MLB Grind Down: Sunday, April 6th - Page 2
Atlanta at Washington
| Atlanta | Washington | ||||||||
| Alex Wood | Vegas Moneyline | Taylor Jordan | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| LEFT | WAS (-123) | RIGHT | 7.5 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.267 | 0.605 | 0.280 | 29.3% | SP vs. Left | 0.308 | 0.758 | 0.336 | 5.2% |
| SP vs. Right | 0.261 | 0.685 | 0.310 | 21.1% | SP vs. Right | 0.277 | 0.631 | 0.297 | 19.5% |
| Batter Splits | ATL BvP  | ATL vs R | Batter Splits | WSN BvP | WSN vs L | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
- Alex Wood – Wood only gave up 1 earned run in 7 innings of work in his season debut and draws a pretty decent matchup against the Nationals today. Wood posted a 3.13 ERA last season with a K/9 of 9. His high strike-out rate certainly helps his value and most sites still have him priced a little low. Wood is a small underdog, but is my favorite of the two pitchers in this game. Rating = 6
- Taylor Jordan – Jordan made 9 starts for the Nationals in his rookie campaign last season and posted a 3.66 ERA with a K/9 of only 5.1. He has looked good in the Spring, but the righty is still very inexperienced and I am not going to be targeting him against the Braves with all of that power in their lineup. Rating = 4
Batter Grind Down
Atlanta
- Freddie Freeman – Jordan gave up a .336 wOBA to LH batters last season and Freeman crushes RH pitching to a tune of a .958 OPS last season. He makes a terrific play at 1B today if you can afford him.
- Additional Plays: Jason Heyward
Washington
- Ryan Zimmerman – Wood held RH batters to a .310 wOBA last season which isn’t terrible. Zimmerman has always hit LH pitching well though and he is off to a hot start hitting for a .368 average.
- Additional Plays: None
Milwaukee at Boston
| Milwaukee | Boston | ||||||||
| Yovani Gallardo | Vegas Moneyline | Jon Lester | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| RIGHT | BOS (-161) | LEFT | 8.5 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.249 | 0.720 | 0.323 | 18.5% | SP vs. Left | 0.237 | 0.670 | 0.294 | 25.8% |
| SP vs. Right | 0.272 | 0.707 | 0.315 | 18.8% | SP vs. Right | 0.257 | 0.702 | 0.317 | 17.9% |
| Batter Splits | MIL BvP | MIL vs L | Batter Splits | BOS BvP | BOS vs R | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
- Yovani Gallardo – Gallardo proved me wrong in his opening day start by throwing 6 shut-out innings against the Braves. He has a great chance to prove me wrong again today against the Red Sox. I typically don’t like to target pitchers against the Red Sox in general, especially at Fenway. Gallardo is a large underdog (+158) and he is not used to seeing a lineup like the Red Sox as Gallardo has most of his starts against NL teams. Rating = 4
- Jon Lester – Lester pitched 7 strong innings against the Orioles in his first start while racking up 8 K’s. He really enjoyed a nice second half of the season last year and seems to have picked up right where he left off. With Ryan Braun dealing with a thumb injury, this Brewers’ lineup is not that intimidating. Lester posted a K/9 of 7.5 last season and I like his upside in this matchup. Rating = 7
Batter Grind Down
Milwaukee
- Carlos Gomez – Gomez has that nice combination of speed and power. He is just as likely to hit a HR as he is to steal a base which really improves his fantasy appeal. Gomez hit for a .315 average against LH pitching last season with 19 XBH’s.
- Additional Plays: Jonathan Lucroy
Boston Red Sox
- David Ortiz – Big Papi was benched in last night’s game, but should be back in the lineup tonight. Big Papi crushes RH pitching and he hits well in Fenway. Gallardo should struggle with this tough AL lineup.
