MLB Grind Down: Sunday, April 26 - Page Three
LA Dodgers at San Diego
| LA Dodgers | San Diego | ||||||||
 | Scott Baker |  | Brandon Morrow | ||||||
| RIGHT | RIGHT | ||||||||
| Vegas Moneyline | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.258 | 0.809 | 0.349 | 0.209 | SP vs. Left | 0.299 | 0.948 | 0.412 | 0.192 |
| SP vs. Right | 0.261 | 0.771 | 0.329 | 0.119 | SP vs. Right | 0.27 | 0.708 | 0.318 | 0.214 |
| Batter Splits | LA BvP | LA vs R | Batter Splits | SD BvP | SD vs R | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
Scott Baker – The Dodgers will turn to Scott Baker on the mound today, and even with this game being played at Petco, I just can’t see any reason to use him in daily fantasy. He posted an ugly 5.47 ERA in 80.2 innings of work for the Rangers last season and can no longer touch 90 MPH with his fastball. He’s pitched quite well in his three starts at AAA Oklahoma City so far this year and proved to be savvy enough to post nice seasons for the Twins earlier in his career but there are plenty of better options. Rating = 3.5
*Salaries: *
Brandon Morrow – Morrow has yet to record a win with the Padres, but he’s certainly pitched well enough to deserve one. His last start was a forgettable one (in Coors Field), but he’ll return to Petco Park for today’s game. His pitching approach seems to have changed over the years (less reliant on the fastball nowadays) and he’s now inducing a ton of ground balls (50.5 GB% last year) while still keeping up a solid strikeout rate. He’ll face a dangerous Dodgers lineup, but he’s still a fine option considering his skill set and the pitcher friendly ballpark. Rating = 6.5
Salaries: $6200 FD, $6800 DK, $5500 FA, $ Vic, $8500 DD, $85100 FF
Batter Grind Down
LA Dodgers
No Elite Plays
Secondary Plays:
Adrian Gonzalez, Joc Pederson
San Diego
Yonder Alonso – Lefties posted a .349 wOBA off of Baker last season and Alonso has been destroying the baseball thus far this season. Alonso owns a .371 average on the season and has picked up 12 hits over the last seven games.
Secondary Plays:
Wil Myers, Matt Kemp, Justin Upton
San Francisco at Colorado
| San Francisco | Colorado | ||||||||
 | Tim Lincecum |  | Tyler Matzek | ||||||
| RIGHT | LEFT | ||||||||
| Vegas Moneyline | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||||
| COL (-124) | 10 | ||||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.254 | 0.75 | 0.335 | 0.141 | SP vs. Left | 0.147 | 0.434 | 0.199 | 0.282 |
| SP vs. Right | 0.255 | 0.791 | 0.346 | 0.251 | SP vs. Right | 0.3 | 0.848 | 0.372 | 0.15 |
| Batter Splits | SF BvP | SF vs L | Batter Splits | COL BvP | COL vs R | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
Tim Lincecum – Lincecum has been solid thus far in 2015, but today just simply is not the time to trust him. The velocity on his once mid-90’s fastball has been in a free-fall for years and is now averaging just 87.1 MPH so far this season. Unfortunately for Timmy, his strikeout rate is fading alongside his fastball velocity and he owns a 4.52 ERA and 1.53 WHIP in 14 career starts at Coors Field. Lincecum was dreadful away from the Bay area last season, posting a 3-6 record with 6.02 ERA and 1.58 WHIP in 11 road starts. I’m staying far, far away from the former Cy Young winner. Rating = 3
Salaries: $6300 FD, $6900 DK, $5600 FA, $ Vic, $9250 DD, $90700 FF
Tyler Matzek – Matzek has avoided big trouble so far this season, but the six walks against the Padres during his last start is defintely a huge red-flag. He now sports as many walks as strikeouts during his 15 innings of work this season and his 5.99 xFIP indicates that he’s been flirting with trouble. Suprisingly, Matzek faired much better at Coors Field last season, where he owned a 4-4 record and 3.61 ERA in 8 home starts. He also defeated the Giants in their only meeting last season, allowing just two earned runs while striking out seven batters in seven innings. He may not be the worst play on the board today, but I don’t even like to recommend Clayton Kershaw at Coors Field. Rating = 4
Salaries: $5500 FD, $5300 DK, $4750 FA, $ Vic, $8500 DD, $93800 FF
Batter Grind Down
San Francisco
Buster Posey – For the second straight day Posey will take on a left-handed pitcher at Coors Field, making him an elite play at catcher in all formats. Matzek was very tough on left-handed batters last season (.199 wOBA against) but was smacked for a .372 wOBA against righties. Posey owns a career .330 average and .962 OPS against left-handed pitching.
