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MLB Grind Down: Sunday, April 20th - Page 2

by Ryan138 Last Updated 2014-04-20 17:21:04

St. Louis at Washington

St. Louis Washington
Shelby Miller Vegas Moneyline Stephen Strasburg Vegas Over/Under
RIGHT WAS (-145) RIGHT 7.0
Stats Avg OPS wOBA K% Stats Avg OPS wOBA K%
SP vs. Left 0.271 0.792 0.349 20.7% SP vs. Left 0.211 0.603 0.281 22.9%
SP vs. Right 0.205 0.587 0.269 25.0% SP vs. Right 0.219 0.581 0.273 30.5%
Batter Splits STL BvP pop up 2 STL vs R pop up 2 Batter Splits WSN BvP pop up 2 WSN vs R pop up 2
Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window

Pitcher Grind Down

Shelby Miller – Miller has improved in each of his 3 starts this season. After getting rocked by the Pirates in his opener, Miller has settled down and allowed 3 and 1 earned run this season. He is allowing lefties to hit .355 against him, which could run him into some trouble against this Nationals team today. Rating = 6

Stephen Strasburg – Strasburg crushed a lot of our hopes last time out giving up 6 earned runs in 4 innings to the Marlins. Strasburg will look to bounce back at home where he had a 1.73 ERA last season. He is in play at home against the Cardinals and is always a high upside pitcher with at 14.14 K/9 on the season Rating = 8

Batter Grind Down

St. Louis

It is difficult to suggest any plays against Strasburg especially on sites that give negative points for K’s. He has struggled at times, so mini-stacking contrarian style could always be a possibility.

Washington

Bryce Harper – They are throwing him all over the lineup this season and I would really like this play if I see him in the top of the order. Shelby has struggled against LH batters this year and Harper has mashed RH pitching in his short career.

NY Yankees at Tampa Bay

NY Yankees Tampa Bay
Vidal Nuno Vegas Moneyline Cesar Ramos Vegas Over/Under
LEFT TBR (-123) LEFT 8.5
Stats Avg OPS wOBA K% Stats Avg OPS wOBA K%
SP vs. Left 0.273 0.825 0.385 14.8% SP vs. Left 0.274 0.701 0.320 20.0%
SP vs. Right 0.260 0.797 0.342 12.7% SP vs. Right 0.241 0.676 0.311 17.0%
Batter Splits NYY BvP pop up 2 NYY vs L pop up 2 Batter Splits TBR BvP pop up 2 TBR vs L pop up 2
Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window

Pitcher Grind Down

Vidal Nuno – Nuno will be making his first start of the season for the Yankees today. He is coming off an awful relief performance against Baltimore where he let up 7 runs in 3.1 innings. He does have 5 strikeouts in less than 5 innings pitched so far this year, but I think he is safe to avoid everywhere. Rating = 2

Cesar Ramos – Ramos is being forced into the rotation due to Moore being on the DL and in his first start he lasted just 2 innings against the Reds. Lefties hit .272 against him last year and are hitting .300 on the season so far. He will be lucky to go 5 innings today against this lefty filled lineup of the Yankees. Rating = 1

Batter Grind Down

NY Yankees

Jacoby Ellsbury – Ellsbury is one of my favorite players to take in both cash and GPP games. He hits for power, scoops stolen bases and has a nice average. I love that he gets to hit in the 3 spot on this Yankees team and gets a very poor LH pitcher to take advantage of.

Tampa Bay

Evan Longoria – Longo loves to play against the Yankees and it has continued this year. He gets a great Lefty matchup which he is hitting for a .480 OBP so far this season.

Minnesota at Kansas City

Minnesota Kansas City
Phil Hughes Vegas Moneyline Yordano Ventura Vegas Over/Under
RIGHT KCR (-200) RIGHT 8.0
Stats Avg OPS wOBA K% Stats Avg OPS wOBA K%
SP vs. Left 0.293 0.858 0.375 19.8% SP vs. Left 0.194 0.638 0.286 20.0%
SP vs. Right 0.297 0.796 0.352 18.8% SP vs. Right 0.167 0.467 0.206 24.3%
Batter Splits MIN BvP pop up 2 MIN vs R pop up 2 Batter Splits KCR BvP pop up 2 KCR vs R pop up 2
Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window

Pitcher Grind Down

Phil Hughes – Hughes has been consistently bad this year so far. He has given up 4 Runs in each of his 3 games. He has been striking guys out at a nice 10.2 per nine rate, but is one of the biggest underdogs on the road today. Rating = 2

Yordano Ventura – Ventura has looked like one of the better young pitchers in baseball so far this season. He has only allowed 1 run in his first two starts while compiling 13 strikeouts in 13 innings. He gets to face Minnesota who has been an average offense so far. He is a heavy favorite (-210) and should make for a great cash and GPP play today. Rating = 8

Batter Grind Down

Minnesota

The way Ventura has started the season, I do not think any of the Twins make decent cash game plays.

