MLB Grind Down: Thursday, August 7th Page Two
Houston at Philadelphia
| Houston | Philadelphia | ||||||||
| Collin McHugh | Vegas Moneyline | Roberto Hernandez | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| RIGHT | PHI (-120) | RIGHT | 8 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.211 | 0.637 | 0.286 | 24.90% | SP vs. Left | 0.209 | 0.654 | 0.300 | 8.50% |
| SP vs. Right | 0.186 | 0.622 | 0.278 | 30.30% | SP vs. Right | 0.249 | 0.741 | 0.323 | 18.80% |
| Batter Splits | HOU BvP  | HOU vs R | Batter Splits | PHI BvP | PHI vs R | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
- Collin McHugh – McHugh is having a breakout season. He’s posted a 3.32 ERA (3.30 xFIP) with a K/9 of 10.1. He’s held both LH and RH hitters under a .290 wOBA and he’s pitched extremely well on the road with a 1.96 ERA. The only issue that he has is that he tends to walk quite a few batters. If he can keep his walks in check, he should be in for a solid start against the Phillies who are ranked 29th in wOBA vs. RH pitching this season. Rating = 6
Salaries: $7200 FD, $16600 DD, $8400 DK, $83500 FF, $23000 SS, $16600 FTD
- Roberto Hernandez – Hernandez is an easy pitcher to avoid in daily fantasy baseball. He has a 4.58 xFIP and is averaging only 5.6 K’s per 9 innings while walking 4.1 batters per 9. Even against a strikeout happy Astros offense, I see him as a GPP play only tonight. Rating = 5.5
Salaries: $5700 FD, $13450 DD, $6200 DK, $80000 FF, $15800 SS, $10950 FTD
Batter Grind Down
Houston
Jose Altuve – Altuve is an on-base machine (.375 OBP) and once he gets on, he loves to be aggressive on the base pads (45 SB’s). He has a pretty decent matchup against Hernandez who tends to walk a lot of batters.
Additional Plays: Jason Castro
Philadelphia
Chase Utley – Utley is the one Phillies bat that I will have some exposure to tonight. He continues to mash RH pitching and has that short compact swing that allows him to put the ball in play the majority of the time. He’s coming off of a big game in last night’s win.
Additional Plays: None
Baltimore at Toronto
| Baltimore | Toronto | ||||||||
| Miguel Gonzalez | Vegas Moneyline | J.A. Happ | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| RIGHT | TOR (-105) | LEFT | 9 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.268 | 0.809 | 0.355 | 13.90% | SP vs. Left | 0.210 | 0.720 | 0.321 | 24.70% |
| SP vs. Right | 0.277 | 0.817 | 0.360 | 19.30% | SP vs. Right | 0.282 | 0.779 | 0.344 | 16.80% |
| Batter Splits | BAL BvP | BAL vs L | Batter Splits | TOR BvP | TOR vs R | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
- Miguel Gonzalez – Gonzalez is an average RH pitcher that has to face the best hitting team in baseball against RH pitching. If that wasn’t bad enough, how about the fact that he has to face them in the Rogers Centre which is one of the most hitter-friendly ballparks in all of baseball. I’ll pass on Gonzalez tonight. Rating = 3
Salaries: $5700 FD, $11100 DD, $6000 DK, $68800 FF, $14900 SS, $11100 FTD
- J.A. Happ – Happ hasn’t been terrible this season. He has a 4.34 ERA with a K/9 of 7.3. The issue is that he’s facing the Orioles in a very hitter-friendly environment. I expect this to be one of the highest scoring games on the schedule tonight and think that both pitchers are very risky investments. Rating = 4
Salaries: $6400 FD, $12200 DD, $6200 DK, $83000 FF, $17100 SS, $12200 FTD
Batter Grind Down
Baltimore
Adam Jones – Jones has one of the best matchups on the board in terms of wOBA. Jones is batting .372 with a .469 wOBA against LH pitching this season. Happ hasn’t been great against RH hitters and Jones also gets a nice ballpark boost in the Rogers Centre.
Additional Plays: Nelson Cruz, Manny Machado, Delmon Young
Toronto
Dioner Navarro – Gonzalez has given up a .355+ wOBA to both LH and RH hitters this season so batters from both sides of the plate are in play against Gonzalez. Navarro has hit RH pitching well this season and will likely be batting clean-up once again.
