MLB Grind Down: Tuesday, August 5th Page Three
Chicago Cubs at Colorado
| Chicago Cubs | Colorado | ||||||||
| Travis Wood | Vegas Moneyline | Brett Anderson | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| LEFT | COL (-150) | LEFT | 10 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.225 | 0.632 | 0.278 | 21.60% | SP vs. Left | 0.341 | 0.756 | 0.338 | 13.00% |
| SP vs. Right | 0.292 | 0.826 | 0.367 | 17.90% | SP vs. Right | 0.246 | 0.699 | 0.300 | 16.80% |
| Batter Splits | CHC BvP  | CHC vs L | Batter Splits | COL BvP | COL vs L | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
- Travis Wood / Brett Anderson – I could go into detail as to why you should avoid both pitchers tonight, but it can basically be summed up into two words: Coors Field. The total for this game is set at 10.5 runs and both pitchers should be avoided in all leagues.
Batter Grind Down
Chicago Cubs
Starlin Castro – Castro has hit LH pitching well this season (.345 wOBA) and gets a huge ballpark boost tonight in Coors Field. The Cubs have actually been very good against southpaws this season and I expect Castro to see plenty of RBI opportunities batting clean-up.
Additional Plays: Arismendy Alcantara, Justin Ruggiano, Anthony Rizzo
Colorado
Drew Stubbs – Wood is having an awful season and that will likely continue tonight in the best hitter’s park in all of baseball. Stubbs is batting .366 with a .447 wOBA against southpaws this season. He’s the top play here, but don’t be afraid to fire up a Rockies stack tonight against Wood.
Additional Plays: Wilin Rosario, Charlie Blackmon, Nolan Arenado, DJ LeMahieu
Kansas City at Arizona
| Kansas City | Arizona | ||||||||
| Danny Duffy | Vegas Moneyline | Wade Miley | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| LEFT | KCR (-115) | LEFT | 7.5 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.143 | 0.375 | 0.175 | 16.70% | SP vs. Left | 0.268 | 0.788 | 0.350 | 15.90% |
| SP vs. Right | 0.216 | 0.659 | 0.296 | 19.50% | SP vs. Right | 0.246 | 0.714 | 0.313 | 23.00% |
| Batter Splits | KCR BvP | KCR vs L | Batter Splits | ARI BvP | ARI vs L | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
- Danny Duffy – I keep waiting for Duffy’s ERA to catch up to his xFIP. His xFIP of 4.50 is a full 2 runs higher than his ERA this season. To me, that says that Duffy is a pretty average pitcher that has had some incredibly good luck. He’s walking too many batters and I just don’t see his .232 BABIP holding up over the course of the entire season. Rating = 4.5
Salaries: $6700 FD, $11750 DD, $7000 DK, $85900 FF, $NA SS, $11750 FTD
- Wade Miley – Miley is an interesting play tonight against the Royals. While the Royals don’t strike out very often, they are a powerless team that is only ranked 24th in wOBA against LH pitching. Miley has an impressive 3.40 xFIP and is averaging over 8 K’s per 9 innings. He’s also coming off of his best month of the season as he posted a 2.45 ERA in the month of July. Rating = 7
Salaries: $7200 FD, $14700 DD, $8600 DK, $90200 FF, $ SS, $14700 FTD
Batter Grind Down
Kansas City
With a full slate of games tonight, I’ll be avoiding the Royals hitters. Target some of the teams with better matchups.
Arizona
Mark Trumbo – Trumbo is an extremely cheap source of power tonight against Duffy. As mentioned above, I think we see Duffy regress down the stretch of the season and Trumbo will be batting clean-up tonight in the hitter-friendly Chase Field.
Additional Plays: Aaron Hill
Tampa Bay at Oakland
| Tampa Bay | Oakland | ||||||||
| Drew Smyly | Vegas Moneyline | Jason Hammel | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| LEFT | OAK (-122) | RIGHT | 7.5 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.176 | 0.472 | 0.210 | 27.60% | SP vs. Left | 0.247 | 0.729 | 0.320 | 20.00% |
| SP vs. Right | 0.306 | 0.888 | 0.386 | 17.10% | SP vs. Right | 0.234 | 0.667 | 0.295 | 24.30% |
| Batter Splits | TBR BvP | TBR vs R | Batter Splits | OAK BvP | OAK vs L | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
- Drew Smyly – The A’s offense has been subpar recently, but I still don’t like the idea of taking pitchers against them. The A’s are a very patient offense that draws more walks than any team in baseball. I have a feeling Smyly will struggle in his Rays debut. Rating = 4.5
Salaries: $6900 FD, $11900 DD, $6600 DK, $77600 FF, $NA SS, $11900 FTD
- Jason Hammel – Over his last 9 starts, Hammel has given up 32 earned runs. That’s a huge red flag and I will be avoiding him until he can find his form. It also doesn’t help that he is facing a Rays offense that is ranked 1st in all of baseball in wOBA over the last 30 days. Rating = 5
Salaries: $6400 FD, $12250 DD, $7300 DK, $76200 FF, $ SS, $12250 FTD
Batter Grind Down
Tampa Bay
James Loney – Loney is a nice salary cap relief option at 1B tonight. He has been swinging a hot bat and has a great track record against Hammel: 12/38 with 6 XBH’s.
