Anthony Recker Daily Fantasy News, Rankings, Projections

Robbie Ray has always been able to miss bats, but used to have an issue with walks and hard contact. Now, he only has a hard contact issue as it's actually up to 39.8% since the break and always a concern at home, but less so against an Atlanta offense with just a 28.5 Hard% and 6.5 HR/FB vs LHP this year. Ray has turned some of those walks into more strikeouts and now leads the majors with a 28.2 K-BB% since the All-Star break. He and Scherzer are the only two pitchers with a strikeout rate above 23.5% tonight and are easily the top two pitchers. There may be a few Atlanta bats worth looking at though because RHBs do have a .329 wOBA and 37.7 Hard% against Ray since last season. Most of the Atlanta futility vs LHP was prior to Matt Kemp, who has a 142 wRC+ and .254 ISO vs LHP since last season. Anthony Recker (134 wRC+, .250 ISO vs LHP since 2015) has some upside as a very cheap Catcher tonight, while Adonis Garcia (114 wRC+, .166 ISO vs LHP since 2015) bats higher in the order for less than $3K on either site.

Kyle Gibson is an incredibly frustrating pitcher. He has a 9.7 SwStr% this year and 10.3% over the last month, but still has a well below average K% and has struck out just a total of eight over his last three starts with his GB rate dropping below 50% and his hard contact rate moving above 30% since the break. He's still tempting for just $4.9K on DraftKings, but the Braves have been a league average offense since the break. Dansby Swanson makes his major league debut in the eight slot and may not even be available yet on daily fantasy sites. While LHBs do have a .332 wOBA against Gibson since last season, that comes with just a 29.4 Hard%, 50.2 GB% and 10.4 HR/FB. The red hot Freddie Freeman (145 wRC+, .250 ISO vs RHP since last season) has a 389 wRC+ and 76.5 Hard% over the last week, but a high price tag. Both Adonis Garcia and Anthony Recker are below $2.5K on FanDuel, but neither is a particularly strong hitter vs RHP. There are many better matchups on either side of the ball today.

There's no debating that Locke (5.12 SIERA) has been one of the worst starting pitchers in the majors. He does get what seems to be an exploitable matchup against a Braves offense that has been brutal against left-handed pitching as a whole this season (73 wRC+, .282 wOBA, .103 ISO). However, with the acquisition of Matt Kemp (167 wRC+, .415 wOBA, .340 ISO vs LHP), Atlanta suddenly becomes that much more formidable against left-handed pitching. Locke has been horrible against righties (.371 wOBA, 5.07 xFIP) so that's definitely where we will want to attack him in this matchup. Outside of Kemp, Gordon Beckham (112 wRC+, .339 wOBA, .189 ISO vs LHP) and Anthony Recker are the top stacking options given their price tags and typically shallow positions. Locke has been better against lefties, but Freddie Freeman (141 wRC+, .382 wOBA, .214 ISO vs LHP) could be a nice contrarian option at first base given the success he has had against left-handed pitching.

Cody Reed has a 42.5 Hard%, which has led to a ridiculous .380 BABIP in addition to nine of his 22 fly balls leaving the yard. That's terrible, but a 40.9 HR/FB has to come down just by dumb luck. The rest of it has been a tendency to predictably groove his fastball whenever he gets behind with nearly of the damage coming on straight, hard stuff because he doesn't really have a fastball that blows people away. His slider, which he really only throws while ahead, has led to a 24.0 K%, so there is upside, furthered by facing the Braves tonight (74 wRC+, 7.5 HR/FB). This is a spot where a player with a high risk tolerance could consider him tonight, though his $8.1K cost on DraftKings makes it more difficult. Due to his issues, we're not taking cheap Braves bats off the board at all. Anthony Recker (118 wRC+, .250 ISO vs LHP since 2015) does have some power and can serve as a punt catcher, while Adonis Garcia (116 wRC+, .176 ISO vs LHP since 2015) is another great punt option at 3B with both below $3K on either site. Leadoff man Gordon Beckham (124 wRC+, .214 ISO vs LHP this season) has a -86 wRC+ over the last week, but is another affordable option (below $3.5K on either site) in the leadoff spot with RHBs having a .454 wOBA against Reed in a power friendly park.