MLB Grind Down: Wednesday, May 21st - Page 2
Toronto at Boston
| Toronto | Boston | ||||||||
| Drew Hutchison | Vegas Moneyline | Clay Buchholz | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| RIGHT | BOS (-133) | RIGHT | 9.0 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.242 | 0.694 | 0.306 | 22.6% | SP vs. Left | 0.227 | 0.622 | 0.283 | 21.0% |
| SP vs. Right | 0.221 | 0.626 | 0.284 | 28.6% | SP vs. Right | 0.267 | 0.677 | 0.303 | 20.8% |
| Batter Splits | TOR BvP  | TOR vs R | Batter Splits | BOS BvP | BOS vs R | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
Drew Hutchison – Hutchison is a high strikeout pitcher with a very tough matchup in front of him tonight. Hutchison is averaging more than a strikeout per inning, but I have a tough time recommending him against the Red Sox who are are a very potent offense. Hutchison is an underdog in this game that features a total of 9.0 runs. Rating = 4
Clay Buchholz – I just haven’t seen enough out of Buchholz this season to recommend him as a viable pitching option. He has lost velocity and the numbers speed for themselves. He has an ERA of 6.17, a WHIP of 1.80, and only 33 K’s over 42 innings of work. He should be avoided until he can prove that he is back to his early 2013 form. Rating = 4
Batter Grind Down
Toronto
Edwin Encarnacion – Not only does E5 have 5 HR’s in his last 5 games, but he also has a very favorable matchup against Buchholz who has given up a .375 batting average and an OPS of .938 to RHB’s this season.
Additional Plays: Melky Cabrera, Jose Reyes, Jose Bautista
Boston
David Ortiz – Ortiz has really started to heat up over his last 10 games. He is now batting .287 against RH pitching with 11 XBH’s on the season.
Additional Plays: Mike Napoli, A.J. Pierzynski, Grady Sizemore
Oakland at Tampa Bay
| Oakland | Tampa Bay | ||||||||
| Tommy Milone | Vegas Moneyline | Erik Bedard | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| LEFT | TBR (-113) | LEFT | 7.5 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.288 | 0.774 | 0.339 | 14.3% | SP vs. Left | 0.297 | 0.787 | 0.354 | 18.4% |
| SP vs. Right | 0.244 | 0.713 | 0.317 | 19.1% | SP vs. Right | 0.240 | 0.717 | 0.321 | 20.4% |
| Batter Splits | OAK BvP | OAK vs L | Batter Splits | TBR BvP | TBR vs L | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
Tommy Milone – Milone has really struggled on the road in his career. Over the last 2 seasons, he has had a road ERA over 5.00 compared to an ERA close to 3.00 at home. Tonight he faces a sleeping giant in the Rays who were one of the best teams against LH pitching a year ago. This game is basically a pick ‘em, but neither pitcher really stands out as a much play tonight. Rating = 5
Erik Bedard – Bedard hasn’t given up more than 1 earned run in any of his last 4 starts, but I have a feeling that could change tonight against the A’s who are ranked 16th against LH pitching and are a team that really likes to make pitchers work by drawing them into deep pitch counts. Bedard is an average option tonight. Rating = 5
Batter Grind Down
Oakland
Coco Crisp – Crisp is batting .267 against LH pitching this season and has reached base 10 times in his last 6 games. He should be batting leadoff tonight and makes a nice play against the LHP Bedard who has given up a .321 wOBA to RHB’s.
Additional Plays: Derek Norris, Yoenis Cespedes
Tampa Bay
Evan Longoria – I really thought the Rays would have a nice night against Pomeranz last night, but he pitched well once again and got some help from his bullpen. I’m giving the Rays another shot tonight against another LHP in Milone. Longoria has always crushed LH pitching and his price has come down across the industry.
Additional Plays: Wil Myers, Desmond Jennings
Philadelphia at Miami
| Philadelphia | Miami | ||||||||
| Kyle Kendrick | Vegas Moneyline | Nathan Eovaldi | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| RIGHT | MIA (-137) | RIGHT | 7.5 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.262 | 0.721 | 0.320 | 14.6% | SP vs. Left | 0.276 | 0.748 | 0.338 | 16.2% |
| SP vs. Right | 0.292 | 0.744 | 0.338 | 13.5% | SP vs. Right | 0.231 | 0.631 | 0.282 | 21.3% |
| Batter Splits | PHI BvP | PHI vs R | Batter Splits | MIA BvP | MIA vs R | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
Kyle Kendrick – Kendrick is one of those pitchers that never seems to find his way onto the daily fantasy baseball radar. He has an average ERA, an average WHIP, and an average K-rate. He faces a Marlins’ offense that has been on fire at home all season long. I’ll be avoiding him tonight in all leagues. Rating = 4
Nathan Eovaldi – Eovaldi has really pitched well this season with a 3.62 ERA (most of which came in his last start against the Giants) and a K/9 of 8.3. He has great velocity and a nice matchup against the Phillies who are ranked 26th against RH pitching this season with a team .292 wOBA. Rating = 7
Batter Grind Down
Philadelphia
Chase Utley – Eovaldi has given up a .338 wOBA to LHB’s over the last 2 seasons. Utley has been crushing RH pitching all season long and continues to make a nice play at 2B tonight.
