MLB Grind Down: Tuesday, May 20th - Page 3
Chicago White Sox at Kansas City
| Chicago White Sox | Kansas City | ||||||||
| Andre Rienzo | Vegas Moneyline | Yordano Ventura | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| RIGHT | KCR (-180) | RIGHT | 8.0 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.244 | 0.785 | 0.346 | 14.4% | SP vs. Left | 0.211 | 0.656 | 0.293 | 23.3% |
| SP vs. Right | 0.232 | 0.705 | 0.323 | 14.6% | SP vs. Right | 0.223 | 0.618 | 0.279 | 25.7% |
| Batter Splits | CHW BvP  | CHW vs R | Batter Splits | KCR BvP | KCR vs R | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
Andre Rienzo – Rienzo has a 4.30 ERA on the season with a 1.27 WHIP and a K/9 of 5.1. Not only is his K-rate already low, but he is facing a Royals’ offense that has struck out fewer times than any team in baseball. Rienzo is a risky pitching option with low upside. Rating = 3
Yordano Ventura – Ventura has a 2.40 ERA on the season with a 1.14 WHIP and a K/9 of 9.9. He is a high strikeout pitcher that has held both LH and RH batters under a .300 wOBA. This White Sox lineup still has a lot of power, but they are missing their best power hitter in Jose Abreu. Ventura is in play in all leagues. Rating = 8
Batter Grind Down
Chicago White Sox
Nothing stands out here. Ventura continues to pitch well and I will continue to avoid taking hitters against him.
Kansas City
Eric Hosmer – Hosmer is batting .311 with an OPS of .769 against RH pitching this season. While he hasn’t lived up to the expectations most people had for him in terms of power, he has still been terrific for the Royals. I love the matchup against the RHP Rienzo.
Additional Plays: Alex Gordon, Norichika Aoki, Billy Butler
Arizona at St. Louis
| Arizona | St. Louis | ||||||||
| Bronson Arroyo | Vegas Moneyline | Adam Wainwright | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| RIGHT | STL (-190) | RIGHT | 7.0 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.278 | 0.791 | 0.344 | 12.3% | SP vs. Left | 0.237 | 0.625 | 0.282 | 22.9% |
| SP vs. Right | 0.244 | 0.646 | 0.292 | 17.5% | SP vs. Right | 0.240 | 0.601 | 0.270 | 22.8% |
| Batter Splits | ARI BvP | ARI vs R | Batter Splits | STL BvP | STL vs R | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
Bronson Arroyo – Arroyo has 4 quality starts in a row and has lowered his ERA to 4.15 on the season. He still only has 27 K’s over 47 innings of work though and will have a tough time getting any run support with Wainwright pitching on the mound opposite him. Rating = 4
Adam Wainwright – In 9 starts this season, Wainwright has given up a total of 15 earned runs, 12 of those were to the Cubs. That means that in his 6 other starts, he has given up a combined 3 earned runs. Wainwright has a high K-rate and is pitching at home where he has had an ERA close to 2.50 over the last 2 seasons. He is one of the largest favorites on the board and is a highly recommended cash game play. Rating = 9
Batter Grind Down
Arizona
The D-Backs are in a less than appealing matchup against Wainwright. The only play here that I will have any exposure to is Paul Goldschmidt and that is as a tournament play only.
St. Louis
Matt Holliday – Holliday has faced Arroyo many times over the years. In his career, he is 16/54 with 4 HR’s off of Arroyo. Holliday has nice power for his price and makes a nice play in the OF tonight.
Additional Plays: Matt Carpenter, Matt Adams
San Francisco at Colorado
| San Francisco | Colorado | ||||||||
| Madison Bumgarner | Vegas Moneyline | Franklin Morales | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| LEFT | SFG (-125) | LEFT | 10.0 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.185 | 0.515 | 0.234 | 35.2% | SP vs. Left | 0.218 | 0.568 | 0.285 | 19.8% |
| SP vs. Right | 0.230 | 0.636 | 0.292 | 22.0% | SP vs. Right | 0.311 | 0.923 | 0.409 | 15.2% |
| Batter Splits | SFG BvP | SFG vs L | Batter Splits | COL BvP | COL vs L | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
Madison Bumgarner – Bumgarner is typically in play regardless of his opponent, but one of the few exceptions is when he faces the Rockies in Coors Field. I will stick to my guns here and continue to avoid all pitchers in Coors. Rating = 3
Franklin Morales – There has been a lot of talk about teams struggling in their first game against the Rockies in Coors. While the numbers are there to prove it, I’m certainly not going to be using any Rockies’ pitchers here with the total set at 10.0 runs. Rating = 2
Batter Grind Down
San Francisco
Buster Posey – Posey has always hit LH pitching well. Over the last 3 seasons, Posey is batting .357 with an OPS of 1.03 against southpaws. Combine that with the fact that this game is in Coors and Posey becomes the top catcher on the board.
