Sign In $

MLB Grind Down: Sunday, May 4th - Page 2

by Ryan138 Last Updated 2014-05-04 14:34:13

Oakland at Boston

Oakland Boston
Sonny Gray Vegas Moneyline John Lackey Vegas Over/Under
RIGHT OAK (-105) RIGHT 8.5
Stats Avg OPS wOBA K% Stats Avg OPS wOBA K%
SP vs. Left 0.223 0.598 0.273 23.4% SP vs. Left 0.238 0.660 0.293 20.9%
SP vs. Right 0.208 0.526 0.238 25.4% SP vs. Right 0.264 0.750 0.330 21.6%
Batter Splits OAK BvP pop up 2 OAK vs R pop up 2 Batter Splits BOS BvP pop up 2 BOS vs R pop up 2
Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window

Pitcher Grind Down

Sonny Gray – Gray has had an amazing start of the year and is coming off an eye opening 9 inning 6 strikeout performance, while out dueling Yu Darvish. Opponents are hitting just .230 against him and he has a great 1.76 ERA. His K/9 is at a respectable 8.12 and he makes a great cash and GPP play today. Rating = 8

John Lackey – Lackey has bounced back from a rough 2 game stretch and looked great against Tampa and the Yankees. With a mix of good and bad this year, he comes into the game with a 3.83 ERA and a 4-2 record. He will have his work cut out for him against an Oakland offense that has hit RH pitching well to start the year. Rating = 5

Batter Grind Down

Oakland

Brandon Moss – Moss has been struggling as of late which has dropped his price at many sites. When Oakland gets a RH pitcher, Moss usually gets to hit in the cleanup role allowing for a lot of RBIs in this Oakland offense. Moss is not going to hit for AVG, but I love to take him in GPP’s due to his power potential.

Boston

Even though Gray is still a bit unproven, he has shown the stuff to shut out offenses completely. I will be avoiding the Boston bats today.

Detroit at Kansas City

Detroit Kansas City
Justin Verlander Vegas Moneyline Jason Vargas Vegas Over/Under
RIGHT DET (-123) LEFT 7.5
Stats Avg OPS wOBA K% Stats Avg OPS wOBA K%
SP vs. Left 0.236 0.654 0.294 23.1% SP vs. Left 0.311 0.753 0.331 15.3%
SP vs. Right 0.278 0.731 0.325 22.0% SP vs. Right 0.253 0.720 0.324 16.7%
Batter Splits DET BvP pop up 2 DET vs L 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

Justin Verlander – Verlander has been rolling along so far this year while allowing at least 9 base runners in 5 of his 6 starts this year. He has been able to get himself out of trouble consistently, but this could be a concern going forward and coming off such a down year. He has always pitched well against Kansas City and makes a decent play today. Rating = 7

Jason Vargas – Vargas has had just one real bad outing this year and comes in with a sub 3.00 ERA, but has a very tough matchup against the Tigers and their power bats. Vargas is pitching way above his skill level and today’s start will look more like the Toronto game (5 earned runs) than the previous starts this season. Rating = 3

Batter Grind Down

Detroit

Miguel Cabrera – Vargas has been a bit of a reverse splits pitcher during his career, but has always allowed the majority of the power against him from RH batters. Last year, he allowed righties to SLG .424 against him, which means Miggy is in a great spot this afternoon.

Kansas City

Salvador Perez – Verlander is allowing RH bats a .325 wOBA against him this year. Salvy is 11 for 24 off of Verlander and makes for a good cheap catcher due to recent struggles.

Seattle at Houston

Seattle Houston
Brandon Maurer Vegas Moneyline Collin McHugh Vegas Over/Under
RIGHT HOU (-110) RIGHT 8.5
Stats Avg OPS wOBA K% Stats Avg OPS wOBA K%
SP vs. Left 0.326 0.923 0.398 15.5% SP vs. Left 0.272 0.752 0.335 22.4%
SP vs. Right 0.289 0.773 0.355 20.2% SP vs. Right 0.338 0.872 0.375 9.9%
Batter Splits SEA BvP pop up 2 SEA vs R pop up 2 Batter Splits HOU BvP pop up 2 HOU vs R pop up 2
Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window

