MLB Grind Down: Tuesday, April 8th - Page 2
San Diego at Cleveland
| San Diego | Cleveland | ||||||||
| Tyson Ross | Vegas Moneyline | Corey Kluber | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| RIGHT | CLE (-134) | RIGHT | 8.0 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.252 | 0.689 | 0.323 | 18.9% | SP vs. Left | 0.278 | 0.743 | 0.331 | 22.0% |
| SP vs. Right | 0.198 | 0.537 | 0.249 | 28.2% | SP vs. Right | 0.264 | 0.692 | 0.309 | 22.8% |
| Batter Splits | SDP BvP  | SDP vs R | Batter Splits | CLE BvP | CLE vs R | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
- Tyson Ross – Ross really struggled on the road last season. Compared to his numbers at home, his ERA and WHIP were almost double. He is a high strikeout pitcher as he posted a K/9 of 8.6 last season, but the Indians are a tough lineup to target a pitcher against because they can string together hits and have those big innings that absolutely kills a pitcher’s fantasy value. Rating = 4
- Corey Kluber – Kluber is hoping to bounce back after a rough start against the A’s. We did warn you that he is a much different pitcher outside of Progressive Field. Last season Kluber posted a 2.76 ERA with a 1.16 WHIP and a K/9 of 8.3 at home. I fully expect him to mow through this Padres lineup tonight. His price on DS may be a bit high, but he makes a nice play on the other major sites across the industry. Rating = 8
Batter Grind Down
San Diego
- If you are going to target any batters here, you should target the LH batters as Kluber gave up a .331 wOBA to LH batters last season. Personally, I will likely to have little to no exposure to the Padres bats today.
- Additional Plays: None
Cleveland
- Jason Kipnis – Ross gave up a .323 wOBA to LH batters last season and Kipnis has really hit the ball well early in the season. While he only has a .227 average, he has hit a lot of balls hard and it’s only a matter of time before they find the gaps.
- Additional Plays: Carlos Santana, Michael Brantley
Houston at Toronto
| Houston | Toronto | ||||||||
| Brett Oberholtzer | Vegas Moneyline | Mark Buehrle | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| LEFT | TOR (-168) | LEFT | 8.5 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.280 | 0.733 | 0.325 | 12.9% | SP vs. Left | 0.256 | 0.701 | 0.323 | 15.1% |
| SP vs. Right | 0.219 | 0.617 | 0.271 | 16.3% | SP vs. Right | 0.283 | 0.757 | 0.335 | 16.1% |
| Batter Splits | HOU BvP | HOU vs L | Batter Splits | TOR BvP | TOR vs L | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
- Brett Oberholtzer – There isn’t much to like about Oberholtzer today. He does not have a very high K-rate (5.7), he is pitching on the road against a tough Blue Jays lineup, and he is one of the biggest underdogs on the board (+160). Avoid him in all leagues tonight. Rating = 2
- Mark Buehrle – Buehrle looked great in his first start of the season. He dominated the Rays lineup with 11 K’s and was one out away from a complete game shutout. Buehrle pitched well at home last season with a 3.36 ERA and faces an Astros team that had trouble against another lefty (Wilson) yesterday. Buehrle should be in line for a win and he makes a solid play tonight. Rating = 7
Batter Grind Down
Houston
- Chris Carter – Carter is worth a look as a deep GPP play. He has hit LH pitching well in his career and has good power. He could be one of those minimum salary players that hits a HR and is a difference maker in a GPP.
- Additional Plays: Jose Altuve
Toronto
- Jose Bautista – Joey Bats is once again off to a slow start. He is not a player that is going to hit for a high average, but he has a ton of power. He already has 3 HR’s this season and had 13 XBH’s against LH pitching last season.
- Edwin Encarnacion – E5 is a player that always seems to go overlooked in daily fantasy baseball. Last season he hit for a .858 OPS against LH pitching though and I really like the matchup for him against Oberholtzer. Take advantage of his cheap price tag today.
- Additional Plays: Melky Cabrera
NY Mets at Atlanta
| NY Mets | Atlanta | ||||||||
| Bartolo Colon | Vegas Moneyline | Aaron Harang | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| RIGHT | ATL (-138) | RIGHT | 7.5 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.261 | 0.679 | 0.297 | 14.1% | SP vs. Left | 0.259 | 0.791 | 0.346 | 15.1% |
| SP vs. Right | 0.268 | 0.636 | 0.281 | 16.5% | SP vs. Right | 0.276 | 0.778 | 0.343 | 21.4% |
| Batter Splits | NYM BvP | NYM vs R | Batter Splits | ATL BvP | ATL vs R | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
- Bartolo Colon – It’s hard to believe that a 39 year old Fatolo Colon posted a 2.65 ERA last season, but the numbers don’t lie. Colon gave up 9 hits in his first start though and now has to face a tough Braves lineup that really hits RH pitching well. I see some value in him as a contrarian play in a tournament, but he should be avoided in cash games. Rating = 4
- Aaron Harang – Harangutan is a pitcher that I have a very tough time relying on. Last season he posted a 5.40 ERA. He pitched well in his first start this season and does have a decent matchup against the Mets. That said, there are at least 10 other pitchers that I would target before him today. Rating = 5
Batter Grind Down
New York
- Curtis Granderson – Harang gave up a .346 wOBA to LH batters last season and Granderson has great power against RH pitching. Over the last 3 seasons, Granderson has an OPS of .843 against RH pitching and has hit 65% of his HR’s off of righties.
