MLB H2H vs GPP Plays Aug 22nd
MLB Picks for 50/50s/Double-ups/Head-to-Head VS GPPs
As you guys can tell I’m not Pepsi7, but I was asked to fill in for him today. I hope I can live up to the man, and provide you guys some good enough for tonights slate. In this article I am going to give you my MLB picks for all game types, including 50/50s/double-ups/head-to-head and GPPs (guaranteed prize pool tournaments). I will break them down into two parts: Part 1 – 50/50s/Double-ups/Head-to-Head (AKA cash games), Part 2 – GPPs.
Part 1 – 50/50s/Double-ups/Head-to-Head (AKA Cash Games)
When playing 50-50s/double-ups or head-to-head, you want guaranteed points. This is not where you roll the dice on all-or-nothing players. The idea is to simply produce a solid, well balanced team. It may not be explosive, but it doesn’t matter whether you finish in first place or not, you just need to cash.
STARTING PITCHERS
Felix Hernandez – This Red Sox team has really struggled at the plate this season, and might have lost Cespedes for a few games due to a family emergency. Shoemaker dominated this Red Sox team last night, and King Felix will look to do the same thing tonight. Felix has been very impressive this season, and has only given up 41 ERs in 185 innings. He gives you a great floor for your cash games, and is one of the biggest favorites to pick up a win. I don’t mind using Hernandez in GPPs, but beware he should be very highly owned.
Adam Wainwright – Wainwright has been the definition of a cash game pitcher this season, and will look to keep it going against the Phillies tonight. Wainwright has pitched better on the road this season (1.49 ERA), and is holding lefties and righties under a .275 wOBA. Wainwright doesn’t give you a ton of upside, but is one of the safest cash game pitchers on the board. Philadelphia comes in with the 3rd worst wOBA against right handed pitchers, and a very high 21% strikeout rate as a team.
Other Pitchers I like – Doug Fister, Sonny Gray
CATCHER
Victor Martinez – VMart has been crushing left handed pitching this season, and comes in with a .344 AVG and 9 of his 24 HRs against lefties. Milone’s inability to strikeout right handed hitters out, is going to be the downfall to his start tonight. Detroit’s righties are all solid cash game plays tonight. Martinez has a .403 OBP against lefties, and has also shown a ton of power with his .295 ISO. He’s a safe option for cash games, and has one of the highest floors on the board.
Jonathan Lucroy – Lucroy is swinging a hot bat over the last 7 days, and comes in with a .404 wOBA in that span. He has a .379 wOBA against lefties this season, and has showed multiple times how good he is against lefties. He’s been batting in the 2 spot lately, and I don’t except Locke to match his last start against the Brew Crew.
Other Catchers I like – Derek Norris, Kurt Suzuki
FIRST BASE
Miguel Cabrera – It’s hard not to pay up for Miggy tonight, and I will be using him where I can fit him. Miggy has been fantastic in his career against lefties, and comes in with a career .415 wOBA with a .428 OBP. He is the best hitter in baseball, and has one of the highest floors in baseball. I think there’s going to be a lot of potential for RBIs tonight, and could see Miggy being a top 5 fantasy scorer tonight.
Matt Adams – Adams has officially broke out of his slump, and is 11 for his last 27 with hits in 7 of his last 8. Kendrick is really struggling against lefties this season, and has a .364 wOBA with only a 15.3 K%. Adams has been great for cash games this season, and I love using him at his discount against righties.
Other First Basemen I like – Mark Teixeira, Adam LaRoche, Kennys Vargas
SECOND BASE
Robinson Cano – Cano has been great for cash games against RHP (.352 BAA, .422 OBP) which presents a solid floor. He loves hitting at Fenway, and in 328 ABs supports a .338 BA with a .941 OPS. In a small sample size this season, Kelly has really struggled with left handed hitters, and I would strongly recommend using Cano in your cash games.
Jason Kipnis – The Indians should have very little problem scoring runs on Peacock tonight. Peacock has a .360+ wOBA to lefties and righties this season, and I fully expect Cleveland to take advantage of it. Kipnis has hits in 8 straight games, but has only 1 multi-hit game in that span. This could be exactly what Kipnis needs for a break out game tonight.
