MLB Grind Down: Sunday, July 6th

by Ryan138 Last Updated 2014-07-06 15:34:26

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

Kansas City at Cleveland

Kansas City					Cleveland
Danny Duffy		Vegas Moneyline			Corey Kluber		Vegas Over/Under
LEFT		CLE (-135)			RIGHT		7.5
Stats	Avg	OPS	wOBA	K%	Stats	Avg	OPS	wOBA	K%
SP vs. Left	0.169	0.400	0.195	17.1%	SP vs. Left	0.270	0.733	0.328	24.0%
SP vs. Right	0.210	0.627	0.295	20.2%	SP vs. Right	0.260	0.660	0.297	24.0%
Batter Splits	KCR BvP		KCR vs R		Batter Splits	CLE BvP		CLE vs L
Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window

Pitcher Grind Down

• Danny Duffy – Duffy has pitched very well recently for the Royals and will look to continue it against a lefty heavy squad in the Indians. He has a 2.60 ERA with a 1.07 WHIP on the year. He also sports a real nice .189 BAA and could be seen as a GPP play only today. Rating = 5

Salaries: $6500 FD, $13723 DS, $11050 DD, $6700 DK, $92500 FF, $18500 SS, $11050 FTD

• Corey Kluber – Kluber has been great this season and has a 2.99 ERA to show for it. He has given up only 3 earned runs in his last 3 games and has shown the strikeout potential he had before his slightly off stretch. His K/9 of 9.74 will be depressed a bit by the Royals offense who strikes out at a very low rate. He still makes a decent play today. Rating = 7

Salaries: $8700 FD, $20062 DS, $16700 DD, $8700 DK, $101900 FF, $26800 SS, $16700 FTD

Batter Grind Down

Kansas City

Eric Hosmer – This is more of a GPP play today as Hosmer is cheap due to his struggles, but has had a great start to the month of July (7/16).

Cleveland

Carlos Santana – Santana will be hitting in the heart of the order and has been much better against LH pitching this year. He is batting .261 against lefties and gets Duffy who has struggled a bit against batters from the right side of the plate.

Additional Plays: Asdrubal Cabrera Ryan Raburn

Milwaukee at Cincinnati

Milwaukee					Cincinnati
Yovani Gallardo		Vegas Moneyline			Mat Latos		Vegas Over/Under
RIGHT		CIN (-137)			RIGHT		7.5
Stats	Avg	OPS	wOBA	K%	Stats	Avg	OPS	wOBA	K%
SP vs. Left	0.242	0.693	0.314	17.5%	SP vs. Left	0.247	0.685	0.309	19.8%
SP vs. Right	0.265	0.708	0.316	19.8%	SP vs. Right	0.240	0.608	0.282	22.4%
Batter Splits	MIL BvP		MIL vs R		Batter Splits	CIN BvP		CIN vs R
Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window

Pitcher Grind Down

• Yovani Gallardo – Just when I thought it was safe to jump on the Gallardo bandwagon he gets lit up by the Rockies. Prior to that, he had gone 4 games straight of allowing 1 earned run or less. He gets a matchup with the Reds that he has had a 3.60 ERA over the last 3 years (12 starts) against. He is tough to trust, but he makes a decent GPP play. Rating = 6

Salaries: $7000 FD, $12509 DS, $13800 DD, $8000 DK, $79400 FF, $21600 SS, $13800 FTD

• Mat Latos – Other then the hiccup to the Blue Jays, Latos has been very good since spending the first two months on the DL. In the other 3 starts, he has allowed 2 earned runs and 9 total baserunners in 20 innings. He will look to continue this success against the Brewers who Latos dominated in his first start of the year. Latos makes a good play today as a decent favorite in a game with a low total. Rating = 7

Salaries: $7800 FD, $17051 DS, $13950 DD, $9400 DK, $101100 FF, $24200 SS, $13950 FTD

Batter Grind Down

Milwaukee

Carlos Gomez – Gomez has hit very well against RH pitching this year. He is batting .317 with a .524 SLG. He has also hit Latos well in the past (8/17, 2 home runs).

Cincinnati

Jay Bruce – Bruce has hit Gallardo very well in his career as he is 15/44, with 5 extra base hits (2 home runs).

Additional Plays: Joey Votto Brandon Phillips

Texas at NY Mets

Texas					NY Mets
Nick Tepesch		Vegas Moneyline			Zack Wheeler		Vegas Over/Under
RIGHT		NYM (-117)			RIGHT		7.5
Stats	Avg	OPS	wOBA	K%	Stats	Avg	OPS	wOBA	K%
SP vs. Left	0.285	0.802	0.358	15.7%	SP vs. Left	0.280	0.783	0.352	20.8%
SP vs. Right	0.257	0.698	0.317	20.3%	SP vs. Right	0.229	0.612	0.285	21.6%
Batter Splits	TEX BvP		TEX vs R		Batter Splits	NYM BvP		NYM vs R
Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window

Pitcher Grind Down

• Nick Tepesch – Tepesch comes into this matchup with a decent 3.65 ERA and 1.35 WHIP after his first 8 starts this season. His value is hit due to his low K/9 of 5.89 on the year, but does get a nice matchup against the Mets who are not one of the league’s higher-powered offenses. His low K rate makes him a long shot GPP play only. Rating = 4