Additional Plays: Jose Reyes, Jose Bautista, Melky Cabrera, Colby Rasmus
Cleveland at Cincinnati
| Cleveland | Cincinnati | ||||||||
| T.J. House | Vegas Moneyline | Homer Bailey | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| LEFT | CIN (-125) | RIGHT | 7.5 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.256 | 0.656 | 0.291 | 21.00% | SP vs. Left | 0.274 | 0.779 | 0.346 | 16.40% |
| SP vs. Right | 0.322 | 0.882 | 0.388 | 13.60% | SP vs. Right | 0.228 | 0.673 | 0.298 | 22.80% |
| Batter Splits | CLE BvP | CLE vs R | Batter Splits | CIN BvP | CIN vs L | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
- T.J. House – House has pitched pretty well this season. He owns a 4.09 ERA (3.51 xFIP) with a K/9 of 6.4. He gets to face a depleted Reds offense tonight, but does have to face them in the HR-friendly Great American Ballpark. House is a small underdog here, but could make a nice contrarian play in tournaments. Rating = 5
Salaries: $5600 FD, $8900 DD, $5900 DK, $59400 FF, $NA SS, $8900 FTD
- Homer Bailey – Bailey has pitched well since the start of June, but this is a very tough matchup for him. The Indians lineup is littered with LH hitters and Bailey has given up a .345 wOBA to batters from the left side of the plate. The Indians are one of the best teams in baseball against RH pitching and I think you can find better bang for your buck with some of the other options on the mound tonight. Rating = 6
Salaries: $8300 FD, $15150 DD, $8300 DK, $88800 FF, $22600 SS, $15150 FTD
Batter Grind Down
Cleveland
Michael Brantley – Brantley is always a tough out and he’s a complete player. He has good power, good speed, and he’s been swinging a hot bat with 12 hits over his last 7 games. He also sees a small ballpark boost in Great American.
Additional Plays: Carlos Santana, Jason Kipnis
Cincinnati
Todd Frazier – Frazier is one of my favorite plays tonight, especially on FD where his price is so cheap. House has given up a .388 wOBA to RH hitters this season and Frazier can score fantasy points in multiple ways with nice speed and good power.
Additional Plays: Devin Mesoraco, Chris Heisey
Boston at St. Louis
| Boston | St. Louis | ||||||||
| Brandon Workman | Vegas Moneyline | Adam Wainwright | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| RIGHT | STL (-185) | RIGHT | 7 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.229 | 0.699 | 0.311 | 18.50% | SP vs. Left | 0.233 | 0.624 | 0.275 | 22.40% |
| SP vs. Right | 0.198 | 0.634 | 0.283 | 16.80% | SP vs. Right | 0.190 | 0.526 | 0.237 | 19.40% |
| Batter Splits | BOS BvP | BOS vs R | Batter Splits | STL BvP | STL vs R | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
- Brandon Workman – Workman is in a tough spot tonight. With Wainwright on the mound for the Cardinals, he’ll likely see little to no run support. He’s a huge underdog and he doesn’t strike out enough batters to make up for the runs that he’s likely going to give up. Rating = 4
Salaries: $5000 FD, $11450 DD, $6300 DK, $44600 FF, $13000 SS, $NA FTD
- Adam Wainwright – Wainwright is pitching like he is hurt. The Cardinals have yet to say anything like that, but he just doesn’t look like the dominant Wainwright that we’ve seen all year. At this point, I’m not going to pay up for him. Rating = 6
Salaries: $9800 FD, $20400 DD, $9500 DK, $113000 FF, $28100 SS, $20400 FTD
Batter Grind Down
Boston
Even though I’m not going to be paying up for Wainwright, I’m not going to be targeting any batters against him either.
St. Louis
Matt Carpenter – Carpenter is starting to heat up with 12 hits over his last 9 games. He is a high OBP guy that always makes a nice cash game play thanks to his high floor.
Additional Plays: Matt Adams
Kansas City at Arizona
| Kansas City | Arizona | ||||||||
| Jeremy Guthrie | Vegas Moneyline | Vidal Nuno | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| RIGHT | KCR (-110) | LEFT | 8.5 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.288 | 0.827 | 0.363 | 15.60% | SP vs. Left | 0.215 | 0.685 | 0.306 | 20.80% |
| SP vs. Right | 0.250 | 0.664 | 0.300 | 14.50% | SP vs. Right | 0.270 | 0.807 | 0.350 | 17.50% |
| Batter Splits | KCR BvP | KCR vs L | Batter Splits | ARI BvP | ARI vs R | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
- Jeremy Guthrie – Guthrie faces a depleted D-Backs offense tonight, but is a hard pitcher to trust in daily fantasy. He has an average ERA, average K-rate, and he’s giving up 1.24 HR’s per 9 innings. I’ll be avoiding him again tonight. Rating = 5
Salaries: $6000 FD, $11000 DD, $5800 DK, $62900 FF, $16300 SS, $11000 FTD
- Vidal Nuno – Nuno owns a 4.78 ERA on the season and faces a Royals offense that has had a great series against the D-Backs pitching staff. The Royals strike out fewer than any team in baseball which really limits Nuno’s upside tonight. Rating = 5
Salaries: $5700 FD, $11900 DD, $6000 DK, $52800 FF, $15100 SS, $11900 FTD
Batter Grind Down
Kansas City
Salvador Perez – Nuno has given up a .350 wOBA to RH hitters this season and Perez has historically done very well against LH pitching. He also sees a nice ballpark boost in Chase Field.
Additional Plays: Omar Infante, Lorenzo Cain, Billy Butler
Arizona
Ender Inciarte – Inciarte is one of my favorite value plays tonight. Guthrie has always struggled with LH hitters and Inciarte offers nice upside for the price. He’s very affordable on both DK and FD.
Additional Plays: Miguel Montero, David Peralta