Additional Plays: Evan Longoria
Oakland
Josh Donaldson – If you can afford Donaldson, get him in as many lineups as you can. He has been crushing LH pitching to a tune of a .449 wOBA and finds himself in a terrific matchup against Smyly who has given up a .386 wOBA to RH hitters this season.
Additional Plays: Derek Norris
LA Angels at LA Dodgers
| LA Angels | LA Dodgers | ||||||||
| Hector Santiago | Vegas Moneyline | Clayton Kershaw | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| LEFT | LAD (-225) | LEFT | 6.5 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.221 | 0.594 | 0.268 | 20.40% | SP vs. Left | 0.168 | 0.383 | 0.175 | 30.60% |
| SP vs. Right | 0.234 | 0.671 | 0.302 | 21.70% | SP vs. Right | 0.201 | 0.547 | 0.242 | 33.60% |
| Batter Splits | LAA BvP | LAA vs L | Batter Splits | LAD BvP | LAD vs L | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
- Hector Santiago – Santiago has a decent matchup against the Dodgers, but has little to no chance of picking up the win with Clayton Kershaw on the mound opposite him. He could make a deep GPP play as the Dodgers are ranked 25th in wOBA vs. LH pitching, but you can avoid him in cash games. Rating = 5
Salaries: $5800 FD, $11400 DD, $6400 DK, $82700 FF, $NA SS, $11400 FTD
- Clayton Kershaw – Kershaw is having the most incredible season of his incredible career. He has a career-high 33% strikeout rate with a career-low 3.3% walk rate. That’s unheard of with high strike pitchers. Kershaw also owns an impressive 1.71 ERA which correlates nicely with his 1.89 xFIP. The only ding against him tonight is his matchup against the Angels, but he’s had no problem shutting down elite offenses and I don’t expect the Angels to put up much of a fight tonight. Rating = 9.5
Salaries: $12600 FD, $22950 DD, $14100 DK, $170000 FF, $ SS, $22950 FTD
Batter Grind Down
LA Angels
Avoid all Angels tonight against Kershaw.
LA Dodgers
Hanley Ramirez – Han-Ram has a .416 wOBA against LH pitching this season. He can score fantasy points in multiple ways as he is a source of both speed (12 SB’s) and power (12 HR’s).
Additional Plays: Yasiel Puig
Atlanta at Seattle
| Atlanta | Seattle | ||||||||
| Alex Wood | Vegas Moneyline | Felix Hernandez | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| LEFT | SEA (-175) | RIGHT | 6 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.274 | 0.711 | 0.316 | 26.40% | SP vs. Left | 0.197 | 0.508 | 0.230 | 24.90% |
| SP vs. Right | 0.246 | 0.682 | 0.303 | 22.90% | SP vs. Right | 0.188 | 0.525 | 0.234 | 32.50% |
| Batter Splits | ATL BvP | ATL vs R | Batter Splits | SEA BvP | SEA vs L | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
- Alex Wood – Wood is in the same boat as Santiago. He has a nice matchup, but will see little to no run support as Felix Hernandez is on the mound for the Mariners. That said, Wood could make a nice contrarian GPP play as the Mariners are ranked 29th in wOBA vs. LH pitching this season. Rating = 6
Salaries: $7700 FD, $14800 DD, $7000 DK, $89600 FF, $NA SS, $14800 FTD
- Felix Hernandez – Felix’s numbers aren’t quite as impressive as Kershaw’s this season, but he definitely has the better matchup of the two tonight. The Braves are ranked 27th in wOBA against RH pitching this season. Hernandez has a 2.01 ERA with a K/9 of 9.7. He’s walking a career low 4.9% of batters that he has faced. He’s throwing strikes and he has incredible command. As much as it pains me to say this, I think he’s a slightly better play than Kershaw tonight. Rating = 10
Salaries: $11100 FD, $21300 DD, $12700 DK, $137100 FF, $ SS, $21300 FTD
Batter Grind Down
Atlanta
Avoid all Braves tonight against Hernandez.
Seattle
This game features a total of 6.0 runs which is the lowest on the schedule tonight. Look elsewhere for offensive production.