Today's Hitter Breakdown: June 7th
Happy Friday Grinders, get the money out there and win some qualifiers tonight. The pitching matchups tonight are the haves and have nots as there are a ton of really solid pitchers and a ton of horrible pitchers. There are some really good options tonight and Carlos Gonzalez may be the best of him.
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.
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Today’s Hitters to Target
| PLAYER | OPS-L7 | BABIP | wOBA | PARK | Opp-SP (L/R) | SP ERA-L7 | vs L/R |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jhonny Peralta | 0.75 | 0.412 | 0.37 | 1.08 | Jimenez – R | 4.83 | 0.301 |
| Brett Gardner | 0.824 | 0.317 | 0.333 | 1 | Bonderman – R | 13.5 | 0.272 |
| Robinson Cano | 0.551 | 0.285 | 0.358 | 1 | Bonderman – R | 13.5 | 0.329 |
| David Freese | 1.081 | 0.345 | 0.328 | 0.97 | Leake – R | 2.75 | 0.295 |
| Domonic Brown | 1.503 | 0.279 | 0.38 | 1.06 | Figaro – R | 3.67 | 0.269 |
| Adrian Beltre | 1.467 | 0.296 | 0.375 | 1.12 | Rogers – R | 3.77 | 0.316 |
| Jedd Gyorko | 0.8 | 0.321 | 0.336 | 1.06 | De La Rosa – L | 3.1 | 0.254 |
| Buster Posey | 0.79 | 0.319 | 0.377 | 0.99 | Corbin – L | 2.06 | 0.347 |
| Scott Van Slyke | 0.769 | 0.25 | 0.414 | 0.9 | Maholm – L | 3.68 | 0.318 |
| Yasiel Puig | 1.417 | 0.375 | 0.597 | 0.9 | Maholm – L | 3.68 | 0.667 |
- Jhonny Peralta is another guy tied to the PED clinic who makes a solid option at shortstop today that not many people may use. He is having a bounce back season and hits right handers just as well as left. He has also done some nice work against Jimenez in his career going 8 for 25 with a 1.094 OPS.
- Another obvious play I just cannot ignore are the Yankees lefties against Jeremy Bonderman. I cannot believe that Bonderman is actually getting another shot at playing in the majors, and his first start was just as bad as I expect this one to be. Gardner is cheap everywhere and should be on almost everyone’s lineups today.
- Even though Robinson Cano has been pretty bad recently, he broke out of the slump with a homer last night and has a perfect opportunity to keep it going. He is a great play at 2nd base and is cheap because of his recent struggles. Even in Safeco field, Cano is an amazing play today.
- An interesting 3rd base play today that I think not many might have is David Freese. Freese has a nice 4 of 8 history against Leake with a 1.556 OPS and is absolutely raking in the past couple of weeks. He is a guy who has a solid matchup but might not be highly owned and could win you a GPP today with a big game.
- The hottest hitter in the majors showed his ability to score fantasy points last night even without a home run. You shouldn’t have to worry about that tonight as Figaro is not a good pitcher and should serve one up for Brown to homer. Figaro has really struggled against left handers this year with an OPS of .848.
- I would roll with the hot hand here in Adrian Beltre as he has been complete money since coming back from his hamstring injury. He has a great matchup as well against Rogers, who is a worse pitcher than his 3.77 ERA indicates and is really close to getting lit up against Texas today.
- Although the average might not indicate it, Jedd Gyorko has been hitting left handers with a ton of power this season. Gyorko is my favorite player that is not known well and is really producing nicely for his cheap price with a .336 OPS. If you want to fade Cano at 2nd today, Gyorko makes a really solid play in Coors.
- Buster Posey may have the best matchup today that no one will use. Throughout his career, he has absolutely destroyed left handed pitching and it does not matter who is pitching against him. I think he homers tonight in Chase field and could be the catcher that gets you over the hump in that GPP.
- To be completely honest, I think the Dodgers lineup looks much better right now with Van Slyke and Puig playing out there than their normal guys. Van Slyke is killing left handed pitching right now and there should be a major league job for him even if he does not work out with the Dodgers due to the crowded outfield.
- I picked Yasiel Puig today before he hit the grand slam last night so I hope that does not do much to his price point on Friday. If he stays at his current price he is again a great option in the outfield as he is major league ready and is already producing at a huge level. It will be really interesting to see what the Dodgers do when Kemp and Crawford come back from injuries.
