitching that affords it. David Ortiz continues to defy the aging process and is mashing making him a high priority target.

Projected Lineup

# Player Bats wOBA vs. RHP ISO vs. RHP wOBA L14 FD Position FD Salary DK Position DK Salary
1 Mookie Betts RIGHT 0.359 0.204 0.318 OF $4,400 OF $5,300
2 Dustin Pedroia RIGHT 0.357 0.154 0.328 2B $3,600 2B $5,100
3 Xander Bogaerts RIGHT 0.342 0.118 0.415 SS $3,700 SS $5,400
4 David Ortiz LEFT 0.438 0.347 0.467 1B $4,200 1B $5,300
5 Hanley Ramirez RIGHT 0.306 0.137 0.261 1B $3,200 1B $4,300
6 Jackie Bradley LEFT 0.376 0.279 0.303 OF $3,300 OF $5,000
7 Chris Young RIGHT 0.440 0.000 0.386 P $5,500 OF $4,500
8 Travis Shaw LEFT 0.344 0.187 0.214 3B $2,800 1B/3B $4,200
9 Christian Vazquez RIGHT 0.225 0.081 0.101 C $2,000 C $2,700
Team Averages — 0.354 0.167 0.310 — — — —

Elite Plays – David Ortiz , Xander Bogaerts

Secondary Plays – Mookie Betts , Dustin Pedroia , Jackie Bradley , Travis Shaw

Stackability – Cash/GPP

LA Angels at Oakland – 4:05 PM ET

LA Angels Oakland
laangelsmlb Tim Lincecum oaklandmlb **
RIGHT
Vegas Moneyline Vegas Over/Under
TBD TBD
Stats wOBA HR All. K% BB% Stats wOBA HR All. K% BB%
SP vs. Left 0.267 2 17.9% 11.1% SP vs. Left 0.492 0 66.7% 0.0%
SP vs. Right 0.376 5 18.1% 11.7% SP vs. Right 0.000 0 100.0% 0.0%

Pitcher Grind Down

Tim Lincecum
tim-lincecum-300x200 FanDuel DraftKings
Salary: $7,600 Salary: $6,100
FPPG: 24.3 FPPG: 0.0
Pitcher Rating: 41.9 Pitcher Rank: 20
Statistics Starts PitchPS SIERA ERA K% BB% SS% GB% FB% HH%
2015 15 88.2 4.82 4.13 18.0% 11.4% 10.7% 44.3% 35.1% 34.6%

Tim Lincecum: Today we see a debut of sorts in Oakland. For the Angels it will be Tim Lincecum making his first start for Los Angeles after a pretty successful finish in the minors getting ready after signing about a month ago. The most interesting thing about him is his price point on DraftKings which has to put him in consideration for a secondary spot on some of your tournament teams today. With not much to go on yet I would not go too crazy but this A’s team has been bad against righties all year.

Oakland Pitcher: Andrew Triggs

Andrew Triggs: Triggs will start for Oakland today but be warned he is not expected to pitch deep into the game and is facing a team that does not strikeout often. This is more of an interesting situation in real life to see how he handles the start but in terms of fantasy we can safely avoid in my opinion.

Batter Grind Down

LA Angels

Los Angeles is actually swinging a better bat more recently with the front of the lineup looking a lot better outside of Albert Pujols. As always we can lean on Mike Trout as a high dollar option but while they are trending in the right direction it is still tough to roster a ton of these Angels bats.

Projected Lineup

# Player Bats wOBA vs. LHP ISO vs. LHP wOBA L14 FD Position FD Salary DK Position DK Salary
1 Yunel Escobar RIGHT 0.341 0.094 0.336 3B $2,900 3B $3,800
2 Kole Calhoun LEFT 0.334 0.169 0.380 OF $3,400 OF $4,500
3 Mike Trout RIGHT 0.413 0.282 0.359 OF $4,400 OF $5,200
4 Albert Pujols RIGHT 0.325 0.204 0.277 1B $3,300 1B $3,700
5 Jefry Marte RIGHT 0.348 0.247 0.408 3B $2,600 3B/OF $3,300
6 Daniel Nava SWITCH 0.264 0.066 OF $2,000 OF $3,200
7 Johnny Giavotella LEFT 0.310 0.122 0.306 2B $3,100 2B $3,700
8 Jett Bandy RIGHT 0.185 0.056 0.273 C $2,000 C $2,600
9 Andrelton Simmons RIGHT 0.293 0.078 0.612 SS $3,000
Team Averages — 0.313 0.146 0.369 — — — —

Elite Plays – Mike Trout

Secondary Plays – Kole Calhoun , Jefry Marte , Yunel Escobar

Stackability – None

Oakland

This Oakland squad has been horrible against right handed pitching all season long and really the only interest I have is in those bigger bats in the middle of the lineup. They make for more of tournament fill in type options here as we do not know exactly what to expect from Lincecum today.

Projected Lineup

# Player Bats wOBA vs. RHP ISO vs. RHP wOBA L14 FD Position FD Salary DK Position DK Salary
1 Coco Crisp SWITCH 0.256 0.117 0.180 OF $3,200 OF $3,400
2 Jed Lowrie SWITCH 0.294 0.115 0.289 2B $2,900 2B $3,000
3 Stephen Vogt LEFT 0.345 0.194 0.330 C $2,900 C $3,500
4 Danny Valencia RIGHT 0.360 0.231 0.339 3B $3,400 3B $4,100
5 Khris Davis RIGHT 0.344 0.249 0.314 OF $3,500 OF $4,000
6 Yonder Alonso LEFT 0.321 0.101 0.385 1B $2,600 1B $2,800
7 Marcus Semien RIGHT 0.288 0.145 0.316 SS $2,900 SS $3,100
8 Max Muncy LEFT 0.288 0.175 0.263 1B/3B $2,000
9 Billy Burns SWITCH 0.290 0.086 0.207 OF $2,600 OF $3,200
Team Averages — 0.310 0.157 0.291 — — — —

Elite Plays – None

Secondary Plays – Stephen Vogt , Danny Valencia , Khris Davis

Stackability – None

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About the Author

louiescards
Andrew Cook (louiescards)

Andrew “LouiesCards” Cook is a DFS veteran who has been playing since 2009. You will see him grinding MLB, NBA, and NFL with a main focus on DraftKings. Over the years he has held several roles at RotoGrinders helping write articles and features, both in-front and behind-the-scenes. Andrew was able to throw the first pitch out at a St. Louis Cardinals game, courtesy of DraftKings. You can follow Andrew on twitter @louiescards