Kansas City

Eric Hosmer – Hughes has been bad against batters from either side of the plate the last two seasons. Hosmer is a Righty masher who is hitting .300 against them so far this year. He is getting to hit in the 3 spot on the Royals and should see plenty of RBI chances today.

Additional Plays: Alex Gordon Norichika Aoki

Cincinnati at Chicago Cubs

Cincinnati Chicago Cubs
Homer Bailey Vegas Moneyline Carlos Villanueva Vegas Over/Under
RIGHT CIN (-110) RIGHT 8.5
Stats Avg OPS wOBA K% Stats Avg OPS wOBA K%
SP vs. Left 0.282 0.782 0.349 21.6% SP vs. Left 0.280 0.766 0.343 18.1%
SP vs. Right 0.209 0.592 0.270 25.4% SP vs. Right 0.251 0.717 0.321 19.6%
Batter Splits CIN BvP pop up 2 CIN vs R pop up 2 Batter Splits CHC BvP pop up 2 CHC vs R pop up 2
Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window

Pitcher Grind Down

Homer Bailey – Bailey is coming off his best year as a starter by far with a 3.49 ERA, while allowing batters to hit .234 against him. He has not resembled the pitcher of last year in his first 3 starts so far though. He comes into this game with a 8.16 ERA and has allowed 29 baserunners in 14 innings. Take a wait and see approach with Bailey and avoid him today. Rating = 4

Carlos Villanueva – The Cubs number 5 starter is coming off a terrible performance against the Cardinals. The 9 earned runs shot his ERA up to 11.57 on the season. He will be up against a few very solid LH bats in the Reds lineup today and with the high total, he is safe to avoid. Rating = 3

Batter Grind Down

Cincinnati

*Joey Votto – With the wind blowing out in Wrigley, Votto goes from a great cash game play to a any type of game play. Votto has had a great start to the season and has a good history against Carlos (7/18 with 1 home run)

Chicago Cubs

Anthony Rizzo – The early morning total for this game is high which means Rizzo could take advantage of the struggling Righty today. Rizzo is off to a great start so far with a .333 AVG and should be able to get on base today.

Chicago White Sox at Texas

Chicago White Sox Texas
Erik Johnson Vegas Moneyline Robbie Ross Vegas Over/Under
RIGHT TEX (-174) LEFT 9.5
Stats Avg OPS wOBA K% Stats Avg OPS wOBA K%
SP vs. Left 0.350 1.020 0.448 11.1% SP vs. Left 0.308 0.837 0.388 23.5%
SP vs. Right 0.224 0.538 0.240 22.2% SP vs. Right 0.216 0.534 0.253 19.0%
Batter Splits CHW BvP pop up 2 CHW vs L pop up 2 Batter Splits TEX BvP pop up 2 TEX vs R pop up 2
Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window

Pitcher Grind Down

Erik Johnson – Johnson had a great outing last time out against the Red Sox, but had been awful coming into that game. He gets a Rangers lineup who have finally awoken to score 26 runs in their last 3 games. With Texas being a huge favorite and a O/U of 9’, Johnson can safely be avoided. Rating = 1

Robbie Ross – Ross currently has a 1.00 ERA and 13 K’s in his first 3 starts. Although the White Sox have been better offensively, they are still struggling against LH pitching. They are currently hitting .223 with an OBP of .283 against Lefties. We saw what Perez did on Friday against this offense and Ross could produce something close. Rating = 7

Batter Grind Down

Chicago White Sox

Dayan Viciedo – Not someone I would play in my cash games, but Viciedo usually hits in the 4 or 5 spot when the White Sox are up against a lefty. Tank has yet to go yard, but has a decent matchup and is in a hitter friendly park.

Texas

Shin-Soo Choo – With the loss of Beltre, teams are intentionally walking Prince a few times a game recently. That is why I like Choo as my top Ranger of the day as he is on a 6 game hitting streak and will be in position to score a lot of runs today. Johnson has allowed LH bats to his .355 with an OBP of .474 early in the season.

MLB Grind Down Page 2 – Page 3

About the Author

Ryan138
Ryan138

Ryan (Ryan138) is from Chicago and has been playing fantasy sports for over 10 years. He has been playing daily fantasy sports for over 2 years since he was introduced to Daily Joust in late 2010. In the last year, Ryan has risen into the Top 100 of the RotoGrinders leaderboards by playing at DraftDay, DraftKings and FanDuel in all the major sports.