Additional Plays: Hunter Pence, Pablo Sandoval, Angel Pagan, Michael Morse
Colorado
Carlos Gonzalez – Even though this is a lefty/lefty matchup, it is not one that you need to avoid. Cargo has always hit LH pitching well and has great career numbers off of Bumgarner going 13/37 with 5 HR’s off of him.
Additional Plays: Troy Tulowitzki, Michael Cuddyer (expected to be back in the lineup), Nolan Arenado
Houston at LA Angels
| Houston | LA Angels | ||||||||
| Scott Feldman | Vegas Moneyline | Tyler Skaggs | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| RIGHT | LAA (-165) | LEFT | 8.0 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.238 | 0.649 | 0.300 | 15.6% | SP vs. Left | 0.243 | 0.717 | 0.323 | 18.4% |
| SP vs. Right | 0.227 | 0.645 | 0.293 | 17.4% | SP vs. Right | 0.246 | 0.712 | 0.318 | 18.0% |
| Batter Splits | HOU BvP | HOU vs L | Batter Splits | LAA BvP | LAA vs R | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
Scott Feldman – Feldman has pitched well this season with a 2.68 ERA, but he is only averaging 4.4 K’s per 9 innings which just isn’t enough to warrant consideration in any type of leagues. He also has a tough matchup against the Angels who are ranked 10th against RH pitching with a team .322 wOBA. Rating = 3
Tyler Skaggs – Skaggs is a terrific value pitcher tonight if you are looking to save some cap room on multi pitcher sites. He is a big favorite against the Astros who strike out often and are ranked 13th against LH pitching this season. Rating = 6
Batter Grind Down
Houston
Jose Altuve – Altuve is batting .442 against LH pitching this season and already has 15 SB’s. He makes a nice cash game option at 2B against the LHP Skaggs.
Additional Plays: George Springer, Matt Dominguez
L.A. Angels
Albert Pujols – Pujols is one of the few players with multi-HR upside. He is batting .267 with an OPS of .867 against RH pitching this season. He is one of my favorite tournament plays at 1B.
Additional Plays: Erick Aybar, Howie Kendrick
Minnesota at San Diego
| Minnesota | San Diego | ||||||||
| Kevin Correia | Vegas Moneyline | Ian Kennedy | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| RIGHT | SDP (-160) | RIGHT | 7.0 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.300 | 0.821 | 0.360 | 12.4% | SP vs. Left | 0.257 | 0.787 | 0.345 | 24.1% |
| SP vs. Right | 0.306 | 0.802 | 0.352 | 12.1% | SP vs. Right | 0.256 | 0.705 | 0.326 | 20.0% |
| Batter Splits | MIN BvP | MIN vs R | Batter Splits | SDP BvP | SDP vs R | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
Kevin Correia – Correia has a 6.80 ERA on the season with a K/9 of 4.2. He is usually an easy avoid, but he could carry some value as a cheap tournament play tonight against the Padres in the very pitcher-friendly Petco Park. Rating = 5
Ian Kennedy – Kennedy has a 3.60 ERA with a 1.18 WHIP and a K/9 of 9.8. I always like taking pitchers in Petco and think that Kennedy makes a terrific play on multi-pitcher sites. Rating = 7
Batter Grind Down
Minnesota
With 14 other games on the schedule (including the game in Coors), you can find better options than the Twins’ batters tonight.
San Diego
Everth Cabrera – Time for a Padres’ stack anyone? While I won’t go as far as saying a stack is in play here, I do like their matchup against Correia. Correia is not a high strikeout pitcher and I wouldn’t be surprised to see Cabrera have a multi-hit game tonight.
Additional Plays: Carlos Quentin, Chase Headley, Will Venable