- Additional Plays: Dustin Pedroia, Mike Napoli
St. Louis at Pittsburgh
| St. Louis | Pittsburgh | ||||||||
| Adam Wainwright | Vegas Moneyline | Edinson Volquez | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| RIGHT | STL (-155) | RIGHT | 7.0 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.242 | 0.623 | 0.281 | 22.7% | SP vs. Left | 0.294 | 0.832 | 0.368 | 17.3% |
| SP vs. Right | 0.254 | 0.628 | 0.281 | 23.1% | SP vs. Right | 0.269 | 0.759 | 0.340 | 19.3% |
| Batter Splits | STL BvP | STL vs R | Batter Splits | PIT BvP | PIT vs R | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
- Adam Wainwright – Wainwright is one of my favorite pitchers to target today. He posted a 2.94 ERA last season with a K/9 of 8.2. He racked up 9 K’s in 7 shut-out innings against the Reds in his first start and should keep things going today at PNC Park which is one of the more pitcher friendly ballparks in baseball. Rating = 9
- Edison Volquez – Volquez pitched 2 innings in relief earlier in the season, but will draw his first start today against the Cardinals. Volquez is hoping to bounce back after a rough season last year where he posted a 5.71 ERA with a 1.59 WHIP. This is certainly a pitcher’s park, but this Cardinals lineup is one of the best in the NL and I will be avoiding all things Volquez today. Rating = 3
Batter Grind Down
St. Louis
- Matt Carpenter – The Matt’s are all in play today for the Cardinals. Maybe you should try a Cardinal’s Matt stack. Volquez gave up a .368 wOBA with an .832 OPS to LH batters last season. Carpenter is an on-base machine and has the Matt’s batting behind him to bring him home.
- Additional Plays: Matt Adams, Matt Holliday
Pittsburgh
- The Pirates’ bats have an awful matchup today against Wainwright as he held both LH and RH batters to a .281 wOBA last season. Avoid all Buckos and move on.
- Additional Plays: None
Texas at Tampa Bay
| Texas | Tampa Bay | ||||||||
| Yu Darvish | Vegas Moneyline | Alex Cobb | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| RIGHT | TEX (-105) | RIGHT | 7.0 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.212 | 0.645 | 0.293 | 29.4% | SP vs. Left | 0.235 | 0.671 | 0.300 | 22.9% |
| SP vs. Right | 0.165 | 0.534 | 0.248 | 38.5% | SP vs. Right | 0.217 | 0.587 | 0.272 | 23.7% |
| Batter Splits | TEX BvP | TEX vs R | Batter Splits | TBR BvP | TBR vs R | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
- Yu Darvish – If you are new to daily fantasy baseball this season, I will let you in on a little known secret. Darvish can strike people out. Last season Darvish posted an insane K/9 of 11.9. His K% was close to 35% meaning he struck out more than a third of the batters that he faced. Darvish is making his first start this season and his high K-rate puts him in play in all leagues. Rating = 9
- Alex Cobb – Cobb did not get off the fast start that myself and many other experts were expecting. He gave up 4 earned runs in only 5 innings of work and only managed to strike out 3 batters. Vegas has this as a pick ‘em game with the total set at only 7.0 runs. Of the two pitchers, I would much rather target Darvish who has a much higher K-rate. He could make for a contrarian play in a GPP though. Rating = 6
Batter Grind Down
Texas / Tampa Bay
- This game features two of the better pitchers in baseball. Both have high K-rates and both can dominate opposing lineups. With 14 other games on the schedule, you can surely find batters with better matchups than this.
LA Angels at Houston
| LA Angels | Houston | ||||||||
| Jered Weaver | Vegas Moneyline | Scott Feldman | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| RIGHT | LAA (-153) | RIGHT | 8.0 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.227 | 0.622 | 0.283 | 19.4% | SP vs. Left | 0.235 | 0.656 | 0.299 | 17.4% |
| SP vs. Right | 0.254 | 0.721 | 0.318 | 16.9% | SP vs. Right | 0.233 | 0.657 | 0.297 | 17.4% |
| Batter Splits | LAA BvP | LAA vs R | Batter Splits | HOU BvP | HOU vs R | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
- Jered Weaver – Weaver’s numbers have slowly gotten worse in each of the past few seasons and he didn’t look great in his first start of the season. While he is still an above average pitcher, I’m not sure that we can expect him to be the same pitcher that he was a few years ago. That said, Weaver does draw an excellent matchup against the Astros who had a tough time figuring out Tyler Skaggs last night. Weaver had a K/9 of 6.8 last season and the Astros are a team that K’s often. Rating = 7
- Scott Feldman – Feldman is a large underdog here (+145) and faces a very tough Angels lineup. He pitched well in his first start of the season, but he just doesn’t have a high enough K-rate to overtake the fact that he has a bad matchup and will likely get little to no run support. He should be avoided in all leagues, even GPP’s. Rating = 2
Batter Grind Down
Los Angeles
- Josh Hamilton – J-Ham homered last night in a big win against the Astros and is looking to get off to a much better start this season. His price is depressed across the industry and I like the lefty/righty matchup today against Feldman.
- Additional Plays: Mike Trout, Kole Calhoun
Houston
- None of the Astros bats suit my fancy here. They have a less than favorable matchup against Weaver.
- Additional Plays: None