Today's Hitter Breakdown: June 10th
Welcome to a new week of grinding out daily fantasy. As usual, this week should have some exciting qualifiers, but other than the Playboy Qualifier over on Starstreet, tonight is going to be all about the money. Watch out for the Angels/Orioles game as Camden Yards is looking like they might have some weather issues.
Park Factors are starting to get back to normal with a bigger sample size, and it will continue to move towards the actual number as we get more games and more data.
Wondering what some of the stats below represent? Check out this popup Batter Breakdown FAQ Page
Today’s Hitters to Target
| PLAYER | OPS-L7 | BABIP | wOBA | PARK | Opp-SP (L/R) | SP ERA-L7 | vs L/R |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Luke Scott | 0.326 | 0.264 | 0.31 | 1.02 | Lackey – R | 2.79 | 0.175 |
| Brad Hawpe | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.12 | Garcia – R | 4.7 | 0 |
| Jeff Baker | 1.031 | 0.347 | 0.464 | 1.02 | Kazmir – L | 5.24 | 0.381 |
| Edwin Encarnacion | 0.976 | 0.241 | 0.368 | 0.85 | Axelrod – R | 3.73 | 0.273 |
| Yasiel Puig | 1.458 | 0.4 | 0.608 | 0.93 | Miley – L | 4.92 | 0.6 |
| Howie Kendrick | 1.39 | 0.372 | 0.363 | 1 | Garcia – R | 4.7 | 0.322 |
| Prince Fielder | 1.173 | 0.319 | 0.386 | 0.96 | Guthrie – R | 3.66 | 0.248 |
| Jason Heyward | 0.984 | 0.218 | 0.281 | 1.07 | Marquis – R | 3.73 | 0.207 |
| Michael Bourn | 0.731 | 0.402 | 0.331 | 1.01 | Lindblom – R | 7.71 | 0.295 |
| Michael Morse | 0.265 | 0.279 | 0.328 | 0.96 | Keuchel – L | 4.7 | 0.328 |
- Luke Scott has had a rough week, and a rough year against right handers, but the reality is that he still hits righties much better than lefties. He owns a nice 7 for 18 with 2 homers an a 1.394 career OPS against Lackey and he hits better at home than away. He will make a nice cheap option in the outfield if he plays.
- If you are looking for another really cheap option, look no further than Brad Hawpe. He was signed to a minor league deal by the Angels, and hit .305 with a .909 OPS in their farm system, so I would not be worried about the hitless start he had the other night. He should be close to minimum salary on all sites, and brings a nice power upside.
- Lefty specialist Jeff Baker should get another shot at smashing a homer night against Scott Kazmir in Rangers Ballpark. Baker has been hot, hitting 3 homers in 5 games and has a really good shot to do it again for a cheap price.
- Do not discount Edwin Encarnacion tonight just because he is facing a right hander, in fact, 15 of his 17 home runs this year have came off right handers. He also hits better away and has a 6 game hitting streak going. I think he goes deep tonight.
- Everything that Yasiel Puig has done since being called up is awesome. While his current stats are certainly unsustainable, while he is this hot I would continue to use him if his price is not through the roof. I like him especially against left handers, who at the early stages he looks to be destroying.
- One of the hottest hitters right now, having multiple hit games in 4 of 5 games. He has been hitting closer to the middle of the order, so he also should have more RBI opportunities. His right/left splits seem to be about the same and he has homered before off of Garcia.
- Prince Fielder has been really solid at the end of May and into June and is regularly putting up big fantasy point games. He is absolutely locked in, and gets Guthrie who is really serving it up for lefties this year. If you don’t like EE at 1st, go with Fielder.
- Finally Jason Heyward has remembered how to hit the baseball. After his anemic start, he now has a 7 game hitting streak and has raised his average from .152 to .200 in that span. He has tremendous power which has not been showcased yet this year, but against Jason Marquis he could let one fly to the shorter fences in Petco.
- The Rangers/Indians game has a nice over/under of 10.5 with Kazmir and Lindblom on the hill, and I think the left handed bats in Cleveland will be able to get to Lindblom today. Michael Bourn usually hits right handers better than left, so this year’s stats are a little skewed. He is also always a threat to steal and I think he should cross the plate a few times tonight.
- Michael Morse is back in the lineup and could be the under the rader play you need to win a GPP. He still can hit the ball really hard, and he is facing Keuchel who is allowing right handers to hit him hard this year batting over .300 and over .800 OPS. Even at Safeco, Morse is a dual homer threat.
