MLB Grind Down: Thursday, May 22nd - Page 2
Cleveland at Baltimore
| Cleveland | Baltimore | ||||||||
| Justin Masterson | Vegas Moneyline | Wei-Yin Chen | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| RIGHT | BAL (-130) | LEFT | 8.5 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.318 | 0.898 | – | – | SP vs. Left | 0.279 | 0.751 | 0.333 | 17.4% |
| SP vs. Right | 0.186 | 0.560 | – | – | SP vs. Right | 0.281 | 0.759 | 0.334 | 17.8% |
| Batter Splits | CLE BvP  | CLE vs L | Batter Splits | BAL BvP | BAL vs R | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
Justin Masterson – Josh Tomlin was scheduled to start tonight, but it looks like Masterson will be on the mound for the Indians. Masterson, is not a recommended pitcher though as he has given up 5+ runs in 3 of his last 5 starts. The Orioles are ranked 13th against RH pitching this season with a team .313 wOBA. With Chris “Crush” Davis back in this lineup, it’s safe to avoid Masterson in all leagues. Rating = 4
Wei-Yin Chen – Chen is a pretty decent favorite in this game, but is not one of my favorite plays. He has a 3.89 ERA on the season and is not considered a high strikeout pitcher with only 33 K’s over 46 innings of work. The Indians are one of the worst teams in baseball against LH pitching, but Chen has not been great against LH batters which hurts his value against this Indians’ lineup. Rating = 5
Batter Grind Down
Cleveland
Ryan Raburn – Raburn was terrific for the Indians last season and it finally looks like he is starting to heat up. His price is close to minimum salary across the board and he is always in the middle of the order against LH pitching.
Additional Plays: Michael Brantley, Yan Gomes
Baltimore
Chris Davis – Davis hit 3 HR’s the other night against the Pirates and followed it up with another solid outing last night. He has always had great power against RH pitching and I like the matchup against the RHP Masterson who has struggled with LHB’s in his career.
Additional Plays: Nelson Cruz, Manny Machado
Washington at Pittsburgh
| Washington | Pittsburgh | ||||||||
| Blake Treinen | Vegas Moneyline | Edinson Volquez | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| RIGHT | PIT (-114) | RIGHT | 7.5 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.455 | 0.933 | 0.416 | 8.7% | SP vs. Left | 0.290 | 0.833 | 0.367 | 17.0% |
| SP vs. Right | 0.267 | 0.590 | 0.264 | 22.6% | SP vs. Right | 0.260 | 0.730 | 0.330 | 17.6% |
| Batter Splits | WSN BvP | WSN vs R | Batter Splits | PIT BvP | PIT vs R | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
Blake Treinen – Treinen is a nice young RHP, but he has very little big league experience. He has yet to pitch more than 5 innings in any of his big league appearances and I think there is more risk than reward with him tonight against the Pirates in PNC Park. Rating = 4
Edison Volquez – Volquez pitched well at the start of the season, but is starting to resemble the Volquez that we have come to know and expect over the last few seasons. He has a 4.71 ERA on the season with a low K/9 of only 5.1. While this Nationals’ offense is ranked 22nd against RH pitching, Volquez is not a recommended play tonight unless his price is extremely cheap. Rating = 5
Batter Grind Down
Washington
Anthony Rendon – Since the start of last season Volquez has given up a .330 wOBA to RH batters. Rendon has shown nice power against both RH and LH pitching and I think he makes a nice play at 2B tonight.
Additional Plays: Denard Span
Pittsburgh
Andrew McCutchen – Cutch is batting .301 against RH pitching this season and is batting .348 at home. Cutch has nice power and good speed as well. I love him on sites that have him priced down.
Additional Plays: Pedro Alvarez, Starling Marte
LA Dodgers at NY Mets
| LA Dodgers | NY Mets | ||||||||
| Zack Greinke | Vegas Moneyline | Jonathon Niese | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| RIGHT | LAD (-138) | LEFT | 6.5 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.251 | 0.702 | 0.316 | 20.5% | SP vs. Left | 0.224 | 0.588 | 0.269 | 19.4% |
| SP vs. Right | 0.218 | 0.577 | 0.265 | 24.2% | SP vs. Right | 0.289 | 0.746 | 0.334 | 16.6% |
| Batter Splits | LAD BvP | LAD vs L | Batter Splits | NYM BvP | NYM vs R | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
Zack Greinke – Greinke is one of the top pitching options on the board tonight. He has a 2.03 ERA this season with a 1.13 WHIP and a K/9 of 10.3. He has a terrific matchup against the Mets who are ranked dead last against RH pitching this season with a team .276 wOBA. He’s a great play in all leagues tonight. Rating = 9
Jonathon Niese – Niese has really pitched well at Citi Field over the last 2 seasons. In his last 18 starts at home he has an ERA under 2.70 with a pretty decent K-rate. He draws a tough matchup against the Dodgers though. Niese makes sense as a tournament play, but should be avoided in cash games. Rating = 5
Batter Grind Down
L.A. Dodgers
Hanley Ramirez – Ramirez has been good, but not great this season and his price across the industry reflects that. He has a nice matchup against the LHP Niese who has given up a .334 wOBA to RH batters since the start of 2013.
