MLB Grind Down: Wednesday, April 2nd - Page 2
Boston at Baltimore
| Boston | Baltimore | ||||||||
| John Lackey | Vegas Moneyline | Ubaldo Jimenez | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| RIGHT | BOS (-102) | RIGHT | 8.5 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.238 | 0.651 | 0.290 | 19.5% | SP vs. Left | 0.223 | 0.656 | 0.293 | 28.9% |
| SP vs. Right | 0.258 | 0.749 | 0.331 | 22.2% | SP vs. Right | 0.258 | 0.705 | 0.318 | 20.7% |
| Batter Splits | BOS BvP  | BOS vs R | Batter Splits | BAL BvP | BAL vs R | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
- John Lackey – Lackey posted his best season since 2009 with a 3.52 ERA, a 1.158 WHIP, and a K-rate of 7.7/9 IP. Everyone kept waiting for Lackey to blowup, but it never happened. He has however, struggled in Spring ball which is a bit concerning. Lackey had decent success against the Orioles last season. In 4 starts against them, he posted a 3.32 ERA with 18 K’s over 29 innings pitched. This game is basically a pick ‘em and the total is set at 8.5 runs. Lackey could make a decent tournament play, but I’ll be avoiding him in cash gaems. Rating = 5
- Ubaldo Jimenez – Ubaldo is also coming off of a very nice season. After the All-Star Break, he was one of the best pitchers in baseball with a 1.82 ERA over his last 13 starts. During that stretch, Ubaldo held opponents to a .223 batting average and struck out 100 batters over 84 innings pitched. When Ubaldo has his command, he is a great pitcher in DFS because he can rack up K’s in a hurry. His matchup against the Red Sox does have me worried though and for that reason he is best served as a tournament play. Rating = 5
Batter Grind Down
Boston
- David Ortiz – Big Papi hit for a .339 batting average and an OPS of 1.09 against RH pitching last season. Ortiz was an on-base machine last season against RH pitching with a .440 OBP. If Ubaldo struggles with his command at at all, Ortiz will have plenty of RBI opportunities.
- Additional Plays: Daniel Nava, Grady Sizemore
Baltimore
- Chris Davis – Speaking of lefties that crush RH pitching, Davis looks like a great play here as well. Davis is coming off of a monster season in which he hit 53 HR’s and drove in 138 RBI’s. Davis had an OPS of 1.14 against RH pitching last season and has 2 HR’s off of Lackey in his career.
- Additional Plays: Adam Jones, Nelson Cruz
St. Louis at Cincinnati
| St. Louis | Cincinnati | ||||||||
| Michael Wacha | Vegas Moneyline | Tony Cingrani | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| RIGHT | STL (-110) | LEFT | 7.5 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.197 | 0.491 | 0.227 | 22.0% | SP vs. Left | 0.186 | 0.521 | 0.238 | 29.1% |
| SP vs. Right | 0.242 | 0.710 | 0.308 | 27.8% | SP vs. Right | 0.200 | 0.687 | 0.307 | 28.4% |
| Batter Splits | STL BvP | STL vs L | Batter Splits | CIN BvP | CIN vs R | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
- Michael Wacha – This game features two of the best young pitchers in the game. The problem is that this game will be played at the Great American Ballpark which surrendered the 2nd most HR’s of all ball parks last season. Wacha went on an incredible run toward the end of the season and will look to get his 2014 campaign off on the right foot. Even though Wacha is a RH pitcher, he dominated LH hitters last season. He held them to a .227 wOBA. Wacha posted a K-rate just over 9/9 IP last season and makes a nice tournament play tonight thanks to his ability to post double-digit strike-outs. Rating = 6
- Tony Cingrani – Cingrani is also a very talented youngster that has high K potential. Cingrani posted a 2.92 ERA in 18 starts last season. He is a very high strike-out pitcher as his K-rate was 10.4/9 IP. While the matchup against the Cardinals is tough, Vegas is not expecting this to be a high scoring game with the total set at 7.5 runs. Cingrani has that upside for a GPP play, but again, a matchup against the Cardinals is not something that you want to risk in cash games. Rating = 6
Batter Grind Down
St. Louis
- Yadier Molina – Even though Cingrani has some nasty pitches, Molina is always in play against LH pitchers. Last season, he hit for a .333 batting average and an OPS of .883 against lefties. He should be batting 4th or 5th and I will likely be using him across the industry tonight.