Secondary Plays:
Angel Pagan, Justin Maxwell
Colorado
I’m expecting the Rockies to score quite a few runs today. Anyone in the top six of this batting order is an elite play this afternoon.
Secondary Plays:
Pittsburgh at Arizona
| Pittsburgh | Arizona | ||||||||
 | Francisco Liriano |  | Jeremy Hellickson | ||||||
| LEFT | RIGHT | ||||||||
| Vegas Moneyline | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||||
| PIT (-140) | 8 | ||||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | SP vs. Left | ||||||||
| SP vs. Right | SP vs. Right | ||||||||
| Batter Splits | PIT BvP | PIT vs R | Batter Splits | ARI BvP | ARI vs L | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
Francisco Liriano – The Pirates have lost all three of Liriano’s starts thus far this season, but the left-hander hasn’t been the reason. He’ll bring a 3.00 ERA and 0.83 WHIP into today’s game against a Diamondbacks team that owned just a .299 wOBA against left-handed pitching last season. Liriano was actually much more effective on the road last season (2.37 ERA in 14 road starts) and pitched very well against Arizona in their only meeting. Chase Field can be an unforgiving place for opposing pitchers, but with a high groundball rate (54.4% in 2014) and an elite ability to miss opposing bats (9.70 K/9), Liriano looks like a nice option here. Rating = 7
Salaries: $8000 FD, $8500 DK, $6900 FA, $ Vic, $16700 DD, $114500 FF
Jeremy Hellickson – Hellickson picked up his first win as a Diamondback in his last start, but while he only allowed one earned run in that game, it still wasn’t an overly appealing game by fantasy standards. The move to the National League should help Hellickson improve upon last seasons 4.52 ERA and 1.45 WHIP, but Hellickson will likely never again be able to dupicate his success from the 2011 and 2012 seasons as he’s posted an xFIP of 4.13 or higher in all four full seasons in the big leagues. The Pirates posted a .329 wOBA against right-handed pitching last season and Hellickson just isn’t striking batters our right now, so I’ll be staying away. Rating = 3.5
Salaries: $6000 FD, $5900 DK, $5500 FA, $ Vic, $9750 DD, $75000 FF
Batter Grind Down
Pittsburgh
Starling Marte – After a slow start to the season, Marte has picked up 10 hits (4 home runs) over the last nine games. Right-handed batters posted a .423 wOBA off of Hellickson last year and Marte is reasonably priced on most sites.
Secondary Plays:
Andrew McCutchen, Neil Walker, Gregory Polanco
Arizona
Paul Goldschmidt – Liriano isn’t an easy pitcher to target against, but Goldschmidt’s destruction of left-handed pitching last season can’t be ignored. The Arizona slugger posted a .470 wOBA and .205 ISO against southpaws last season and owns a 1.022 OPS against them during his career.
