MLB Grind Down: Tuesday, April 29th - Page 3
LA Dodgers at Minnesota
| LA Dodgers | Minnesota | ||||||||
| Zack Greinke | Vegas Moneyline | Kyle Gibson | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| RIGHT | LAD (-152) | RIGHT | 7.5 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.255 | 0.723 | 0.325 | 20.9% | SP vs. Left | 0.345 | 0.845 | 0.382 | 9.5% |
| SP vs. Right | 0.209 | 0.554 | 0.253 | 24.1% | SP vs. Right | 0.254 | 0.713 | 0.324 | 17.0% |
| Batter Splits | LAD BvP  | LAD vs R | Batter Splits | MIN BvP | MIN vs R | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
Zack Greinke – Greinke is close to unhittable at home, but his numbers have slightly dipped in his road starts. This season he has posted a 2.45 ERA with a 0.99 WHIP and a K/9 of 12.4. Even though this is a road start, I expect Greinke to mow through this lineup. He is a big favorite and has a very high ceiling thanks to his high K-rate. Greinke should also get some run support with Gibson on the mount opposite him. Rating = 9
Kyle Gibson – Gibson was rocked by the Rays in his last start. He gave up 10 hits and 7 earned runs in only 3 innings. Gibson’s biggest problem is LH batters as he gave up a .382 wOBA to LH batters last season. The Dodgers lineup is full of LH batters and I think Gibson will struggle again tonight. Rating = 3
Batter Grind Down
L.A. Dodgers
Adrian Gonzalez – As mentioned above, Gibson has really struggled against batters from the left side of the plate. He is giving up a .353 batting average and an OPS of .822 to LH batter this season. Gonzalez has great power against RH pitching and has been locked in over the last 4 games with 3 HR’s.
Additional Plays: Dee Gordon, Carl Crawford
Minnesota
- Greinke is one of the best pitchers in baseball. You should not be targeting any Twins’ bats tonight. Joe Mauer has a nice average against RH pitching, but there are much better options at 1B tonight.
Milwaukee at St. Louis
| Milwaukee | St. Louis | ||||||||
| Kyle Lohse | Vegas Moneyline | Lance Lynn | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| RIGHT | STL (-155) | RIGHT | 7.0 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.256 | 0.728 | 0.322 | 17.7% | SP vs. Left | 0.264 | 0.771 | 0.348 | 18.4% |
| SP vs. Right | 0.245 | 0.620 | 0.276 | 15.5% | SP vs. Right | 0.241 | 0.627 | 0.286 | 27.9% |
| Batter Splits | MIL BvP | MIL vs R | Batter Splits | STL BvP | STL vs R | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
Kyle Loshe – Lohse has really pitched well this season with a 2.38 ERA and a 1.03 WHIP. The issue here is that he is facing a very tough Cardinals’ lineup. Lohse is a sizeable underdog and I typically don’t like to target starting pitchers that are large underdogs in my cash games. Rating = 5
Lance Lynn – Lynn has pitched well this season with a 3.30 ERA and a K/9 of 10.8. Last season Lynn had excellent splits in his home starts and even though that hasn’t been the case this season, he’s only made 1 start at home. Last season Lynn held RH batters to a .286 wOBA and the Brewers lineup is full of RH bats. Rating = 7
Batter Grind Down
Milwaukee
Scooter Gennett – Scooter is really the only Brewers player that is worth a look at tonight. Lynn is very average against LH batters and Scooter is batting .318 against RH pitching this season and is a nice punt play at 2B.
Additional Plays: None
St. Louis
Yadier Molina – Molina is a nice option at catcher tonight. He hits for a high average and he has good pop in his bat. Molina also has great numbers off of Lohse in his career as he is 9/16 with 3 HR’s off of him.
Additional Plays: Matt Carpenter
Colorado at Arizona
| Colorado | Arizona | ||||||||
| Tyler Chatwood | Vegas Moneyline | Mike Bolsinger | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| RIGHT | COL (-115) | RIGHT | 9.5 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.243 | 0.660 | 0.304 | 12.8% | SP vs. Left | 0.387 | 0.940 | 0.413 | 18.2% |
| SP vs. Right | 0.291 | 0.724 | 0.329 | 16.6% | SP vs. Right | 0.172 | 0.457 | 0.215 | 28.1% |
| Batter Splits | COL BvP | COL vs R | Batter Splits | ARI BvP | ARI vs R | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
Tyler Chatwood – Chatwood is a nice RH pitcher, but in terms of fantasy appeal, he is a below average option tonight against the D-Backs. Chatwood has a career K-rate of around 5.5 per 9 innings and will be pitching in hitter friendly Chase Field. Rating = 3
Mike Bolsinger – Bolsinger pitched well in his last start, but it was against the Cubs so we can’t give him too much credit. Bolsinger has only pitched in 3 major league games and has a 5.27 ERA with a 1.67 WHIP. The total is set at 9.5 runs and both pitchers should be avoided in this game. Rating = 3
Batter Grind Down
Colorado
Carlos Gonzalez – Gonzalez only has 3 hits in his last 7 games, but I think this is a terrific time to buy low on the All-Star. He has great power against RH pitching and he did manage to hit a double last night. I’m predicting Cargo to come out of his slump with a homer tonight.