- Additional Plays: Matt Holliday, Allen Craig
Cincinatti
- I’m not crazy about any of the Reds bats today. My first inclination was to target the LH bats of Votto and Bruce, but as mentioned above, Wacha held LH batters to a .227 wOBA. I’ll be avoiding all Reds’ bats in cash games tonight.
- Additional Plays: Billy Hamilton
Toronto at Tampa Bay
| Toronto | Tampa Bay | ||||||||
| Mark Buehrle | Vegas Moneyline | Matt Moore | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| LEFT | TBR (-168) | LEFT | 7.5 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.256 | 0.701 | 0.323 | 15.1% | SP vs. Left | 0.221 | 0.602 | 0.278 | 21.9% |
| SP vs. Right | 0.283 | 0.757 | 0.335 | 16.1% | SP vs. Right | 0.214 | 0.666 | 0.305 | 22.4% |
| Batter Splits | TOR BvP | TOR vs L | Batter Splits | TBR BvP | TBR vs L | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
- Mark Buehrle – I’m not a big fan of Buehrle today. He posted a 4.94 ERA on the road last season while giving up a .285 batting average. Buehrle made two starts at Tropicana Field last season and gave up 17 hits and 11 runs over only 11 innings of work. The Rays were one of the best teams in baseball against LH pitching last season and I will be staying far away from Buehrle tonight. Rating = 2
- Matt Moore – Vegas has a lot more faith in Moore than I do. Vegas has him listed as a -170 favorite tonight against the Blue Jays who just Alex Cobb fits last night. Moore has really struggled with his command this spring and he is a completely different pitcher when he can’t locate his pitches. That said, when Moore is on, he is a high strike-out pitcher that can dominate opposing lineups. He makes a solid tournament play tonight, but I would much rather take Gio Gonzalez in cash games. Rating = 6
Batter Grind Down
Toronto
- Edwin Encarnacion – Edwin aka E5 may be the most under-appreciated player in baseball. Outside of die hard baseball fans, he is not a household name despite posting 36+ HR’s and 104+ RBI’s in back to back seasons. I don’t love using PvB stats, but E5 has come up to bat against Moore 17 times. He has drawn 8 walks and has 3 hits off of Moore. If he is patient, Moore will give him that pitch that he is waiting for.
- Additional Plays: Jose Bautista
Tampa Bay
- Evan Longoria – Longoria loves to face LH pitching and Buehrle gave up a .335 wOBA to RH hitters last season. That’s a nice combination. Longoria hit over .300 with 10 HR’s against LH pitching last season. He’s one of the top 3B options on the board today.
- Wil Myers – Myers is a talented young kid that is going to have a huge year for the Rays. He is off to a hot start already this season (4/9) and draws a great matchup against Buehrle who struggles against RH bats. Myers has some nice pop in his swing and something tells me that he drives one deep to left tonight.