Salaries: $5400 FD, $11698 DS, $11700 DD, $6000 DK, $66600 FF, $16400 SS, $11700 FTD

• Zack Wheeler – Zach Wheeler – Wheeler has been very tough to get a read on as he has been very up and down this year. He has a 4.25 ERA this season and is getting absolutely crushed by left handed batters. Wheeler does have a K/9 of 8.97, but will be tough to play today against the Rangers. Rating = 6

Salaries: $7000 FD, $13012 DS, $13100 DD, $7500 DK, $70400 FF, $19400 SS, $13100 FTD

Batter Grind Down

Texas

Shin-Soo Choo – Wheeler has really struggled against lefties this year (.361 wOBA). Choo makes a great play leading off in this lineup today where he should get driven in a few times if he can get on base.

Additional Plays: Leonys Martin Carlos Pena

NY Mets

Curtis Granderson – Granderson is a good GPP play today as he is a true boom or bust play.

Chicago Cubs at Washington

Chicago Cubs					Washington
Jake Arrieta		Vegas Moneyline			Jordan Zimmermann		Vegas Over/Under
RIGHT		WAS (-167)			RIGHT		7.0
Stats	Avg	OPS	wOBA	K%	Stats	Avg	OPS	wOBA	K%
SP vs. Left	0.204	0.620	0.285	20.8%	SP vs. Left	0.259	0.686	0.302	17.6%
SP vs. Right	0.249	0.686	0.315	22.6%	SP vs. Right	0.228	0.609	0.278	20.9%
Batter Splits	CHC BvP		CHC vs R		Batter Splits	WSN BvP		WSN vs R
Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window

Pitcher Grind Down

• Jake Arrieta – Arrieta is still left in the Cubs organization and will have to battle through another bad Cubs season. Individually, Arrieta has been very good for the Cubs. In 11 starts, he holds a great 1.81 ERA and 1.01 WHIP. Arrieta has been on a nice stretch as he has gone at least 7 innings in his last 4 starts while allowing only 3 total earned runs. During that span he has also struck out a ton of batters (39 in 28.2 innings). Arrieta makes a great GPP play today. Rating = 7

Salaries: $7600 FD, $23079 DS, $17750 DD, $9200 DK, $129900 FF, $30300 SS, $17750 FTD

• Jordan Zimmermann – Arrieta has been on the better streak, but Zimmerman easily has the better matchup taking on the Cubs at Wrigley. Zimmerman had a great June after getting roughed up in May. In June, he made 6 starts and had a 1.43 ERA, had 41 strikeouts in 44 innings and had a .192 BAA. Due to the matchup he makes a great cash game play and GPP play today. Rating = 8*

Salaries: $8800 FD, $19243 DS, $15900 DD, $11100 DK, $93100 FF, $28100 SS, $15900 FTD

Batter Grind Down

Chicago Cubs

I will be avoiding the Cubs Bats today.

Washington

I really think this matchup ends 2-1 and I do not think the Washington bats need to be paid up for.

Philadelphia at Pittsburgh

Philadelphia					Pittsburgh
A.J. Burnett		Vegas Moneyline			Jeff Locke		Vegas Over/Under
RIGHT		PIT (-160)			LEFT		7.5
Stats	Avg	OPS	wOBA	K%	Stats	Avg	OPS	wOBA	K%
SP vs. Left	0.267	0.763	0.354	19.7%	SP vs. Left	0.280	0.696	0.334	11.9%
SP vs. Right	0.213	0.569	0.256	26.8%	SP vs. Right	0.231	0.654	0.297	19.6%
Batter Splits	PHI BvP		PHI vs L		Batter Splits	PIT BvP		PIT vs R
Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window

Pitcher Grind Down

• A.J. Burnett – Burnett has been consistently giving up about 3 earned runs in each start while going about 6 or 7 innings per start. He has a 3.92 ERA and a 5-7 record to show for it. His 7.31 K/9 holds him back a bit from making him a viable play in any type of format. He is also a heavy underdog, which makes me feel he is an easy avoid today.Rating = 4

Salaries: $7500 FD, $17474 DS, $14000 DD, $8100 DK, $85900 FF, $22700 SS, $14000 FTD

• Jeff Locke – Locke has pitched well this year after giving up 6 runs in his opening start of the season. Since then, he has pitched well enough to bring his ERA down to 3.46 with a WHIP of 1.01. He has been pitching deep into games and gets a great matchup against the lefty heavy Phillies lineup. Locke makes a decent play on the day as a big Vegas favorite in a game with a low total. Rating = 6

Salaries: $5400 FD, $12402 DS, $12200 DD, $7800 DK, $81300 FF, $20200 SS, $12200 FTD

Batter Grind Down

Philadelphia

Marlon Byrd – Byrd makes a great play against lefty pitching as he is hitting over .300 against them with a .587 SLG. The guy has 17 home runs on the season and could add to that total today.

Pittsburgh

Gregory Polanco – Burnett has really struggled against lefties on the year giving up a wOBA of .360 to them. Polanco has been a great addition to this offense as he is hitting .342 against RH pitching so far.

Additional Plays: Andrew McCutchen Pedro Alvarez

MLB Grind Down Page 1 – Page 2

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