MLB Grind Down: Wednesday, June 25th Page Three
LA Dodgers at Kansas City
| LA Dodgers | Kansas City | ||||||||
| Dan Haren | Vegas Moneyline | James Shields | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| RIGHT | KCR (-130) | RIGHT | 8.0 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.248 | 0.698 | 0.309 | 19.4% | SP vs. Left | 0.248 | 0.654 | 0.295 | 20.9% |
| SP vs. Right | 0.288 | 0.786 | 0.349 | 19.0% | SP vs. Right | 0.268 | 0.727 | 0.326 | 19.7% |
| Batter Splits | LAD BvP  | LAD vs R | Batter Splits | KCR BvP | KCR vs R | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
- Dan Haren – After a great month of April, Haren has posted an ERA over 4.00 in both May and June. He has given up at least 2 earned runs in each of his last 10 starts. While the Royals are not the best offense in baseball, they work the count and rarely strike out. That means Haren likely won’t pitch too deep into the game and we can expect a few less strikeouts out of him. Rating = 4
Salaries: $7200 FD, $14297 DS, $13350 DD, $7900 DK, $NA FF, $20200 SS, $13350 FTD
- James Shields – Shields’ price has come way down across the industry and for good reason. He has really only had 1 good outing in his last 7 starts. He’s also only had more than 4 K’s in 2 of those 7 starts. Current form mixed with a tough matchup against the Dodgers is enough for me to fade Shields tonight. Rating = 5
Salaries: $8100 FD, $16498 DS, $15300 DD, $8200 DK, $ FF, $23500 SS, $15300 FTD
Batter Grind Down
LA Dodgers
Adrian Gonzalez – Shields has given up a .352 wOBA to LHB’s this season and it’s a nice time to buy low on A-Gon. He still has great power against righties and has been swinging a hot bat with 11 hits over his last 10 games.
Additional Plays: Dee Gordon
Kansas City
Salvador Perez – I like the LHB’s in this lineup as well, but Haren has been a reverse splits pitcher in recent years. He has given up a .349 wOBA to RHB’s and Perez makes a great value play at catcher if you are looking to save some cap space.
Additional Plays: Alex Gordon, Eric Hosmer
Atlanta at Houston
| Atlanta | Houston | ||||||||
| Alex Wood | Vegas Moneyline | Collin McHugh | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| LEFT | ATL (-116) | RIGHT | 8.5 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.286 | 0.674 | 0.305 | 26.6% | SP vs. Left | 0.266 | 0.757 | 0.335 | 20.0% |
| SP vs. Right | 0.259 | 0.688 | 0.310 | 23.3% | SP vs. Right | 0.255 | 0.719 | 0.321 | 21.9% |
| Batter Splits | ATL BvP | ATL vs R | Batter Splits | HOU BvP | HOU vs L | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
- Alex Wood – Wood will rejoin the Braves rotation tonight against the Astros. He is a quality LHP that posted a 3.43 ERA and a K/9 of 9.4 in 7 starts earlier this season. This is an interesting matchup for Wood as the upside is there (Astros strikeout more than any team in baseball), but so is the risk (Astros are ranked 10th against LH pitching this season). I think he’s in play, but his price is a bit higher than I’d like it to be. Rating = 6
Salaries: $7200 FD, $16668 DS, $12000 DD, $8800 DK, $NA FF, $NA SS, $NA FTD
- Collin McHugh – McHugh hasn’t given up more than 5 hits in any of his last 7 starts. His biggest issue is that he gives up too many walks. He’s already given up 25 walks this season in only 65 innings of work. I don’t mind the matchup against the Braves, but I think Wood is the better play of the two and both of these pitchers are at similar price points. Rating = 5
Salaries: $7100 FD, $16333 DS, $17050 DD, $9000 DK, $ FF, $24400 SS, $17050 FTD
Batter Grind Down
Atlanta
Freddie Freeman – The wOBA machine likes Freeman today. McHugh has given up a .335 wOBA to LH hitters and Freeman has a .372 wOBA against RH pitching. Minute Maid Park has been one of the more hitter-friendly parks this season which doesn’t hurt his cause either.
Additional Plays: Jason Heyward
Houston
Jose Altuve – Altuve is the league-leader in stolen bases at 27. He also has one of the highest batting averages against LH pitching as he is hitting them at a .424 clip this season.
Additional Plays: George Springer
Cleveland at Arizona
| Cleveland | Arizona | ||||||||
| Corey Kluber | Vegas Moneyline | Chase Anderson | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| RIGHT | CLE (-125) | RIGHT | 8.0 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.270 | 0.733 | 0.328 | 24.0% | SP vs. Left | 0.130 | 0.395 | 0.201 | 14.5% |
| SP vs. Right | 0.260 | 0.660 | 0.297 | 24.0% | SP vs. Right | 0.319 | 1.016 | 0.438 | 22.1% |
| Batter Splits | CLE BvP | CLE vs R | Batter Splits | ARI BvP | ARI vs R | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
- Corey Kluber – Kluber has pitched well this season, but he has had much better splits at home than he has on the road. Tonight he has to face a tough D-Backs lineup in the hitter’s park that is Chase Field. He’s a small favorite here, but I think he’s a bit overpriced for the matchup. Rating = 6
Salaries: $8300 FD, $20552 DS, $17250 DD, $8600 DK, $NA FF, $25900 SS, $17250 FTD
- Chase Anderson – In his first 7 career starts, Anderson has posted a 3.18 ERA with a 1.17 WHIP. 7 starts isn’t enough for me to trust him on my DFS rosters though and he draws an extremely tough matchup against the Indians who are ranked 6th against RH pitching this season (.333 wOBA). Rating = 4
Salaries: $6400 FD, $11002 DS, $12950 DD, $6400 DK, $ FF, $17900 SS, $12950 FTD
Batter Grind Down
Cleveland
Carlos Santana – I owe Santana a fruit basket after that performance last night. He has been on an absolute tear since coming back from his injury. In his last 10 games he has 16 hits (5 HR’s). His price has yet to come up on most sites and this could be one of the last times to take him at his discounted price.