Secondary Plays:
Mark Trumbo, A.J. Pollock
Minnesota at Seattle
| Minnesota | Seattle | ||||||||
 | Kyle Gibson |  | Roenis Elias | ||||||
| RIGHT | LEFT | ||||||||
| Vegas Moneyline | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||||
| LAA (-142) | |||||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | SP vs. Left | ||||||||
| SP vs. Right | SP vs. Right | ||||||||
| Batter Splits | MIN BvP | MIN vs L | Batter Splits | SEA BvP | SEA vs R | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
Kyle Gibson – Gibson, a first round pick out of Missouri (M. I. Z……), has a mediocre rookie campaign in 2014, posting a 4.47 ERA and 1.31 WHIP in 31 starts. However, with a 3.99 xFIP, there was still reason to be optimist about the tall right-hander heading into this season. Well, after three very unencouraging starts to open the 2015 campaign, that optimism is vanishing quickly. Gibson does a great job of keeping the ball down (and in the park) as his 54.4 GB% last season was among the best in MLB but has been unable to replicate the strikeout numbers he posted in the minors. He absolutely dominated this Seattle team last season (2-0 record with a 0.69 ERA in two starts), but is upside at this point in his career just doesn’t offset the risk. Rating = 3.5
Salaries: $5800 FD, $5400 DK, $4750 FA, $ Vic, $8900 DD, $74500 FF
Roenis Elias – With Iwakuma headed to the DL, the Mariners will call up Roenis Elias from the Tacoma Rainers for the start today against the Twins. Elias was impressive with the big club during his rookie season last year, posting a 3.85 ERA (3.95 xFIP) over 163.2 innings. Control has been the biggest road block to success for Elias, as his 3.53 BB/9 last season was bad enough, but the 4.02 BB/9 at AAA this season are a huge concern. He flashed solids strikeout potential last season (7.86 K/9) but was smacked around by these Twins for 11 runs in just 10.1 innings in two starts against them last season. Rating = 3.5
Salaries: $6300 FD, $7200 DK, $5650 FA, $ Vic, $8500 DD, $ FF
Batter Grind Down
Minnesota
Brian Dozier – Dozier picked up a pair of hits (and runs) in last night’s game and even added a stolen base for good measure. Dozier posted a .351 wOBA and 126 wRC+ against left-handed pitching last season and found himself hitting out of the leadoff spot last night.
Secondary Plays:
Trevor Plouffe
Seattle
Robinson Cano – His early season struggles are well behind him now, as Cano brings a 11 game hitting streak into this afternoon’s game and now owns a .304 batting average. Cano posted a .382 wOBA against right-handed pitching last season and left-handed batters owned a .315 wOBA off of Gibson last year.
Secondary Plays:
Kyle Seager, Nelson Cruz, Seth Smith
NY Mets at NY Yankees
| NY Mets | NY Yankees | ||||||||
 | Jonathon Niese |  | Nathan Eovaldi | ||||||
| LEFT | RIGHT | ||||||||
| Vegas Moneyline | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||||
| NYY (-133) | 8 | ||||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | SP vs. Left | ||||||||
| SP vs. Right | SP vs. Right | ||||||||
| Batter Splits | NYM BvP | NYM vs R | Batter Splits | NYY vs L | |||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
Jonathon Niese – In a battle between polar opposite pitchers, Niese will head into Yankee Stadium to do battle with the Yankees and Nathan Eovaldi. Niese has only allowed one earned run in each of his first three starts, but heading to Yankee Stadium will be his toughest test of the young season. The soft-tossing lefty likely doesn’t get the credit he deserves as he’s now posted an xFIP of 3.84 or less in each of the last five seasons for the New York Mets. His once solid strikeout rate has dipped over the last few years to an undesirable 6.62 K/9 in 2014, but he’s still an acceptable option as a secondary pitcher against this fairly lefty-heavy Yankees lineup. Rating = 5
Salaries: $ FD, $7100 DK, $ FA, $ Vic, $13550 DD, $ FF
Nathan Eovaldi – Eovaldi has pitched himself onto my “GPP” only list over the last couple of seasons, as he seems to be either terrific or terrible, with very little middle ground. He’s one of the hardest throwing starting pitchers in the game today (averaging 95.9 MPH on his fastball) but his power pitch hasn’t resulted in the strikeout totals you’d expect (16.6% K% last season). He was blasted for nine earned runs in just 11 innings of work against this Mets team last season, but the Mets owned just a .304 wOBA against right-handed pitching in 2014. I like the matchup and won’t hesitate to use him in a GPP or two, but i’m not sniffing him in my cash games. Rating = 5.5
Salaries: $7700 FD, $6500 DK, $5000 FA, $ Vic, $11750 DD, $81900 FF
Batter Grind Down
NY Mets
No Elite Plays
Secondary Plays:
Lucas Duda, Curtis Granderson, Daniel Murphy
NY Yankees
Secondary Plays:
Mark Teixeira, Jacoby Ellsbury, Alex Rodriguez