- Additional Plays: Lucas Duda, David Wright
Atlanta
- Freddie Freeman – Freeman is a lot like Brandon Moss in that when he is facing an average RH pitcher, I will be heavily targeting them that day. Freeman is off to a hot start this season and crushed RH pitching to a tune of a .334 average and an OPS of .958 last season.
- Additional Plays: Jason Heyward
Pittsburgh at Chicago Cubs
| Pittsburgh | Chicago Cubs | ||||||||
| Charlie Morton | Vegas Moneyline | Edwin Jackson | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| RIGHT | PIT (-125) | RIGHT | 8.5 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.314 | 0.784 | 0.382 | 17.0% | SP vs. Left | 0.294 | 0.803 | 0.366 | 19.8% |
| SP vs. Right | 0.222 | 0.536 | 0.249 | 17.4% | SP vs. Right | 0.270 | 0.734 | 0.325 | 15.4% |
| Batter Splits | PIT BvP | PIT vs R | Batter Splits | CHC BvP | CHC vs R | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
- Charlie Morton – Morton is a much better pitcher in the comfort of his own home (PNC Park). On the road last season, his numbers too quite a dip as he posted a 3.61 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP. He had a K/9 of 6.6 last season which is very manageable when he is a big favorite. That said, he is only a small favorite here and the total is set at 8.5 runs. Rating = 5
- Edwin Jackson – Jackson has an impressive K-rate (6.9), but his high ERA (4.98) and WHIP (1.46) are just too much for him to be a reliable cash game pitcher. The Pirates aren’t a terrific offense, but they can put up runs and I’m finding Jackson as a below average option at pitcher tonight. Rating = 4
Batter Grind Down
Pittsburgh
- Pedro Alvarez – I’m going back to the well with with one. Pedro crushes RH pitching as he hit 33 of his 36 HR’s off of righties last season. Jackson on the other hand struggles against LH batters as he gave up a .366 wOBA to LH batters last season. This will be a great test to compare overall splits with BvP stats. The splits say that Alvarez is a great play while the BvP (2/17 career against Jackson) suggest otherwise.
- Additional Plays: Andrew McCutchen
Chicago
- Anthony Rizzo – Rizzo is off to a slow start this season, but draws a nice matchup against Morton who gave up an incredibly high .382 wOBA to LH batters last season.
- Additional Plays: Nate Schierholtz
Tampa Bay at Kansas City
| Tampa Bay | Kansas City | ||||||||
| Chris Archer | Vegas Moneyline | Yordano Ventura | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| RIGHT | TBR (-110) | RIGHT | 7.0 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.261 | 0.784 | 0.350 | 20.4% | SP vs. Left | 0.211 | 0.687 | 0.311 | 20.5% |
| SP vs. Right | 0.176 | 0.440 | 0.211 | 17.5% | SP vs. Right | 0.250 | 0.700 | 0.302 | 10.0% |
| Batter Splits | TBR BvP | TBR vs R | Batter Splits | KCR BvP | KCR vs R | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
- Chris Archer – Last night was a great example of why I don’t like to take pitchers against the Royals. The Royals struck out fewer times than any team last season and love to work the count in order to get the opposing pitchers pitch count up. Matt Moore really struggled to develop any kind of rhythm last night and I have a feeling that Archer will have the same problems tonight. This game features a low total, but I just don’t love Archer’s upside in this matchup. Rating = 5
- Yordano Ventura – Ventura had his first start of the season postponed, but will draw the start against the Rays tonight. He made 3 starts for the Royals last season and posted a 3.52 ERA with 11 K’s over 15 innings pitched. I typically like to give pitchers a couple of games to get some experience under their belt and that’s what I’m going to do with Ventura. Rating = 4
Batter Grind Down
Tampa Bay
- Evan Longoria – This game features a very low total, but Longoria makes a nice play against the inexperienced Ventura. Longo capitalizes on any little mistakes that pitchers make and could be a nice play at 3B.
- Additional Plays: None
Kansas City
- Alex Gordon – Archer is terrific against RH batters (.211 wOBA) but really struggled against LH batters last season (.350 wOBA). The Royals have quite a few LH batters in their lineup that should be able to find some success against Archer tonight.
- Additional Plays: Eric Hosmer, Norichika Aoki