DFS Alerts

Bryce Harper and Daniel Murphy are viable plays today, even against lefty Adam Conley

Adam Conley has interesting splits dating back to the beginning of last year. Conley has surrendered 9 of his 10 career homeruns-allowed to RHBs, but his career wOBA allowed to LHB is 0.378, considerably higher than his wOBA versus RHB of 0.294. Since Conley is only striking out LHBs 16.7% of the time, targeting players like Bryce Harper and Daniel Murphy may be clever way to get lower owned players in a good position to succeed.

Yoenis Cespedes in a sneaky good situation, facing Chase Anderson today

Chase Anderson is notorious for his reverse splits and that trend has continued during his 2016 campaign. Anderson has allowed a wOBA of 0.424 to right-handed batters. So, now for the Mets hitter with the highest wRC+ against right-handed pitching….you guessed it, Noah Syndergaard with a wRC+ of 193. Seriously though, Yoenis Cespedes is the player to target, sporting a wRC+ of 145 against right-handed pitchers, along with an impressive ISO of 0.330 (almost as good as Syndergaard’s ISO of 0.600).

Christian Yelich has been scratched due to back spasms. Ichiro will now lead off for the Marlins

Yelich has been scratched due to back spasms. Ichiro will now lead off now with Deitrich moving to the 3rd spot in the lineup.

Jason Heyward not in the Cubs lineup, moving Zobrist up to the cleanup spot

Ben Zobrist has proven to be effective against left-handed and right-handed pitchers this year, posting a wRC+ of 196 vs. LHP and 148 vs. RHP. His power has been better against left-handed pitching according to an ISO of 0.250 vs. LHP, compared to an ISO of 0.175. However, 4 of his 6 homers this year have come off right-handed pitchers, and Zobrist will be facing Matt Cain today. Cain has a wOBA of 0.406 this year against LHBs, and Cain actually has a higher wOBA at home than on the road. While the sample size is small, this highlights his inability to be dominate both home and away.

Jose Fernandez will face a Nationals lineup that is missing Jayson Werth, Ryan Zimmerman, and Wilson Ramos

The Nationals lineup includes Chris Heisey, Clint Robinson, and Jose Lobaton, playing on Saturday while Werth, Zimmerman, and Ramos get a day off. Surprisingly, since the beginning of last season, Robinson has a higher wRC+,123, than Zimmerman, 80, against right-handed pitching. Chris Heisey has a wRC+ of 123 over that same time period against right-handed pitchers, compared to Jayson Werth’s wRC+ of 73. Perhaps the drop-off in the Nationals’s lineup is less severe than it may appear at first glance, but Fernandez will still have the benefit of pitching to a few players that do not get everyday playing time.

Jay Bruce has been scratched with a sore knee

Jay Bruce is exiting the lineup with a knee injury, opening the door for Tyler Holt. Holt will bat second in the order, but his lineup position is about where the good news stops. Holt’s 61 wRC+ against right-handed pitching does not make him a very attractive play today.

With a RHP on the mound for Detroit, Brandon Guyer and Steve Pearce still batting 1st and 4th, respectively

Michael Fulmer has had some troubles in his young career, giving up power to right-handed batters (wOBA of 0.445) and failing to strikeout left-handed batters (K% of 15.4%) at a high rate. Brandon Guyer in particular has had a surprising amount of success against right-handed pitching, sporting a 141 wRC+ against right-handed pitching this year. This should make Guyer one of the more sneaky leadoff batters on today’s slate.

Ketel Marte leading off for the Mariners

Ketel Marte is leading off and facing a pitcher in John Lamb who has a career wOBA of 0.352 against right-handed batters. In only a few starts this year, Lamb has really struggled against RHB, allowing a wOBA of 0.414 to RHB in only 9 innings worth of at-bats.

Jake Lamb batting 4th and facing Mike Leake's healthy 1.99 HR/9 allowed to LHB

Many may point to the fact that Mike Leake’s 2 HR/9 in 2016 is not sustainable and will most likely soon regress back to his career HR/9 of 1.22. His issues in 2016 can be attributed to a 22.7% HR/FB that is much higher than his HR/FB of 16.9% he allowed over the 2015 season. Jake Lamb and his 0.263 ISO against right-handed pitching will try and keep Leake’s HR/9 high today, but will be facing Leake in a league-average ballpark for left-handed batters in Busch Stadium.

Duda pulled from the Mets lineup due to back spasms

Duda has been dealing with back issues all week and appears to be dealing with spasms again today. The Mets lineup is now Curtis Granderson, David Wright, Michael Conforto,Yoenis Cespedes, Neil Walker, Asdrubal Cabrera, Eric Campbell, Kevin Plawecki, and Jacob deGrom.

Michael Conforto squares off against Zach Davies in New York today

The DFS community was surprisingly heavy on Conforto last night, sticking with a hitter who is batting 0.180 in the month of May. Perhaps people doubted Wily Peralta as much as they had faith in Conforto, and today presents a similar situation. Zach Davies is on the mound for the Brewers and Davies possesses a xFIP of 5.50 against LHB, exacerbated by a 1.59 HR/9. The Mets have plenty of left-handed hitters who can contribute to that 1.59 HR/9, beginning with Conforto who has a 0.254 ISO against right-handed pitchers this year.

Pat Dean is getting the start for the Twins, facing Josh Donaldson and the Jays

Pat Dean had good numbers in his 2015 AAA campaign, finishing the year limiting batters to a 0.254 batting average. If he showed any areas of concern, it would be his OPS allowed to RHB of 0.698, and his fairly low strikeout rate. Dean only average 4.9 strikeouts per 9 innings, meaning he will probably be pitching to contact today against the Blue Jays. Since the beginning of the 2015 season, Josh Donaldson has a 186 wRC+ when facing LHP. He and Michael Saunders (174 wRC+ vs LHP) are good plays today against a pitcher who does not strikeout many hitters.

David writes that showers in Philly and Pittsburgh could potentially cause delays, but mentions that there should be “enough breaks in the rain to really limit problems in both these cities.” Check out the rest of David Wolter’s MLB Forecast: https://rotogrinders.com/weather/mlb

Hosmer is batting 4th, facing Miguel Gonzalez

Over the last 14 days, Miguel Gonzalez has the 7th highest xFIP in the major leagues at 6.72. Eric Hosmer and Salvador Perez both have ISOs of 0.211 against right-handed pitchers this year, and Gonzalez has proven to be a worse than average RHP. Hosmer in particular, boasts a wRC+ of 190 and looks to be an elite 1B today against a below average pitcher.

Christian Bethancourt scratched; Jose Pirela now starting in RF

Christian Bethancourt will not be in the starting lineup on Friday. Jose Pirela will be replacing him and is batting 7th. Brett Wallace will move up and bat 5th in place of Bethancourt.