Additional Plays: Troy Tulowitzki, Charlie Blackmon, Justin Morneau, Nolan Arenado
Arizona
Paul Goldschmidt – Goldschmidt is batting .308 with an OPS of .828 against RH pitching this season. He has also hit well at home with a .333 batting average. Goldy is typically targeted heavily against LH pitching, but he has great power against RH pitching too.
Additional Plays: Miguel Montero, Aaron Hill, Gerardo Parra
Cleveland at LA Angels
| Cleveland | LA Angels | ||||||||
| Corey Kluber | Vegas Moneyline | Jered Weaver | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| RIGHT | LAA (-138) | RIGHT | 7.5 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.280 | 0.743 | 0.330 | 21.8% | SP vs. Left | 0.225 | 0.629 | 0.286 | 19.3% |
| SP vs. Right | 0.268 | 0.694 | 0.309 | 22.7% | SP vs. Right | 0.247 | 0.711 | 0.313 | 16.7% |
| Batter Splits | CLE BvP | CLE vs R | Batter Splits | LAA BvP | LAA vs R | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
Corey Kluber – I’ve been talking up Kluber all season and when I finally start to change my mind, he goes out and throws a complete game shutout with 11 K’s against the Royals. Kluber makes a nice contrarian play tonight against the Angels and I will likely be using him on a few GPP teams. Rating = 6
Jered Weaver – Weaver is certainly not the pitcher that he used to be, but he has pitched well at home over the last 2 seasons. Weaver’s K-rate is down though and I don’t love the matchup against the Indians who lineup is full of LH batters. I think Kluber is the better play in this game. Rating = 5
Batter Grind Down
Cleveland
Carlos Santana – We’ve been waiting for a breakout game from Santana and it finally came last night against Skaggs. I expect him to keep that going tonight against Weaver. His price is extremely cheap across the industry and he makes a terrific punt plat at 3B.
Additional Plays: Jason Kipnis
L.A. Angels
Mike Trout – Trout is in play basically every night of the MLB season. He has as good of chance as hitting a HR as he does to steal a base. He hits RH pitching well, LH pitching well, and has great splits both at home and on the road. He has 6 hits in his last 3 games and is my top OF play tonight.
Additional Plays: Erick Aybar
San Diego at San Francisco
| San Diego | San Francisco | ||||||||
| Eric Stults | Vegas Moneyline | Matt Cain | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| LEFT | SFG (-160) | RIGHT | 6.5 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.204 | 0.573 | 0.256 | 17.3% | SP vs. Left | 0.206 | 0.617 | 0.281 | 21.7% |
| SP vs. Right | 0.302 | 0.784 | 0.344 | 13.9% | SP vs. Right | 0.254 | 0.740 | 0.327 | 19.6% |
| Batter Splits | SDP BvP | SDP vs R | Batter Splits | SFG BvP | SFG vs L | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
Eric Stults – Stults is a pitcher that struggles away from Petco Park. His numbers are largely deflated thanks to half of his starts being in the pitcher friendly Petco. Tonight he is a +150 underdog and I will be avoiding him in all leagues. Rating = 4
Matt Cain – Cain threw 8 scoresless innings against the Padres last week while striking out 8 batters. While his numbers on the season aren’t great, a large chunk of that was thanks to his start in Coors Field where he gave up 7 earned runs. Dollar for dollar, Cain is my favorite pitcher to target across the industry tonight. Rating = 9
Batter Grind Down
San Diego
- Cain pitched well against this team a short while ago and I expect a similar outing from him tonight. I’ll be avoiding all Padres’ bats.
San Francisco
Pablo Sandoval – I was going to put Hunter Pence here, but I switched to the Panda once I saw his career numbers against Stults. He is 12/24 with 4 XBH’s off of him. The Panda is cheap across the industry and this is a great time to buy low on the 3B.
Additional Plays: Hunter Pence, Buster Posey