MLB Grind Down: Tuesday, April 1st - Page 2
Atlanta at Milwaukee
| Atlanta | Milwaukee | ||||||||
| Alex Wood | Vegas Moneyline | Kyle Lohse | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| LEFT | MIL (-112) | RIGHT | 8.0 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.267 | 0.605 | 0.280 | 29.3% | SP vs. Left | 0.256 | 0.723 | 0.320 | 16.9% |
| SP vs. Right | 0.261 | 0.685 | 0.310 | 21.1% | SP vs. Right | 0.262 | 0.667 | 0.296 | 14.3% |
| Batter Splits | ATL BvP  | ATL vs R | Batter Splits | MIL BvP | MIL vs L | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
- Alex Wood – Wood had a very solid rookie campaign last season and will look to build on that this season. Wood posted a 3.13 ERA last season, but was much more effective as a reliever than he was a starter. His WHIP was fairly high at 1.33, but he did have a nice K-rate of 9/9 IP. Wood is the slight underdog tonight against the Brewers in Miller Park in a game that features a total of 8 runs. With Braun back in the lineup, the Brewers have a lot of power from the right side of the plate and with Miller Park being one of the most HR friendly stadiums in the majors, I don’t love the matchup for Wood. Rating = 5
- Kyle Lohse – Lohse got off to a rocky start last season, but had an ERA under 3.00 in his last 13 starts. During that stretch he held opponents to a .256 batting average. Lohse has very limited upside though as his K-rate last season was only 5.7/9 IP. In daily fantasy baseball, strike-outs and wins are King for starting pitchers and Lohse isn’t guaranteed either of those tonight. The Braves also have a lot of solid LH bats and Lohse gave up a .330 wOBA to LH hitters last season. Of the two pitchers here, I give Lohse the edge, but I think there are better options out there. Rating = 5
Batter Grind Down
Atlanta
- Freddie Freeman – Lohse gave up a .330 wOBA and 14 of his 26 HR’s to LH bats last season so you want to heavily target the LH bats of the Braves tonight. Freeman got off to a slow start yesterday, but hit .334 against RH pitching last season with an OPS of .958. He has incredible power against RH pitching and his price is affordable across the industry.
- Jason Heyward – Heyward is another lefty that you should be targeting tonight. He is batting leadoff which often results in an extra at-bat. There are few lead-off batters in the majors with as much power as Heyward has. Miller Park is a very HR friendly ball park and Lohse had a tough time keeping the ball in play last season. That’s a great combination for Heyward tonight.
- Additional Plays: Justin Upton, Chris Johnson
Milwaukee
- Ryan Braun – Let me give you a quick rundown of Braun’s numbers against LH pitching: .364 batting average, 1.05 OPS, and 12 XBH’s in 79 at bats last season. Braun also has the home splits in his favor as he hit .323 at home last season compared to only .265 on the road. Braun is one of my favorite plays if you can afford him.
- Carlos Gomez – Gomez is a much cheaper option than Braun, but hits lefties just as well and also gives you the added bonus of a potential stolen base or two. Gomez hit .315 against LH pitching last season with 27 XBH’s. Gomez also stole 40 bases and could be in for even more this season as he is now batting lead-off.
- Additional Plays: Jonathan Lucroy
San Francisco at Arizona
| San Francisco | Arizona | ||||||||
| Matt Cain | Vegas Moneyline | Wade Miley | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| RIGHT | SFG (-107) | LEFT | 8.5 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.215 | 0.636 | 0.290 | 21.8% | SP vs. Left | 0.272 | 0.692 | 0.311 | 16.2% |
| SP vs. Right | 0.239 | 0.695 | 0.309 | 20.0% | SP vs. Right | 0.259 | 0.727 | 0.326 | 17.6% |
| Batter Splits | SFG BvP | SFG vs L | Batter Splits | ARI BvP | ARI vs R | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
- Matt Cain – Cain had one of those rare seasons last year where his ERA was not at all reflective of the way he pitched. He posted an ERA over 4.00 last season, yet his WHIP was 1.157 and he held opponents to a .228 batting average. Balls that were hit hard against Cain always seemed to go for extra bases and he just couldn’t seem to get that last out to end the inning before teams scored a few runs. I expect a huge bounce back season from Cain this year. In two starts against the D-Backs in Chase Field last season, Cain posted a 3.46 ERA with 10 K’s over 13 innings. Cain is a small favorite here and I think he gets started off on the right foot. Rating = 7
- Wade Miley – Miley posted a 3.55 ERA last season with a 1.32 WHIP and a K-rate of 6.5/9 IP. Miley’s numbers dipped in his home starts as Chase Field is known as a hitter’s ballpark. Miley did have some success against this Giants lineup though. In 3 starts against them last season, he posted a 3.06 ERA with 14 K’s over 17 innings pitched. Miley is a pretty cheap option across the industry, but Miley gave up a .326 wOBA to RH hitters last season and he may have some trouble with the 3 P’s tonight: Posey, Pence, and Pablo. Rating = 5
Batter Grind Down
San Francisco
- Buster Posey – Miley struggled against RH bats last season and he struggle in Chase Field. Both bode well for Posey and the Giants tonight. Posey has always hit LH pitching well and last season was no different. Posey hit for a .320 batting average and an OPS of .891 against lefties. Posey also homered to put the Giants on top last night and should make another terrific play tonight.
- Hunter Pence – Pence is one of those players that often gets overlooked in daily fantasy baseball. I’m not sure if it’s because of his high price tag or just the fact that he can be inconsistent. Pence hit .309 against LH pitching last season with a .976 OPS. I like the matchup and the upside for Pence tonight.
