DFS Alerts

Alex Rodriguez is in position to have a productive day at a low ownership

Jake Odorizzi has had his troubles this year against right-handed batters. His 4.83 xFIP seems legitimate, considering his flyball % that has ballooned to 46% so far this year. Odorizzi’s 13% HR/FB% is near league average, leaving little room for normalization, meaning Odorizzi will simply need to pitch better to lower his 1.69 HR/9 in 2016. Until he proves on a regular basis that he can pitch to RHBs, look to players like Alex Rodriguez and Starlin Castro to take advantage of Odorizzi’s struggles.

Manny Machado and Mark Trumbo look to test Mike Clevinger's extreme reverse splits

Mike Clevinger does not have enough innings pitched in his young career to put much weight in his splits, but his K rates do give us an idea about his ability to put batters away. Clevinger has a K% of 9.5% against right-handed batters, along with a 41.2% flyball . Clevinger’s massive 28.6 HR/FB % will most likely come down, but until it does, Clevinger’s enormous 4.91 HR/9 will continue to be an issue. Look for power bats like Manny Machado, Adam Jones, and Mark Trumbo to get productive at-bats today against Clevinger.

Red Sox lineup has a few bats who have hit R.A. Dickey well historically

R.A. Dickey is on the mound for the Blue Jays on Sunday and with knuckleballers batter versus pitcher data is often relied upon to give us an idea of who sees the knuckleball well. In 26 at-bats, David Ortiz has an OPS of 0.977, Xander Bogaerts has an OPS of 0.976 in 33 at-bats, and Travis Shaw has a massive 1.400 OPS in what most would consider too few at-bats (10 ABs).

Kevin Roth’s weather report is out Coors Field is the only game with any orange. Still, the SF@COL game only received a rating of YELLOW/ORANGE and Kevin thinks it should avoid any major issues. Check out Kevin Roth’s full report here: https://rotogrinders.com/weather/mlb

Matt Carpenter returns to the Cardinals lineup

Matt Carpenter is batting lead off for the Cardinals tonight and brings sneaky cash-game value to the table. He has an OBP of 0.375 this season against left-handed pitchers. He does have a higher ISO against RHP, but as part of any Cardinals stacks, perhaps Carpenter can accumulate points in the early innings and face a right-handed pitcher in the later innings. Gio Gonzalez has been solid against LHP, but does possess an xFIP at home versus LHB of 5.65. Perhaps his minuscule K% of 8% at home can be exploited by Carpenter tonight.

Phil Hughes's FB% to RHB has been problematic this year, making Franklin Gutierrez and Nelson Cruz interesting sneaky plays

Franklin Gutierrez generally only faces LHP, but with Martin on the shelf, he is getting an opportunity to face Phil Hughes tonight. Hughes’s 45% FB% has led to a problematic 2.00 HR/9 allowed to right-handed batters. Until he reduces his fly balls allowed, players like Nelson Cruz and Franklin Gutierrez will continue to be viable plays.

Cesar Vargas has performed much better agains LHBs, facing only 2 in the D-Backs lineup

Cesar Vargas has performed better against RHB than LHB so far in his young career. He has an xFIP of 5.63 against RHB, compared to an xFIP of 2.48 against LHB. Vargas’s K%. 26%, against LHB is much more impressive than his 12% K% versus RHBs. The Diamondback’s lineup only has two left-handed batters, so Vargas may struggle if he maintains his one-sided splits he has displayed early in the 2016 season. Players like Jean Segura, Paul Goldschmidt, and Wellington Castillo should be considered viable options tonight against Vargas.

Kevin Roth does not foresee any games being postponed tonight, but does caution a YELLOW/ORANGE rating for the Dodgers and Mets game. He cites a possibility for a delay which could potentially impact pitching. To see Roth’s full report, go to: https://rotogrinders.com/weather/mlb

Jurickson Profar will lead off for the Rangers with Odor still suspended

Jurickson Profar will be leading off for the Rangers and facing Juan Nicasio. For his career, Profar has performed better against right-handed pitching than left-handed pitching. Still, his wRC+ has been a modest 88, with a respectable ISO of 0.137.

Denard Span has been scratched with bruised ribs, Gregor Blanco will lead off for the Giants today

Denard Span has been scratched and will no longer be leading off for the Giants at Coors Field today. Gregor Blanco will now lead off for SF. Blanco is not a bad replacement, finishing the 2015 season with a wRC+ of 122 versus RHP, striking out under 15% of the time with an OBP of 0.374.

The Giants return Hunter Pence and Brandon Belt to the lineup for today's Coors Field matchup

The Giants lineup today returns two key power bats, Hunter Pence and Brandon Belt, to the middle of the lineup. Eddie Butler, the Rockies starting pitcher today, has surprisingly been more effective at home, giving up an xFIP of 2.26 at home, compared to an xFIP of 4.64 on the road. Still, this game has an 11 run Las Vegas consensus predicted total in a game where the Giants are favored. With an implied run total of at least 5.5 runs today, most of the Giants are viable plays, including the returning Pence and Belt.

Daniel Castro now batting 8th after Chase d'Arnaud scratched due to a fender bender on the way to the stadium

After Chase d’arnaud was in a minor car accident on the way to the stadium, the Braves have inserted Daniel Castro into the lineup to bat 8th.

With a lefty on the mound, the Yankees have an atypical top 5 batters in the lineup

The Yankees have been a poor batting team against left-handed pitchers this year, sitting at 27th in wRC+ against LHP so far in 2016. Since the beginning of 2015, Alex Rodriguez has lead the Yankees in wRC+ against LHP, possessing a wRC+ of 151 and an ISO of 0.364. Perhaps the DFS community will be slow to trust Rodriguez, which may depress his ownership percentage today against a very hitable Matt Moore. Moore has an xFIP allowed of 4.16 to RHBs this year and a FB% of 36.9% to RHBs. Starlin Castro’s wRC+ of 127 versus LHPs since the beginning of last year makes him a viable play as well, batting 4th in front of A-Rod.

Billy Hamilton absent from the Reds lineup, moving Jay Bruce up to bat cleanup

Chase Anderson has exhibited reverse splits when it come to power, surrendering 1.42 HR/9 to RHB in his career, compared to 1.18 HR/9 versus LHB. However, Anderson has a FB% of 38% against LHB this year, and while his HR/FB of 20.8% is likely to come down, batters like Jay Bruce and Joey Votto are still viable plays. Bruce has a wRC+ of 112 this year, while Votto has a wRC+ of 102, with an ISO of 0.204 against RHP.

Daniel Castro hitting 8th for the Braves, joining a plethora of RHBs to face Wei-Yin Chen today

The Braves have a handful of RHBs to face Chen today in the bottom half of the lineup. Beginning with the 6th spot, the braves lineup has Jeff Francoeur, Adonis Garcia, and Daniel Castro following Nick Markakis.