Additional Plays: Michael Brantley, Jason Kipnis, Lonnie Chisenhall
Arizona
Miguel Montero – Montero was my top play here yesterday and he came through with a nice game. I’m going back to the well here as he is facing Kluber who has given up a .328 wOBA to LHB’s since the start of 2013.
Additional Plays: Gerardo Parra, Paul Goldschmidt
Minnesota at LA Angels
| Minnesota | LA Angels | ||||||||
| Yohan Pino | Vegas Moneyline | Garrett Richards | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| RIGHT | LAA (-190) | RIGHT | 8.0 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | SP vs. Left | 0.250 | 0.668 | 0.304 | 18.6% | ||||
| SP vs. Right | SP vs. Right | 0.241 | 0.590 | 0.272 | 20.2% | ||||
| Batter Splits | MIN BvP | MIN vs R | Batter Splits | LAA BvP | LAA vs R | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
- Yohan Pino – Pino struck out 7 batters over 7 innings of work in his major league debut. It was a quality start from the rookie right-hander. Vegas doesn’t seem to have much faith in him though as he is one of the biggest underdogs on the board. At $3,000 on FanDuel, he may be worth a look as a GPP play, but he can safely be avoided on the other major DFS sites. Rating = 3
Salaries: $3000 FD, $11429 DS, $10100 DD, $7400 DK, $NA FF, $17500 SS, $10100 FTD
- Garrett Richards – If you take away a few bad outings from Richards, he has been dominant all season long. Even with those outliers, he still has a 2.79 ERA with a K/9 of 9.1. Tonight he faces a Twins’ offense that is pretty average against RH pitching. Richards should see plenty of run support and makes a great play on all sites, especially those that heavily weight the win. Rating = 8
Salaries: $7800 FD, $19989 DS, $17050 DD, $9200 DK, $ FF, $28400 SS, $17050 FTD
Batter Grind Down
Minnesota
I’m going to avoid all Twins’ tonight against Richards. Since the start of 2013, he has held both LHB’s and RHB’s under a .310 wOBA.
LA Angels
Mike Trout – Trout is in play against lefties, righties, and any other kind of pitcher imaginable. He has great power, great speed, and should come up to bat with plenty of RBI opportunities tonight. If you can afford him, get him in your lineups.
Additional Plays: Josh Hamilton, Kole Calhoun, Howie Kendrick
Boston at Seattle
| Boston | Seattle | ||||||||
| Clay Buchholz | Vegas Moneyline | Hisashi Iwakuma | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| RIGHT | SEA (-135) | RIGHT | 7.0 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.238 | 0.654 | 0.298 | 20.3% | SP vs. Left | 0.230 | 0.616 | 0.271 | 18.9% |
| SP vs. Right | 0.268 | 0.703 | 0.313 | 20.4% | SP vs. Right | 0.216 | 0.629 | 0.279 | 23.1% |
| Batter Splits | BOS BvP | BOS vs R | Batter Splits | SEA BvP | SEA vs R | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
- Clay Buchholz – Buchholz will rejoin the Red Sox rotation tonight after a knee injury kept him out for the last month. Buchholz is having a rough season thus far with a 7.02 ERA and a 1.98 WHIP. Until he can prove that he is anywhere close to his 2013 form, he should be avoided in all leagues. Rating = 3
Salaries: $6100 FD, $12332 DS, $9600 DD, $6000 DK, $NA FF, $13000 SS, $9600 FTD
- Hisashi Iwakuma – Iwakuma may be the safest cash game play on the board tonight if you aren’t a fan of Richards. He is sporting a 3.04 ERA on the season with 52 K’s over 71 innings of work. He’s always pitched well at Safeco Field and has a nice matchup against the Red Sox who are ranked 21st against RH pitching this season. Rating = 8
Salaries: $8200 FD, $17449 DS, $16900 DD, $9300 DK, $ FF, $26600 SS, $16900 FTD
Batter Grind Down
Boston
David Ortiz makes a decent GPP play, but there are other options at 1B that I like better for cash games. For the most part, I’ll be avoiding all Red Sox hitters against Iwakuma.
Seattle
Kyle Seager – Seager has been a very streaky hitter this season and right now he is locked in. He has 7 hits in his last 4 games, 4 of which went for extra bases. Buchholz has struggled all season long and I see another nice outing from Seager tonight.
Additional Plays: Robinson Cano