Pitcher Grind Down

Brandon Maurer – Maurer is getting his 3rd start of the season and is really not making the best of his chance to be in the rotation. His first start he only gave up 1 earned run, but only made it 4.1 innings and his second start he was rocked for 5 earned runs. He hasn’t gotten his pitch count over 75 this season and should be avoided everywhere. Rating = 2

Collin McHugh – I really don’t know what to say about this guy and his first two starts. The Oakland game was really surprising to me and has resulted in McHugh holding a 0.59 ERA with 19 strikeouts in just 15.2 innings. Vegas seems to still not be a believer as he is only a small favorite, but is one of the best value catchers on the board for a GPP play. Rating = 6

Batter Grind Down

Seattle

Robinson Cano – If anyone can figure out McHugh quickly, it would be Cano. He is starting to heat up with 4 multi hit games in his last 8.

Houston

Dexter Fowler – Fowler really struggled during mid-April, but is slowly getting his average back to his career number. He is getting on base at least once a game lately and should have a lot of opportunities today against Maurer and his 1.50 WHIP* Additional Plays: Jason Castro *Marc
Krause

Baltimore at Minnesota

Baltimore Minnesota
Miguel Gonzalez Vegas Moneyline Phil Hughes Vegas Over/Under
RIGHT MIN (-110) RIGHT 8.5
Stats Avg OPS wOBA K% Stats Avg OPS wOBA K%
SP vs. Left 0.239 0.690 0.309 17.9% SP vs. Left 0.285 0.830 0.363 19.5%
SP vs. Right 0.258 0.760 0.336 16.2% SP vs. Right 0.301 0.806 0.355 19.0%
Batter Splits BAL BvP pop up 2 BAL vs R pop up 2 Batter Splits MIN BvP pop up 2 MIN vs R pop up 2
Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window

Miguel Gonzalez – Gonzalez has not looked like any type of starter that you will want to use for fantasy purposes. He sports a 5.19 ERA and has not gone past 6 innings in any of his 5 starts. He is facing a Minnesota team that has put up the 5th most runs in the league so far. Rating = 3

Phil Hughes – Hughes is coming off a surprisingly good start against a tough Tigers team. Prior to that start though, he had given up 15 earned runs in 4 starts and allowing hitters a .292 AVG against him. Baltimore still has a decent offense without Crush Davis making me avoid Hughes today. Rating = 3

Batter Grind Down

Baltimore

Nick Markakis – He is still mid-priced and is batting in the 3rd spot in a lineup that should score a lot of runs today.

Minnesota

Brian Dozier – Gonzalez has really struggled to get RH bats out this year (.356 AVG) and Dozier has been hitting very well lately. Minnesota will put up some runs today and Dozier should have a big part in it.

Additional Plays: Joe Mauer Chris Colabello Jason Kubel

Washington at Philadelphia

Washington Philadelphia
Gio Gonzalez Vegas Moneyline Roberto Hernandez Vegas Over/Under
LEFT WAS (-103) RIGHT 7.0
Stats Avg OPS wOBA K% Stats Avg OPS wOBA K%
SP vs. Left 0.208 0.589 0.267 26.5% SP vs. Left 0.291 0.854 0.386 16.9%
SP vs. Right 0.234 0.677 0.304 23.1% SP vs. Right 0.268 0.701 0.320 19.5%
Batter Splits WSN BvP pop up 2 WSN vs R pop up 2 Batter Splits PHI BvP pop up 2 PHI vs L pop up 2
Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window

Pitcher Grind Down

Gio Gonzalez – Gio has been tough to predict and tough to make value yet this year. He is priced as an Ace, but has only gone over 6 innings pitched once so far this year, but is striking guys out at a 9.50 K/9. He has the stuff and has a great matchup due to the heavy hitters of the Phillies being lefty. He makes a good play in all leagues today. Rating = 8

Roberto Hernandez – Roberto is getting the start today and has really struggled so far this season. He has a 5.74 ERA and 1.54 WHIP and will have to pitch a gem in order to get the win. Rating = 3

Batter Grind Down

Washington

Adam LaRoche – Hernandez has given up a .386 wOBA to LH batters this year and LaRoche has been playing very good baseball as of late. He is hitting LH pitching for .325 so far this year and makes a great 1st basemen that maybe not everyone will be on due to not having the name power of some of the others.

Philadelphia

I really think Gio has a strong start today and will be avoiding Philly bats.

Pitcher Grind Down

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.