- Additional Plays: Ben Zobrist, Desmond Jennings
Washington at NY Mets
| Washington | NY Mets | ||||||||
| Gio Gonzalez | Vegas Moneyline | Bartolo Colon | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| LEFT | WAS (-132) | RIGHT | 7.0 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.204 | 0.558 | 0.252 | 26.8% | SP vs. Left | 0.261 | 0.679 | 0.297 | 14.1% |
| SP vs. Right | 0.239 | 0.692 | 0.312 | 22.5% | SP vs. Right | 0.268 | 0.636 | 0.281 | 16.5% |
| Batter Splits | WSN BvP | WSN vs R | Batter Splits | NYM BvP | NYM vs L | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
- Gio Gonzalez – Gonzalez is the top option for cash games in tonight’s leagues. With Scherzer already having pitched, that basically leaves Gio as the clear cut #1 option. Gonzalez posted a 3.36 ERA last season with a K-rate just short of 9/9 IP. He draws a great matchup against the Mets in Citi Field which is a pitchers ballpark. Gonzalez held the Mets to a .130 batting average last season and should find similar success against them tonight. Rating = 9
- Bartolo Colon – Colon will be in a new uniform this season, but the 40 year old is eager to prove that he still has something left in tank. Colon put together a tremendous season with a 2.65 ERA last year. His K-rate was only at 5.5/9 IP, but that’s not bad for a guy his age. I’m going to take a wait and see approach on Colon. Something tells me that he is going to regress this season and I’m not willing to risk him in cash games tonight. Plus, he is an underdog at home. Rating = 4
Batter Grind Down
Washington
- Bryce Harper – Harper had a scary collision in the first inning of their first game. He took a knee to the head, but he was able to stay in the game. Harper is going to be in for a monster season and it could start tonight against Colon. Harper had a .948 OPS against RH pitching last season and has the speed to steal bases as well.
- Additional Plays: Ryan Zimmerman, Ian Desmond
New York Mets
- Gio dominated this lineup last season and the addition of Curtis Granderson isn’t going to help as the Grandy Man does not hit LH pitching well. The Mets are an easy team to avoid completely tonight.
- Additional Plays: None
Colorado at Miami
| Colorado | Miami | ||||||||
| Jordan Lyles | Vegas Moneyline | Henderson Alvarez | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| RIGHT | MIA (-110) | RIGHT | 7.5 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.266 | 0.740 | 0.333 | 11.5% | SP vs. Left | 0.269 | 0.733 | 0.330 | 10.6% |
| SP vs. Right | 0.307 | 0.833 | 0.375 | 18.0% | SP vs. Right | 0.206 | 0.509 | 0.239 | 16.6% |
| Batter Splits | COL BvP | COL vs R | Batter Splits | MIA BvP | MIA vs R | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
- Jordan Lyles – This will be Lyles’ first start in a Rockies uniform and he is hoping that a change of scenery will help. He’s posted an ERA over 5.00 in each of his last 3 seasons. The total for this game is set at 7.5 runs, but that says more about the ballpark than it does about either of the two starting pitchers. Lyles is not a high strike-out pitchers as he only averaged 5.9 K’s per 9 innings last season. He should be avoided tonight. Rating = 4
- Henderson Alvarez – Alvarez enjoyed a very nice season with the Marlins last year. He posted an ERA under 4.00 and had a very solid WHIP of only 1.14. Alvarez had a K-rate of just over 5/9 IP which definitely limits his upside. He is dirt cheap across the industry though and if you are looking to punt the pitcher in a GPP, there are certainly worse options that Alvarez. Rating = 5
Batter Grind Down
Colorado
- Carlos Gonzalez – Alvarez gave up a .330 wOBA to LH batters last season and Cargo’s calling card is that he crushes RH pitching. Last season, Cargo had an OPS over 1.00 against RH pitchers and he offers nice upside tonight.
- Justin Morneau – Morneau is a sneaky play tonight as he is also a LH bat, but no one seems to be noticing that he is on the Rockies this season. He has a nice matchup and a cheap price tag on most sites.
- Additional Plays: Troy Tulowitzki
Miami
- Giancarlo Stanton – Stanton is off to a hot start this season. He only has 2 hits, but he has 3 runs and 3 RBI’s. He’s also already reached his stolen base total from all of last season. Lyles gave up a .375 wOBA to RH hitters last season and Stanton could get his first dong of the season.
- Additional Plays: Christian Yelich