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MLB Grind Down: Sunday, April 27th

by Ryan138 Last Updated 2014-04-27 15:58:23

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 Toronto

Boston Toronto
Jon Lester Vegas Moneyline R.A. Dickey Vegas Over/Under
LEFT BOS (-105) RIGHT 8.5
Stats Avg OPS wOBA K% Stats Avg OPS wOBA K%
SP vs. Left 0.250 0.695 0.304 25.1% SP vs. Left 0.256 0.763 0.336 17.3%
SP vs. Right 0.259 0.700 0.315 19.0% SP vs. Right 0.231 0.681 0.310 20.3%
Batter Splits BOS BvP pop up 2 BOS vs R pop up 2 Batter Splits TOR BvP pop up 2 TOR vs L pop up 2
Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window

Pitcher Grind Down

Jon Lester – Lester has looked decent so far this season allowing 2 earned runs or less in four of his five starts. He is coming into this game with a 9.62 K/9, but due to the matchup and the fact that he is allowing a lot of hits so far, he may best be served as a GPP only play. Rating = 5

R.A. Dickey – Dickey has looked similar to the Dickey of last year as he has a 5.90 ERA is his first 5 starts. The problem so far is he is giving up walks at a very high rate and holds a 1.62 WHIP. This Boston team scorched Dickey last year so I feel he is safe to avoid. Rating = 3

Batter Grind Down

Boston

David Ortiz – Runs have been coming a plenty at Rogers Center and today should be no different. Last year, Dickey gave up an 8.53 ERA while allowing this Boston team to hit .306 against him. This should allow a lot of RBI opportunities for Papi who is beginning to heat up a bit (.cvxcvxvcxvxcv

Toronto

Edwin Encarnacion – Although Lester has been striking a lot of guys out, he has also allowed a lot of base runners. Teams have hit 2.80 off him early in the season and EE is cheaper than the likes of Joey Bats and Melky now.

Miami at NY Mets

Miami NY Mets
Tom Koehler Vegas Moneyline Dillon Gee Vegas Over/Under
RIGHT NYM (-120) RIGHT 7.0
Stats Avg OPS wOBA K% Stats Avg OPS wOBA K%
SP vs. Left 0.224 0.661 0.299 13.9% SP vs. Left 0.279 0.788 0.348 15.4%
SP vs. Right 0.277 0.768 0.346 17.3% SP vs. Right 0.245 0.652 0.293 18.0%
Batter Splits MIA BvP pop up 2 MIA vs R pop up 2 Batter Splits NYM BvP pop up 2 NYM vs R pop up 2
Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window

Pitcher Grind Down

Tom Koehler – Koehler has had a surprising start of the season so far for the Marlins. He sports a 2.13 ERA and 1.11 WHIP, while showing a bit of strike out potential with games of 8 and 6 K’s. He gets a great matchup away from home with a Mets team who is at the bottom of the league in a lot of the major offensive categories. He is still Tom Koehler so he is difficult to trust in cash games. Rating = 5

Dillon Gee – Gee has been an average pitcher across his career and his numbers so far match that this year. He continuously has an ERA in the high 3’s (3.58 this year) and a low K rate (5.79). He will be cheap, but offers very little upside for any type of league. Rating = 3

Batter Grind Down

Miami

Christian Yelich – Yelich has been a great play regardless of who is pitching this year. On Friday, his 17 game hit streak was halted, but will look to start a new streak today. He is currently hitting .301 and is a great cash game play as he should be hitting leadoff.

New York Mets

Eric Young – If I had to take a hitter for the Mets it would be Young. He is never going to hit for a great average, but if he can get on base, Young has 11 stolen bases so far. Salty can be ran against and Young should pick up an SB if he can get on base today.

