MLB Grind Down: Wednesday, May 28th
The RotoGrinders MLB Grind Down article will give you an in-depth analysis into the MLB schedule. This article will break down the numbers for every single game and give you analysis on which trends you can exploit. While matchups are a major factor in daily fantasy baseball, there are plenty of other factors to consider such as injuries, weather, and salaries.
The analysis should point you in the right direction, but it is still up to you to decipher the information and make your own selections. No sport has more variance than baseball. The best choice is not always the right choice but following the trends will win you money over time.
Note: Any Fantasy Point Average Listed Uses FanDuel Scoring. For more info on FanDuel’s MLB Scoring System,check out the scoring systems section of our FanDuel Review
Pittsburgh at NY Mets
| Pittsburgh | NY Mets | ||||||||
| Charlie Morton | Vegas Moneyline | Bartolo Colon | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| RIGHT | PIT (-105) | RIGHT | 7.0 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.229 | 0.570 | 0.280 | 17.1% | SP vs. Left | 0.287 | 0.801 | 0.349 | 19.5% |
| SP vs. Right | 0.277 | 0.676 | 0.334 | 13.5% | SP vs. Right | 0.311 | 0.798 | 0.350 | 15.4% |
| Batter Splits | PIT BvP  | PIT vs R | Batter Splits | NYM BvP | NYM vs R | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
- Charlie Morton – Morton is one of those pitchers that rarely gets rocked, but rarely has those huge fantasy outings either. This season he is sporting a 3.29 ERA with a K/9 of 5.8. He is facing a Mets’ offense that is ranked 28th against RH pitching with a team .287 wOBA. If he can pitch around the LHB’s of the Mets, he should be in for a quality start. Rating = 6
Salaries: $5300 FD, $12394 DS, $10500 DD, $9000 DK, $73100 FF, $18000 SS, $NA FTD
- Bartolo Colon – Colon has only had 2 quality starts in his last 7 outings, but did pitch well in his last start. On the season he has a 5.34 ERA with a K/9 of 5.7. He’s a tough pitcher to trust as your main cash game lineup SP, but he makes an interesting tournament play against an average Pirates’ offense. Rating = 5
Salaries: $6500 FD, $12769 DS, $13050 DD, $8200 DK, $83800 FF, $20600 SS, $ FTD
Batter Grind Down
Pittsburgh
Neil Walker – Walker is riding a 9 game hitting streak in which he has accumulated 13 hits and 3 base on balls. He already has 9 HR’s against RH pitching this season and draws a nice matchup against Colon who throws a majority of fastballs.
Additional Plays: Andrew McCutchen
NY Mets
Daniel Murphy – Murphy is batting .294 against RH pitching with an OPS of .753. He is facing the RHP Morton who has given up a much higher wOBA to LH batters throughout his career.
Additional Plays: Curtis Granderson
Houston at Kansas City
| Houston | Kansas City | ||||||||
| Jarred Cosart | Vegas Moneyline | Danny Duffy | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| RIGHT | KCR (-160) | LEFT | 8.0 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.237 | 0.718 | 0.324 | 17.0% | SP vs. Left | 0.043 | 0.155 | 0.120 | 18.5% |
| SP vs. Right | 0.250 | 0.608 | 0.290 | 15.5% | SP vs. Right | 0.221 | 0.639 | 0.302 | 16.0% |
| Batter Splits | HOU BvP | HOU vs L | Batter Splits | KCR BvP | KCR vs R | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
- Jarred Cosart – After a shaky start to the season, Cosart hasn’t given up more than 3 earned runs in any of his last 5 starts. Today he faces the Royals who are ranked 24th against RH pitching with a team .295 wOBA. The only issue is that the Royals strike out fewer times than any team in baseball. It’s hard to expect a repeat performance like we saw from McHugh against the Royals last night. Rating = 4
Salaries: $5800 FD, $10591 DS, $11150 DD, $7800 DK, $68200 FF, $15000 SS, $NA FTD
- Danny Duffy – Duffy gave up 5 earned runs in his last outing, but that was a tough matchup against the Angels in L.A. Today he has a much more favorable matchup against the Astros. The Astros are ranked 18th against LH pitching this season with a team .316 wOBA. I like the upside here and think Duffy is in play on multi-pitcher sites and GPP’s. Rating = 7
Salaries: $5400 FD, $14405 DS, $8900 DD, $7700 DK, $74400 FF, $14300 SS, $ FTD
Batter Grind Down
Houston
George Springer – Over the last 7 days, Springer is batting .450 with a 1.82 OPS. He has hit 8 HR’s in his last 15 games and is finally displaying the power that we saw from him in the minors.