Additional Plays: None
Miami
Giancarlo Stanton – Stanton has been terrific at home this season with a .354 batting average and an OPS of 1.16. Kendrick is not a pitcher that you need to avoid batters against and Stanton makes a terrific play in both GPP’s and cash games.
Additional Plays: Christian Yelich, Garrett Jones
Milwaukee at Atlanta
| Milwaukee | Atlanta | ||||||||
| Kyle Lohse | Vegas Moneyline | Ervin Santana | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| RIGHT | ATL (-142) | RIGHT | 7.0 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.262 | 0.739 | 0.327 | 17.1% | SP vs. Left | 0.251 | 0.682 | 0.306 | 17.6% |
| SP vs. Right | 0.249 | 0.636 | 0.282 | 15.6% | SP vs. Right | 0.228 | 0.632 | 0.283 | 22.7% |
| Batter Splits | MIL BvP | MIL vs R | Batter Splits | ATL BvP | ATL vs R | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
Kyle Lohse – Lohse has really pitched well this season with a 2.88 ERA and a K/9 of 7.01. If he was facing the Braves a week ago, I would suggest using him as a tournament play, but this Braves’ offense is really starting to heat up and I don’t want anything to do with them as far as opposing pitchers are concerned. Rating = 5
Ervin Santana – Santana has been terrific for the Braves this season with a 2.76 ERA and a K/9 of 9.2. He has been very good against RH batters (.282 wOBA) which really bodes well for his matchup against the Brewers tonight. Santana is in play on muli-pitcher sites. Rating = 7
Batter Grind Down
Milwaukee
There aren’t any plays that stand out here. Santana has been good against RH batters this season and should be tough on the RH batters in this Brewers’ lineup.
Atlanta
Jason Heyward – Heyward is starting to heat up with 9 hits over his last 6 games. His price is still extremely cheap on across the industry and I like his matchup against the RHP Lohse who has given up a .327 wOBA to LHB’s since the start of last season.
Additional Plays: Freddie Freeman, Justin Upton
LA Dodgers at NY Mets
| LA Dodgers | NY Mets | ||||||||
| Hyun-Jin Ryu | Vegas Moneyline | Jacob Degrom | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| LEFT | LAD (-125) | RIGHT | 7.0 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.281 | 0.728 | 0.326 | 17.0% | SP vs. Left | 0.125 | 0.410 | 0.197 | 22.2% |
| SP vs. Right | 0.240 | 0.619 | 0.280 | 20.4% | SP vs. Right | 0.286 | 0.714 | 0.308 | 28.6% |
| Batter Splits | LAD BvP | LAD vs R | Batter Splits | NYM BvP | NYM vs L | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
Hyun-Jin Ryu – Ryu will draw the start tonight after missing his last couple of starts with a shoulder injury. He threw 75 pitches in his rehab start and it doesn’t sound like a pitch count should be an issue. That said, the Dodgers are going to be careful with Ryu. While I do like the matchup against the Mets, I’m going to personally wait a start before using him in any cash games. Rating = 6
Jacob Degrom – Degrom pitched well in his major league debut with 6 K’s over 7 innings of work against the Yankees while only giving up 1 earned run. There are still plenty of question marks surrounding him and he’s not a recommended play against the Dodgers who are ranked 3rd against RH pitching with a team .340 wOBA. Rating = 4
Batter Grind Down
L.A. Dodgers
Adrian Gonzalez – Gonzalez had a big game against the rookie Montero last night and I like his chances for another big game against the rookie Degrom tonight.
Additional Plays: Dee Gordon, Hanley Ramirez
N.Y. Mets
David Wright – Wright has always been good against LH pitching and 2014 is no different. He’s batting .442 against southpaws with an OPS of 1.06. Citi Field isn’t a great ballpark for Wright, but I think he makes a nice play at 3B.
Additional Plays: Eric Young