MLB Grind Down: Wednesday, April 16th - Page 3
Boston at Chicago White Sox
| Boston | Chicago White Sox | ||||||||
| Clay Buchholz | Vegas Moneyline | John Danks | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| RIGHT | BOS (-140) | LEFT | 8.0 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.192 | 0.551 | 0.251 | 23.6% | SP vs. Left | 0.294 | 0.829 | 0.363 | 13.9% |
| SP vs. Right | 0.251 | 0.647 | 0.291 | 21.1% | SP vs. Right | 0.266 | 0.762 | 0.333 | 16.2% |
| Batter Splits | BOS BvP  | BOS vs L | Batter Splits | CHW BvP | CHW vs R | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
- Clay Buchholz – Buchholz has given up a combined 20 hits in his first two starts of the season. He is really struggling to get back to that early 2013 form. While the numbers in the table above look great, he has been a different pitcher since coming back from his injury. Until he rights the ship, continue to avoid him in cash games. Rating = 4
- John Danks – It’s a bit surprising that the Red Sox offense has struggled so bad here in the early going. They have scored the 7th fewest runs and are nursing a few injuries. If you are ever going to target a starting pitcher against the Red Sox, now is the time. Danks has given up 3 earned runs in each of his first two starts, but his biggest issue has been giving batters a free pass. He’s already walked 6 batters this season. Danks is an inconsistent pitcher, but does have nice upside for a player at his price point. Rating = 5
Batter Grind Down
Boston
- David Ortiz – Even though Oritz is LH, he has always been able to hit LH pitching well and Danks is a reverse split pitcher that actually gives up a higher wOBA and OPS to LH batters. Ortiz is a very sneaky play tonight because most DFS players will avoid him right off the bat (pun) when they see the lefty/lefty matchup.
- Additional Plays: Jonny Gomes
Chicago
- Jose Abreu – The sample size is small, but Abreu is giving up a .408 batting average this season and has already given up 3 HR’s. Young Abreu is really off to a fast start with 4 HR’s and 4 RBI’s. He makes a nice contrarian play at 1B if the price is right.
- Additional Plays: Adam Dunn, Adam Eaton
Kansas City at Houston
| Kansas City | Houston | ||||||||
| Jeremy Guthrie | Vegas Moneyline | Dallas Keuchel | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| RIGHT | KCR (-121) | LEFT | 9.0 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.324 | 0.878 | 0.386 | 11.5% | SP vs. Left | 0.283 | 0.769 | 0.344 | 27.9% |
| SP vs. Right | 0.230 | 0.625 | 0.284 | 13.4% | SP vs. Right | 0.304 | 0.826 | 0.366 | 15.2% |
| Batter Splits | KCR BvP | KCR vs L | Batter Splits | HOU BvP | HOU vs R | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
- Jeremy Guthrie – Guthrie makes a very interesting play today against the Stros. Guthrie’s biggest problem is LH batters (.386 wOBA last season), but there aren’t any LH bats on the Astros that really concern me. The Astros are one of the worst offenses in the American League and strike out often as well. With Keuchel on the mound opposite him, Guthrie should get plenty of run support as well. I’m going to go out on a limb here and pick Guthrie as my top value at pitcher tonight. Rating = 8
- Dallas Keuchel – Keuchel doesn’t pitch well at home, he doesn’t pitch well on the road, and he struggles with hitters from both sides of the plate. Basically, he’s not a pitcher that you want to target very often in daily fantasy baseball. The Royals have struck out the fewest number of times in the majors this season and Keuchel has a lot more downside than upside. Rating = 3
Batter Grind Down
Kansas City
- Billy Butler – It’s been a while since Butler’s name has made the list of recommended plays, but he gets the honors tonight against Keuchel. Butler hit for a .279 average with 14 XBH’s against LH pitching last season and may be the cheapest clean-up hitter available tonight.
- Additional Plays: Salvador Perez, Alex Gordon
Houston
- Jason Castro – As mentioned above, Guthrie really struggles against LH batters. Castro is one of the few Astros that has pop in his bat and he makes a nice play against Guthrie. Castro hit for a .286 average with 45 XBH’s against RH pitching last season.
- Additional Plays: Dexter Fowler
Oakland at LA Angels
| Oakland | LA Angels | ||||||||
| Tommy Milone | Vegas Moneyline | Tyler Skaggs | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| LEFT | LAA (-113) | LEFT | 8.5 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.298 | 0.790 | 0.345 | 14.3% | SP vs. Left | 0.242 | 0.710 | 0.318 | 17.1% |
| SP vs. Right | 0.247 | 0.720 | 0.316 | 20.2% | SP vs. Right | 0.233 | 0.697 | 0.314 | 21.3% |
| Batter Splits | OAK BvP | OAK vs L | Batter Splits | LAA BvP | LAA vs L | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
- Tommy Milone – Milone had a decent K/9 last season of 7.3, but struggled on the road with a 4.69 ERA. He draws a very tough matchup against a red hot Angels offense that is scoring runs in bunches right now. Milone is a small underdog in what should be a high scoring game. Not much to see here. Rating = 4
- Tyler Skaggs – Skaggs has pitched at least 7 innings in each of his first two starts with the Angels. He has racked up 9 K’s over 15 innings of work and we have seen that his velocity is back. Skaggs is a pitcher that you can target in certain situations, but I’m not sure if tonight against the A’s is one of them. With so many aces on the mound, Skaggs is an average option at best. Rating = 4
Batter Grind Down
Oakland
- Yoenis Cespedes – Cespedes hit for a .280 average and an OPS of .880 against LH pitching last season. He is riding a 4 game hitting streak and has 2 HR’s in his last 3 games.