Today’s Hitters to Avoid
| PLAYER | OPS-L7 | BABIP | wOBA | PARK | Opp-SP (L/R) | SP ERA-L7 | vs L/R |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| David DeJesus | 0.2 | 0.306 | 0.341 | 1.12 | Feldman – R | 2.84 | 0.286 |
| Adrian Beltre | 0.9 | 0.302 | 0.374 | 1.01 | Kazmir – L | 5.24 | 0.288 |
| Dayan Viciedo | 0.289 | 0.277 | 0.274 | 0.85 | Dickey – R | 4.66 | 0.223 |
| Paul Konerko | 0.581 | 0.253 | 0.287 | 0.85 | Dickey – R | 4.66 | 0.223 |
| Martin Prado | 0.5 | 0.27 | 0.284 | 1.01 | Kershaw – L | 1.93 | 0.288 |
| Paul Goldschmidt | 0.926 | 0.371 | 0.425 | 0.93 | Kershaw – L | 1.93 | 0.308 |
| Nick Swisher | 0.115 | 0.281 | 0.333 | 0.93 | Lindblom – R | 7.71 | 0.22 |
| David Murphy | 0.448 | 0.222 | 0.28 | 1.02 | Kazmir – L | 5.24 | 0.25 |
| Billy Butler | 1.267 | 0.313 | 0.35 | 0.97 | Fister – R | 3.27 | 0.288 |
| Desmond Jennings | 0.605 | 0.294 | 0.316 | 0.96 | Lackey – R | 2.79 | 0.237 |
- David DeJesus is not getting the playing time against left handers, but is consistently leading off against right handers. The over/under at Wrigley is not very high tonight, and the Cubs have been awful recently, so I am not sold on their potential tonight. It appears that splitting time is hurting him as he only has 2 hits in June on 15 at bats and he has not homered since May 15th. Bailey has owned him as well, as David has only gone 3 for 15 off of him.
- Adrian Beltre is going to be highly owned tonight I am sure of it, so to separate your GPP lineups I am going to recommend sitting him. Although Kazmir is terrible against right handers, Beltre is not better against right handers than left handers. If you are stacking Rangers, using him is fine, but to win a GPP sometimes you need to go the route less traveled.
- I am going to be rolling with RA Dickey tonight a lot as I am hoping the wind in Chicago does not die by game time. I am interested to see the knuckleball tonight at US Cellular Field. Dayan Viciedo cannot hit right handers, and Dickey’s knuckle will not make it much easier.
- This White Sox offense is pretty bad, and even though they may be breaking out of their slump a bit it does not look like they are primed to break out leaving Paul Konerko ceiling low. Konerko did state that he had a stiff neck earlier and has been battling injuries this season so it is not surprising to see his fantasy stock fall at his age.
- Some say that Kershaw is the best pitcher in the game right now, and I would be hard pressed to argue that. He has a miniscule 1.93 ERA on the season and is getting everyone out, so picking any team against him is a bad idea. Martin Prado and his 3 for 20 career split with a .340 OPS is not going to get it done.
- I would not even take a flier on Paul Goldschmidt against Kershaw, as he is only 2 for 17 against him in his career with 7 strikeouts. Goldschmidt is really breaking out into a top tier hitter, and so his price is so high to not even fool with at this point.
- Like I noted for Beltre above, if you are stacking up Indians tonight against Lindblom, one you may want to avoid is Nick Swisher. Swish is the sound the he is hearing every time he misses a ball, and he finally got his first hit, a single in 6 games yesterday. He is incredibly cold and if a guy is struggling that bad, it will not matter the matchup.
- David Murphy is another guy who I would stay away from in those games, due to his reputation for struggling against left handers. Murphy is 2 for 12 career against Kazmir, and even though he has improved against lefties this year, I still do not like him as an upside option today.
- A really nice stretch for Billy Butler was ended yesterday when he went hitless against the Astros. The problem is, that really nice stretch was against Minnesota and Houston pitching, and today he comes back to earth against Doug Fister. If Fister has his best stuff he is unhittable and Billy’s no extra base hits in 19 at bats against Fister does not inspire confidence.
- It looks as if Desmond Jennings has gone back into the funk he had to start the season. His average has again slipped below .250 and he only has a .605 OPS in his last 7 games. Jennings career against Lackey is unremarkable, going 0 for 8 and he is really struggling against righties this year hitting at a .673 OPS.