Other Second Basemen I like – Ian Kinsler, Justin Turner
THIRD BASE
Aramis Ramirez – Ramirez is crushing left handed pitching this season, and enters play tonight with a .441 wOBA against lefties. Ramirez has 3 multi-hit games out of his last 5, and has really excelled in games after an off day. Locke pitched well against the Brewers earlier this season, but his .339 wOBA against righties makes this a prime matchup for the Brewers.
Matt Carpenter – Carpenter continues to get on base and score runs for the Cardinals. Carpenter is on base machine (Career .392 OBP) and is always a safe play against RHP. Kyle Kendrick isn’t a good pitcher, and I will be targeting him quite a bit tonight. Carpenter is by far one of my favorite cash game players.
Other Third Basemen I like – Casey McGehee, Martin Prado
SHORTSTOP
Jose Reyes – Reyes brings a lot to the table every night with his SB and run upside. This Blue Jays team is much better at home this season, and have a great matchup against Smyly tonight. Reyes is on a tear right now, and has 4 multi-hit games out of the last 6. I’d prefer Reyes from the left side, but with limited options I don’t mind paying up for him.
Danny Santana – Santana doesn’t present a very high upside, but has a nice floor and a great matchup. Santana has hits in 5 straight games, and earlier this month was super hot with 4 multi-hit games in 5 games. This is a great matchup for him to get hot again, and always presents stolen base potential.
Other Shortstops I like – Asdrubal Cabrera, Zack Cozart
OUTFIELDERS
Michael Brantley – Brantley has been one of the most consistent cash game players this season, and has a very plus matchup against Peacock. This could be exactly what Brantley needs to get back on track. Brantley has a .418 wOBA against righties this season, and Peacock is giving up a .361 wOBA to left handed hitters.
Alex Gordon – The Royals are one of the hottest teams in baseball right now, and Gordon is leading the charge with a .512 wOBA over the last 7 days. We haven’t talked about Lewis a lot, but he has a 7.29 ERA at home this season. Lewis has a .413 wOBA against lefties this season, and I really recommend targeting him tonight.
Seth Smith – Smith gets a huge ballpark boost tonight, and a great matchup against Collmenter. Collmenter has really struggled in his last 4 starts with 17 ERs in 18 innings. Smith has been awesome for cash games this season, and has hits in each of his last 8 starts. He’s having a good month of August (.325/.432/.535).
Other Outfielders I like – Mike Trout, Carlos Beltran (if he plays), Melky Cabrera, Denard Span, Michael Bourn
Part 2 – GPPs
GPPs are a whole new ball game. You need guys to have huge nights. GPP tournaments are all about upside. All-or-nothing players can become GPP gold, while value players are just as important as your star players.
STARTING PITCHERS
Carlos Carrasco – You could easily go chalk with Felix in your GPPs, but I’ve always liked being contrarian for GPPs. Carrasco has pitched 12 shutout innings since joining the starting rotation, and they let him pitch a little deeper into the last game. In 28 games since the end of April, Carrasco has a 1.80 ERA. Houston as a team has been hitting better, but are still the second highest in strikeouts against right handed pitching.
Shane Greene – Well if I’m not going to go chalk or with Carrasco, then I should tell you about my boy Greene. Greene has the strikeout upside you want for a GPP, and has logged 39 Ks in 43 innings this season. Chicago is a team with a ton of power, but strike out 21.8% against right handed pitching. Danks is on the hill for the White Sox, and I like the Yankees to give Greene plenty of run support tonight.
Other Pitchers I like – Yordano Ventura, Marcus Stroman
CATCHER
Devin Mesoraco – Mesoraco is in a huge slump right now, but his price has really dropped against the industry. Minor has a tough matchup in a hitters ballpark tonight, and his 36.6 FB% with a 15.6% HR/FB makes for great gpp plays in this game. Mesoraco is a boom or bust play tonight, but has great power numbers (.910 OPS & .239 ISO) against left handed pitching this season.
Yan Gomes – With so many good match ups tonight, I totally expect Gomes to be overlooked. Gomes has better average numbers against lefties this season, but has hit 13 of his 17 homeruns against righties this season. Peacock is giving up a .368 wOBA to righties this season, and has an insanely high 1.59 WHIP this season. I really expect the Indians to score runs tonight, and I think Gomes will be one of the lower owned Indians tonight.