Additional Plays: Yasiel Puig, Dee Gordon
N.Y. Mets
This is not a great matchup for the Mets. They are ranked 30th against RH pitching this season and face one of the best RHP pitchers in baseball. You can safely avoid all Mets’ hitters.
Milwaukee at Atlanta
| Milwaukee | Atlanta | ||||||||
| Matt Garza | Vegas Moneyline | Aaron Harang | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| RIGHT | ATL (-128) | RIGHT | 7.0 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.271 | 0.737 | 0.331 | 20.3% | SP vs. Left | 0.257 | 0.768 | 0.339 | 16.7% |
| SP vs. Right | 0.234 | 0.651 | 0.294 | 20.7% | SP vs. Right | 0.261 | 0.713 | 0.316 | 23.8% |
| Batter Splits | MIL BvP | MIL vs R | Batter Splits | ATL BvP | ATL vs R | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
Matt Garza – Garza has not been great this season. His ERA (4.83) and WHIP (1.35) are both up from his numbers in the last few seasons. He is still a high strikeout pitcher, but is a GPP option at best tonight against a Braves’ offense that has been heating up over the last week of play. The upside is there, but so is the risk. Rating = 5
Aaron Harang – Harang has only had 1 start this season where he has given up more than 2 earned runs. He has pitched very well for the Braves and draws a decent matchup against the Brewers who are ranked 23rd against RH pitching with a team .299 wOBA. It can be hard to trust the Harangatang, but he is in play on multi-pitcher sites. Rating = 6
Batter Grind Down
Milwaukee
While I don’t dislike the Brewers’ bats tonight, I’m not crazy about them either. Harang has been very good against RH batters this season which hurts the Brewers’ fantasy value as a team.
Atlanta
Freddie Freeman – Freeman is always in play against RH pitching. He is batting .314 with an OPS of .914 against righties this season. It also doesn’t hurt that Freeman has been locked in with 3 HR’s over his last 8 games.
Additional Plays: Jason Heyward, Chris Johnson
Arizona at St. Louis
| Arizona | St. Louis | ||||||||
| Wade Miley | Vegas Moneyline | Lance Lynn | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| LEFT | STL (-155) | RIGHT | 7.5 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.262 | 0.705 | 0.318 | 17.6% | SP vs. Left | 0.263 | 0.757 | 0.343 | 18.2% |
| SP vs. Right | 0.258 | 0.734 | 0.327 | 17.8% | SP vs. Right | 0.242 | 0.624 | 0.286 | 26.8% |
| Batter Splits | ARI BvP | ARI vs R | Batter Splits | STL BvP | STL vs L | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
Wade Miley – Miley hasn’t been great this season with a 4.94 ERA , a 1.26 WHIP, and a K/9 of 7.1. While the Cardinals are ranked 28th against LH pitching this season, their offense has started to come alive over the last week and I think their offense is actually in a pretty good spot tonight. Miley will have a hard time picking up a win with Lynn pitching for the Cards. Rating = 4
Lance Lynn – Lynn has been very good at home in his career. While he has an ERA of 5.00 at Busch Stadium this season, that sample size is only over 3 starts. This Cardinals’ rotation has had great success against the D-Backs so far in this series and I think Lynn keeps it going tonight. Rating = 7
Batter Grind Down
Arizona
There aren’t any options that stand out here. Once again, use Paul Goldschmidt as a GPP play and avoid the rest of the D-Backs’ offense.
St. Louis
Yadier Molina – Molina is great against both LH and RH pitching. He is my go-to option at catcher when there are few options on the board. He has a nice matchup against Miley who has given up a .327 wOBA to RH batters since the start of 2013.
Additional Plays: Matt Holliday, Jhonny Peralta, Allen Craig