Kansas City at Baltimore

Kansas City Baltimore
James Shields Vegas Moneyline Miguel Gonzalez Vegas Over/Under
RIGHT KCR (-117) RIGHT 8.5
Stats Avg OPS wOBA K% Stats Avg OPS wOBA K%
SP vs. Left 0.233 0.615 0.278 22.0% SP vs. Left 0.242 0.702 0.313 17.8%
SP vs. Right 0.260 0.703 0.319 20.6% SP vs. Right 0.254 0.757 0.336 16.4%
Batter Splits KCR BvP pop up 2 KCR vs R pop up 2 Batter Splits BAL BvP pop up 2 BAL vs R pop up 2
Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window

Pitcher Grind Down

James Shields – Shields has been great so far this year holding a 1.91 ERA and is allowing batters to hit for a .210 AVG with a K/9 of 9.55. The problem is he will be going up against the Orioles offense that is hitting over .300 against RH pitching this season. He makes for a great GPP play due to the matchup. Rating = 6

Miguel Gonzalez -Gonzalez has been abused by the long ball so far this season. 7 home runs given up in 4 starts has resulted in him carrying a 5.40 ERA. Gonzalez is the underdog and rarely puts up many strikeouts. Rating = 3

Batter Grind Down

Kansas City

Eric Hosmer – Hosmer has gotten off to a great start this season especially against RH pitching (.380 OBP). Hosmer has yet to go yard this season, but I could see it happening today.

Baltimore

Nick Markakis – With Chris Davis out, Markakis got to hit in the 3rd spot in the lineup. He is hitting for a high AVG, while hitting RH pitching for .310. He has also hit well with RISP at a clip of .357. In the 3rd spot he should be in position more often to get some RBIs.

San Diego at Washington

San Diego Washington
Ian Kennedy Vegas Moneyline Taylor Jordan Vegas Over/Under
RIGHT SDP (-102) RIGHT 7.5
Stats Avg OPS wOBA K% Stats Avg OPS wOBA K%
SP vs. Left 0.257 0.804 0.351 23.1% SP vs. Left 0.278 0.676 0.305 7.4%
SP vs. Right 0.248 0.691 0.321 19.0% SP vs. Right 0.316 0.779 0.356 18.7%
Batter Splits SDP BvP pop up 2 SDP 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

Ian Kennedy – Kennedy has been tremendous in his two away starts (1.50 ERA) and hittable in his 3 home starts (5.00 ERA). He has been striking guys out at a nice fantasy rate and sees a boost if Harper has to sit again. Rating = 5

Taylor Jordan – Jordan has one of the best matchups on the board as the Padres come into this game scoring the least runs in the league by a pretty large margin. The problem is, Jordan has been awful giving up 4, 5, and 5 earned runs in his last 3. The matchup is great and could be a cheap GPP option only. Rating = 4

Batter Grind Down

San Diego

Yasmani Grandal – I would be lying if I told you I have picked Grandal this season, but he is hitting cleanup in this order now that Headley is out and has a nice matchup against Jordan. If Jordan continues to struggle, he will be in line to drive in a few runs today.

Washington

Adam LaRoche – LaRoche has gotten off to a very hot start this season. He is batting .328 against RH pitching with a huge .563 SLG.

Cincinnati at Atlanta

Cincinnati Atlanta
Johnny Cueto Vegas Moneyline Julio Teheran Vegas Over/Under
RIGHT CIN (-105) RIGHT 6.5
Stats Avg OPS wOBA K% Stats Avg OPS wOBA K%
SP vs. Left 0.175 0.504 0.230 20.7% SP vs. Left 0.275 0.777 0.345 17.1%
SP vs. Right 0.189 0.583 0.265 25.1% SP vs. Right 0.212 0.555 0.262 24.7%
Batter Splits CIN BvP pop up 2 CIN vs R pop up 2 Batter Splits ATL BvP pop up 2 ATL vs R pop up 2
Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window

Pitcher Grind Down

Johnny Cueto – Cueto has been a fun pitcher to watch this season. He is putting up some tremendous numbers so far with a .77 WHIP and 39 K’s in as many innings. He has also gone complete in the last two. He is capable of a huge game, but the win might be in question due to Teheran on the mound for Atlanta. Rating = 8

Julio Teheran – Teheran has pitched well in his first 5 starts giving up 2 or less earned runs in each. His 5.4 K/9 so far this season is lower than career averages and should improve along the season. This should be a pitchers duel in Atlanta today. Rating = 7

Batter Grind Down

Cincinnati

Joey Votto – If anyone can get on base today it should be Votto. Teheran has allowed LH hitters to bat .292 against him in his career and Votto has been an on-base machine against Righties with a .515 OBP.

Atlanta

With the way Cueto is pitching, I will be avoiding all Atlanta bats today.

MLB Grind Down Page 1 – Page 2

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.