Today’s Hitters to Avoid
| PLAYER | OPS-L7 | BABIP | wOBA | PARK | Opp-SP (L/R) | SP ERA-L7 | vs L/R |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nick Swisher | 0.249 | 0.291 | 0.343 | 0.93 | Verlander – R | 3.7 | 0.232 |
| Yunel Escobar | 0.909 | 0.256 | 0.299 | 0.96 | Hammel – R | 5.43 | 0.213 |
| Josh Reddick | 0.699 | 0.216 | 0.251 | 0.9 | Sale – L | 2.44 | 0.194 |
| David DeJesus | 0.433 | 0.306 | 0.345 | 1.12 | Liriano – L | 2.17 | 0.207 |
| Joey Votto | 0.311 | 0.387 | 0.407 | 1.01 | Wainwright – R | 2.33 | 0.355 |
| Jose Bautista | 0.192 | 0.27 | 0.374 | 1.12 | Tepesch – R | 3.44 | 0.261 |
| Pedro Alvarez | 0.879 | 0.232 | 0.289 | 1.12 | Wood – L | 2.75 | 0.216 |
| Jason Bay | 0.489 | 0.247 | 0.319 | 0.96 | Kuroda – R | 2.59 | 0.183 |
| Mark Reynolds | 0.329 | 0.28 | 0.346 | 1.08 | Verlander – R | 3.7 | 0.24 |
| Yuniesky Betancourt | 0.444 | 0.219 | 0.262 | 1.07 | Lee – L | 2.45 | 0.234 |
- The odds are stacked up against Nick Swisher today, as he has been terrible in the last 7 days and now has to face Justin Verlander. Verlander has crushed the Indians in his career and especially Swisher who has a .214 OPs and 20 strikeouts in 56 at bats. It just does not look like a good day to use Indians.
- Yunel Escobar has been pretty good at hitting recently but don’t be fooled today, he has a bad matchup. He does not hit right handers very well and is only 3 for 19 in his career against Hammel. In Tropicana Field, it may not be the time to use the shortstop today.
- Josh Reddick has really been struggling up until his home run last night. Now he gets to face Sale which is an unenviable opponent because Sale has been incredibly dominant against lefties this year only allowing 3 hits in 50 at bats. Just don’t use him.
- The stars don’t seem to be lining up for David DeJesus today as he has to face Liriano at Wrigley. At this point it appears the wind will be blowing in, and against the left hander who DeJesus has failed to hit in his career, it looks like he is headed towards another disappointing game.
- Joey Votto is obviously one of the top hitters in the MLB and for good reason, but it does not change the fact that he has been lost at the plate in his last few games. He also has no idea how to hit Wainwright as he only has 2 hits in 20 at bats against Wainwright in their careers.
- Jose Bautista is in a slump to write home about with a .192 OPS in the last 7 days. Since April, there have been only 3 games in which he has homered, granted 2 of those being 2 homer games, but recently he is struggling to make decent contact. I would look elsewhere as his price is still high on sites that are not sharp with their salaries.
- Just like DeJesus, at this point, the Winds look like they will be blowing in at Wrigley so Pedro Alvarez is looking like a bad play. Not only is the wind bad, but Travis Wood has been dominant at Wrigley and has only given up 1 home run all year against left handers which is where Alvarez makes his value. It could be a long night for Pedro’s owners.
- Jason Bay is having a nice comeback campaign with the Mariners and has smashed 8 home runs so far, but I would look at avoiding him today. There are much better cheap options out there than Kuroda vs Bay where bay is 2 for 14 lifetime against Kuroda. Bay has not exactly been tearing it up in the last 7 days with an OPS of .489.
- As one can probably tell, I am not the biggest fan of Mark Reynolds and think that when he faces a pitcher like Verlander, it is best to sit him. He has been super cold striking out 7 times in 4 games and has only 1 homer since May 19th. Against Verlander today I do not expect that trend to change.
- Since May 7th, Yuniesky Betancourt average has dropped from .304 to .248 and his OPS has dropped from .847 to .615. It has not been a good stretch at all and against Lee today who Betancourt has a career .179 average and .571 OPS against in 28 at bats, that will not be changing.