- Additional Plays: Angel Pagan, Pablo Sandoval
Arizona
- Matt Cain was actually better against LH bats than he was against RH bats last season so targeting the lefty/righty matchup for the D-Backs may not be the best route to take. Cain has not been particularly sharp in Spring ball, but there aren’t any plays that stand out to me in this one.
Seattle at LA Angels
| Seattle | LA Angels | ||||||||
| Erasmo Ramirez | Vegas Moneyline | C.J. Wilson | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| RIGHT | LAA (-170) | LEFT | 7.5 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.286 | 0.781 | 0.348 | 15.6% | SP vs. Left | 0.169 | 0.480 | 0.223 | 28.4% |
| SP vs. Right | 0.254 | 0.734 | 0.326 | 21.3% | SP vs. Right | 0.268 | 0.729 | 0.332 | 18.4% |
| Batter Splits | SEA BvP | SEA vs L | Batter Splits | LAA BvP | LAA vs R | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
- Erasmo Ramirez – Ramirez is the cheapest starting pitcher tonight on most fantasy sites. While I’d like to tell you that there is value here, I just don’t see it. Ramirez posted a 4.98 ERA last season while letting opponents hit for a .273 batting average and an OPS of .772. Ramirez struggled against LH and RH bats last season and is a big underdog tonight against the Angels who have plenty of firepower in their lineup. I’ll be avoiding Ramirez even in GPP’s. Rating = 2
- C.J. Wilson – Wilson was two different pitchers last season. He was dominant at home where he posted a 2.55 ERA while holding opponents to a .220 batting average. On the road, he did not fare quite as well as he posted a 4.13 ERA and gave up a .267 batting average. The good news is that this game will be played at home. Wilson posted a solid K-rate last season of 7.9/9 IP and had great success against this Mariners lineup last season. In 4 starts against them, he posted an ERA of 2.20 with 31 K’s over 28 innings pitched. Rating = 9
Batter Grind Down
Seattle
- C.J. Wilson held LH batters to a .223 wOBA last season which is pretty incredible. A .223 average would be solid if we were talking about regular batting average. The Mariners lineup is stacked with LH bats and that does not bode well for their fantasy value tonight. With Wilson being one of the top pitching options on the board, I’ll likely be avoiding all M’s bats in cash games.
- Additional Plays: Abraham Almonte
L.A. Angels
- Josh Hamilton – The Angels are one of my favorite teams to target tonight and made my list of Top Stacks for tonight’s game. Ramirez gave up a .348 wOBA to LH batters last season and the power bats of the Angels should be in for big nights. You may want to avoid Hamilton on sites that negate for strike-outs, but I love him everywhere else.
- Mike Trout – It’s hard to argue with a player that has as much speed and pop as Trout does. Trout is just as likely to hit a HR as he is to steal a base. He crushes RH and LH pitching and homered off of Felix Hernandez last night. Trout is the most expensive hitter on most fantasy sites tonight, but is worth it if you can afford him.
- Kole Calhoun – Calhoun is another LH bat that you may want to target tonight. He hit .262 against RH pitching last season and is now batting leadoff for the Angels. If he can manage to get on base, the bats behind him will do the rest. I think this could be a multi-hit, multi-run type of game for Calhoun.
- Additional Plays: Albert Pujols, Raul Ibanez, Howie Kendrick
Cleveland at Oakland
| Cleveland | Oakland | ||||||||
| Corey Kluber | Vegas Moneyline | Scott Kazmir | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| RIGHT | OAK (-137) | LEFT | 7.0 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.278 | 0.743 | 0.331 | 22.0% | SP vs. Left | 0.226 | 0.573 | 0.253 | 24.6% |
| SP vs. Right | 0.264 | 0.692 | 0.309 | 22.8% | SP vs. Right | 0.275 | 0.787 | 0.349 | 23.9% |
| Batter Splits | CLE BvP | CLE vs L | Batter Splits | OAK BvP | OAK vs R | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
- Corey Kluber – If you are new to daily fantasy baseball, you have likely never heard of either of these pitchers. They aren’t exactly house-hold names. Kluber really flew under the radar last season despite posting a 3.85 ERA with a K-rate of 8.3/9 IP. Kluber posted a few shutouts last season and was always under-owned because everyone kept waiting for him to come crashing back down to Earth. This could be a decent night to target him as a tournament play. The total for this game is only set at 7 runs and if he can get some run support, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him pick up a win. Rating = 6
- Scott Kazmir – Kazmir will make his first start as a member of the A’s as he played for the Indians last season (revenge game anyone?). Kazmir is coming off of his best season in 5 years, but still posted pretty pedestrian numbers across the board. He had an ERA over 4.00, he gave up a .262 batting average, and he gave up 19 HR’s. The one stat in his favor is his K-rate from a year ago which was just over 9/9 IP. I see Kazmir as a tournament play tonight, but he is much too risky to trust in cash games. Starting Kazmir in cash games always makes you feel a bit queasy once lineups lock. Rating = 5
Batter Grind Down
Cleveland
- Carlos Santana – Kazmir gave up a wOBA of .349 to RH batters last season which is a full hundred % points higher than that of his wOBA to LH batters. Santana has always hit lefties well and will be batting clean-up tonight. He’s my favorite play here by far.
- Additional Plays: Ryan Raburn, Nick Swisher
Oakland
- Brandon Moss – Kluber’s biggest weakness is against LH batters and the A’s have plenty of them to throw at him tonight. While I like Kluber as a GPP play, I could easily see the A’s jumping on him early. Moss hit 26 of his 30 HR’s last season against RH pitching and should be batting clean-up tonight. His price puts him very much in play tonight.
- Additional Plays: Coco Crisp, Josh Reddick, John Jaso