Other Catchers I like – Russell Martin, NYM Catcher (Either One), Sal Perez
FIRST BASE
Lucas Duda – Dan Haren is really struggling with the long ball this season, and honestly just struggling in general. Haren has a 14% HR/FB rate this season, and has given up 17 ERs in his last 5 starts. Duda is the definition of GPP play, but I really like his upside in this matchup. Duda has a .400 wOBA with a .276 ISO against right handed pitching this season.
Edwin Encarnacion – Encarnacion is going to cost you a little more than Duda, but has unlimited upside at home against a lefty. He has a .402 wOBA against lefties this season, and looks to have recovered from his quad injury. Smyly has pitched very well since joining Tampa, but is still giving up a .374 wOBA to righties. Edwin get a nice ballpark boost, and I wouldn’t be shocked to see him go yard tonight.
Other First Basemen I like – Mark Teixeira, Mark Reynolds, Freddie Freeman
SECOND BASE
Brian Dozier – Dozier has really struggled this season, and has actually had a little more upside against righties. With that said, he’s been much better in his 3 year career against lefties. Even with his struggles this season, he has a career .361 wOBA with a .218 ISO against lefties. He’s a boom or bust type of play, but Ray has really struggled in his 24 innings this season. I love the upside for Dozier and his friendly price tag across the industry.
Jeff Baker – Baker hasn’t shown much upside this season, but in his career 37 of his 51 homeruns have come against lefties. His career power numbers are much higher against lefties, and gets a huge ballpark boost playing at Coors. Morales has a .400+ wOBA against righties this season, and 17 of his 21 homeruns have come against righties.
Other Second Basemen I like – Steve Tolleson, Kolten Wong, Rickie Weeks
THIRD BASE
Martin Prado – I’d usually write Prado up as a cash game play, but I love his value in tonights matchup. He has a .431 wOBA against lefties this season, and comes in with hits in 4 of his last 5 games. Danks has really struggled this season, and has a .371 wOBA against righties. Danks has given up 20 of his 23 homeruns to righties.
Kyle Seager – I’d much rather have Seager at home, but this matchup is too good to pass on. I’d already mentioned how Kelly has struggled against lefties, and left handed hitters get a huge boost at Fenway. Seager has a .244 ISO against righties this season, and has put together a very nice season after a bad first month.
Other Third Basemen I like – Josh Donaldson, Danny Valencia, Carlos Santana
SHORTSTOP
Jhonny Peralta – It’s a ugly slate at shortstop tonight, but Peralta is swinging a very hot bat right now. Peralta is 10 for his last 28 with 6 XBHs, and gets a great matchup against Kendrick tonight. Kendrick has a lower wOBA (still over .300) against righties, but has actually given up more HRs to righties this season.
Adeiny Hechavarria – I feel dirty for recommending Hech tonight, but with his price and matchup, I love him tonight. Morales has really struggled with right handed hitters, and the Marlins will slide him into the 2 spots from time to time. Hech adds spend to his upside, and really I just prefer to save money at SS tonight.
Other Shortstops I like – Mike Aviles, Jean Segura
OUTFIELDERS
Giancarlo Stanton – I usually don’t like taking a player I know will be highly owned, but there’s no way I can pass on Stanton at Coors against a bad lefty. Stanton is 13-39 with 11 XBH (7 HRs) at Coors from 2011-2013. I don’t really have to sell you on Stanton, but if I do his power numbers against lefties are insane this season (.286 ISO 1.086 OPS).
Jose Bautista – Joey Bats has everything going for him tonight, he gets to hit at home, he gets to face a lefty, and has hits in 4 of his last 5. Like Stanton, Bautista has insane power numbers against lefties this season (.306 ISO 1.097 OPS), and makes for an excellent upside GPP option. With Encarnacion back in the lineup, teams aren’t able to pitch around Joey Bats anymore.
Khris Davis – Davis has serious upside against left handed pitching, and I’ve already mentioned how I think the Brewers hit Locke tonight. Davis has a .381 wOBA against left handed pitching, and has double dong upside with a .250 ISO.
Other Outfielders I like – Marcell Ozuna, Jonny Gomes, David Peralta, Ryan Ludwick, Torii Hunter, JD Martinez, Corey Dickerson