Additional Plays: Jose Altuve
Kansas City
Alex Gordon – Gordon is batting .292 against RH pitching with an OPS of .764. He has the splits in his favor today too as Cosart has given up a .324 wOBA to LHB’s this season. Gordon is a nice value play in the OF.
Additional Plays: Eric Hosmer
Chicago Cubs at San Francisco
| Chicago Cubs | San Francisco | ||||||||
| Edwin Jackson | Vegas Moneyline | Tim Lincecum | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| RIGHT | SFG (-160) | RIGHT | 7.5 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.305 | 0.838 | 0.364 | 16.8% | SP vs. Left | 0.313 | 0.876 | 0.384 | 15.0% |
| SP vs. Right | 0.258 | 0.678 | 0.318 | 23.4% | SP vs. Right | 0.280 | 0.801 | 0.347 | 29.1% |
| Batter Splits | CHC BvP | CHC vs R | Batter Splits | SFG BvP | SFG vs R | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
- Edwin Jackson – Jackson burned a lot of bridges in the DFS world after his last start against the Padres in which he gave up 8 earned runs in only 4 innings of work. It was his worst start this season and he will look to bounce back today against the Giants in AT&T Park. He comes into this game as a big underdog though and there are better options at his price point. Rating = 4
Salaries: $6300 FD, $14188 DS, $14000 DD, $8600 DK, $68500 FF, $20800 SS, $NA FTD
- Tim Lincecum – Lincecum has been pitching pretty well of late, but he’s still giving up way too many free baserunners. He’s averaging 2.5 walks per start. The good news is that he is facing a Cubs’ offense that is ranked 27th against RH pitching with a team .287 wOBA and a 22.6 K-percentage. Lincecum may not make it past 6 innings, but he has a good shot of racking up 6+ K’s and being in line for the win. Rating = 6
Salaries: $7100 FD, $18411 DS, $14300 DD, $10600 DK, $84000 FF, $24200 SS, $ FTD
Batter Grind Down
Chicago Cubs
Starlin Castro – Lincecum is a RHP, but he hasn’t been particularly good against RHB’s over the last few seasons. Castro is batting .272 against RH pitching this season with an OPS of .783. He also has decent numbers off of Lincecum in his career.
Additional Plays: Anthony Rizzo
San Francisco
Pablo Sandoval – The Panda is really starting to swing the bat well. Over the last 7 days, he is batting .400 with an OPS of 1.30. He has a terrific matchup against Jackson who has given up a .364 wOBA to LHB’s.