- Additional Plays: Jed Lowrie
LA Angels
- Mike Trout – Trout is just a beast. Last season he had an OPS of .989 which is just ridiculous. He hits LH pitching well and has 10 hits in his last 5 games including 3 HR’s. Oh, and did I mention that he stole 33 bases last season? If you can afford him, get him in your lineup.
- Additional Plays: Albert Pujols, Howie Kendrick
Colorado at San Diego
| Colorado | San Diego | ||||||||
| Jorge De La Rosa | Vegas Moneyline | Andrew Cashner | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| LEFT | SDP (-140) | RIGHT | 6.5 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.195 | 0.498 | 0.231 | 24.3% | SP vs. Left | 0.241 | 0.676 | 0.302 | 20.3% |
| SP vs. Right | 0.285 | 0.763 | 0.348 | 14.2% | SP vs. Right | 0.222 | 0.571 | 0.263 | 16.5% |
| Batter Splits | COL BvP | COL vs R | Batter Splits | SDP BvP | SDP vs L | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
- Jorge De La Rosa – Nicasio got in trouble in the first, but settled down and pitched a nice game against the Padres last night. De La Rosa makes a nice under the radar play tonight in Petco which surrendered the fewest number of runs of any ballpark last season. De La Rosa hasn’t pitched well in any of his first 3 starts, but again, this Padres offense has trouble scoring runs and De La Rosa could make for a great sleeper pick. Rating = 5
- Andrew Cashner – Most people will be targeting the big names available tonight. With Fernandez, Felix, and Darvish all pitching tonight, Cashner is not getting the attention that he deserves which is more than fine by me. Cashner posted a 1.95 ERA at home last season and is coming off of a complete game shutout against the Tigers. He comes at a steep discount from some of the other aces, but has just as much upside. Rating = 9
Batter Grind Down
Colorado
- Cashner is locked in right now and you will not find any Rockies’ batters in any of my lineups.
- Additional Plays: None
San Diego
- Jedd Gyorko – Gyorko is dirt cheap across the industry and has a great matchup against De La Rosa who gave up a .348 wOBA to RH batters last season. Even though I’m not crazy about BvP, Gyorko does have a good track record against De La Rosa and he has the splits in his favor.
- Additional Plays: Chase Headley
LA Dodgers at San Francisco
| LA Dodgers | San Francisco | ||||||||
| Paul Maholm | Vegas Moneyline | Ryan Vogelsong | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| LEFT | SFG (-110) | RIGHT | 8.0 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.230 | 0.550 | 0.251 | 21.1% | SP vs. Left | 0.275 | 0.775 | 0.341 | 17.4% |
| SP vs. Right | 0.301 | 0.837 | 0.378 | 13.5% | SP vs. Right | 0.325 | 0.897 | 0.403 | 12.3% |
| Batter Splits | LAD BvP | LAD vs R | Batter Splits | SFG BvP | SFG vs L | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
- Paul Maholm – I definitely wasn’t expecting a pitcher’s duel last night with Beckett and Lincecum on the mound, but that’s exactly what we got. I don’t expect a pitcher’s duel here, but AT&T Park is a pitcher friendly ballpark so you never know. Maholm really struggled on the road last season with a 5.91 ERA. That combined with the fact that the Giants crush LH pitching is more than enough for me to avoid Maholm. Rating = 3
- Ryan Vogelsong – Since the start of 2013 Vogelsong has an ERA close to 6.00 with a WHIP of 1.62. Those are not promising numbers and a matchup against the big bats of the Dodgers doesn’t help his case. Vogelsong should be avoided in all leagues tonight. Rating = 3
Batter Grind Down
LA Dodgers
- Yasiel Puig – Last season Vogelsong gave up a .403 wOBA with an OPS of .897 to RH batters. Puig has great speed and great power and should be in for a nice outing tonight.
- Additional Plays: Adrian Gonzalez, Dee Gordon, Hanley Ramirez
San Francisco
- Buster Posey – Maholm gave up a .378 wOBA and an OPS of .837 to RH batters last season and there are few hitters in baseball that hit LH pitching as well as Posey.
- Additional Plays: Hunter Pence, Pablo Sandoval