Additional Plays: Hunter Pence, Tyler Colvin
Miami at Washington
| Miami | Washington | ||||||||
| Henderson Alvarez | Vegas Moneyline | Jordan Zimmermann | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| RIGHT | WAS (-155) | RIGHT | 7.5 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.254 | 0.653 | 0.291 | 16.9% | SP vs. Left | 0.283 | 0.731 | 0.325 | 17.5% |
| SP vs. Right | 0.320 | 0.787 | 0.356 | 11.4% | SP vs. Right | 0.313 | 0.802 | 0.359 | 22.0% |
| Batter Splits | MIA BvP | MIA vs R | Batter Splits | WSN BvP | WSN vs R | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
- Henderson Alvarez – Through his first 10 starts, Alvarez has a 3.21 ERA with a K/9 of 5.6. Alvarez has typically struggled against LHB’s, but this season he’s struggled against RHB’s which doesn’t bode well for his matchup against the Nationals who have some very talented RHB’s in their lineup. Rating = 4
Salaries: $6900 FD, $10050 DS, $12650 DD, $7600 DK, $76600 FF, $15700 SS, $12200 FTD
- Jordan Zimmermann – Zimmermann has struggled in each of his last 3 starts and now owns a 3.95 ERA on the season with a K/9 of 7.8. Zimmermann has already faced this Marlins’ offense twice this season and has had mixed results. I think this is a good time to buy low on Zimmermann, but I’m not sure if I would roll him out in all of my cash game lineups. Rating = 7
Salaries: $8300 FD, $17359 DS, $15250 DD, $9000 DK, $74700 FF, $22500 SS, $15100 FTD
Batter Grind Down
Miami
Derek Dietrich – Dietrich doesn’t hit for a high average, but has an OPS of .816 against RH pitching this season. Zimmermann is giving up a .325 wOBA to LHB’s this season and Dietrich does already have one HR off of him.
Additional Plays: Giancarlo Stanton
Washington
Adam LaRoche – LaRoche has been crushing RH pitching this season. He’s batting .326 with an OPS of .986 against righties. Alvarez has been susceptible to LHB’s throughout his career and LaRoche makes a nice upside play at 1B.
Additional Plays: Jayson Werth
Colorado at Philadelphia
| Colorado | Philadelphia | ||||||||
| Jordan Lyles | Vegas Moneyline | Roberto Hernandez | Vegas Over/Under | ||||||
| RIGHT | COL (-110) | RIGHT | 8.0 | ||||||
| Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% | Stats | Avg | OPS | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP vs. Left | 0.234 | 0.665 | 0.312 | 13.8% | SP vs. Left | 0.200 | 0.603 | 0.300 | 9.4% |
| SP vs. Right | 0.233 | 0.676 | 0.297 | 19.2% | SP vs. Right | 0.299 | 0.809 | 0.364 | 23.1% |
| Batter Splits | COL BvP | COL vs R | Batter Splits | PHI BvP | PHI vs R | ||||
| Batter Split Links Above Open In Pop-Up Window | |||||||||
Pitcher Grind Down
- Jordan Lyles – Lyles continues his bounceback season tonight against the Phillies. Lyles has a 3.45 ERA with a 1.22 WHIP and a K/9 of 6.1. Tonight he faces a Phillies’ offense that is ranked 26th against RH pitching with a team .292 wOBA. The matchup and the numbers favor Lyles here, but I’m not sure how many people will actually use him in their lineups. Rating = 5
Salaries: $6700 FD, $11010 DS, $11400 DD, $7800 DK, $82400 FF, $19500 SS, $11200 FTD
- Roberto Hernandez – Roberto Fausto Hernandez Carmona takes the mound tonight. He has a 3.83 ERA on the season, but his 1.51 WHIP suggests a different story. Hernandez has given up a .364 wOBA to RHB’s this season and I think he struggles with this powerful Rockies’ lineup tonight. Rating = 3
Salaries: $5200 FD, $9805 DS, $9250 DD, $6300 DK, $58900 FF, $13000 SS, $9500 FTD
Batter Grind Down
Colorado
Troy Tulowitzki – As mentioned above, Hernandez has given up a .364 wOBA to RHB’s this season. Tulo is batting .350 with an OPS of 1.10 against RH pitching this season. I love the play at SS, but you are certainly going to have to pay up for him.
Additional Plays: Michael Cuddyer, Justin Morneau
Philadelphia
Chase Utley – Utley is batting .364 with an OPS of 1.02 against RH pitching this season. If you are looking for a reliable option at 2B, there are few better than Utley. He has a nice matchup against the RHP Lyles.
Additional Plays: Ryan Howard