Austin Romine Daily Fantasy News, Rankings, Projections

A trip to a National League park (although a very power friendly one) and the loss of Gary Sanchez has dropped the Yankees all the way down to 4.65 implied runs tonight, still best for fifth best on the board. Despite the upside in Vince Velasquez, he's can be a hit or miss pitcher and players utilizing multiple lineups will probably want some exposure to this offense. There's a 59 points platoon split in Veleasquez's wOBA since last season (LHBs .369), but xwOBA closes the gap to 14 points (LHBs .335) with a below average ground ball rate against either side. Everyone in the lineup except Austin Romine (82) and Gregory Bird (102) are above a 115 wRC+ vs RHP over the last calendar year. All except Romine (.106) and Brett Gardner (.156) are above a .200 ISO. Giancarlo Stanton (134 wRC+, .303 ISO) has a 278 wRC+ and 60 Hard% over the last week. As always, he and Aaron Judge (169 wRC+, .329 ISO) are the top overall bats in the lineup.

The Yankees almost seem a bit low at 5.09 implied runs against Sam Gaviglio, who has allowed a wOBA within four points of .340 to both left and right-handed batters since last season, though xwOBA gives a further advantage to LHBs by a bit over 20 points. Gaviglio, who has had a below average strikeout rate throughout every stop in the minors and majors the last three years, suddenly has a 25.3 K% in 21.1 major league innings after striking out 26.9% in 29 AAA inning this season. Despite the unexpected turnaround, he's still allowed four HRs over his last two starts. If players are still looking at his $4.6K price tag on DK with that strikeout rate after the Bombers were shut down by Marco Estrada last night, realize that the Blue Jays have not let Gaviglio exceed 88 pitches in any of his starts. Aaron Judge (173 wRC+, .345 ISO vs RHP last calendar year) is back in the lineup after a day off, following an eight K double-header in Detroit. He, Giancarlo Stanton (133 wRC+, .307 ISO and Gregory Bird (120 wRC+, .309 ISO) lead a group of seven batters who have an .249 ISO or better against RHP over the last calendar year. Only Brett Gardner (118 wRC+, .161 ISO) and Austin Romine (95 wRC+, .103 ISO) fail to reach that mark. This is an expensive lineup that players may have the salary to afford tonight.

The New York Yankees have the top implied run line on the board (5.48) for the third straight night in Texas and although they've dropped about a quarter of a run over the course of the afternoon, they are still the only team above five implied runs tonight. They'll be facing Doug Fister, who has traditionally struggled with left-handed batters (.338 wOBA, .345 xwOBA, 41 Hard% since last year), right-handers have a .330 xwOBA that's 27 points higher than actual (.303) despite a 27.1 Hard% and 50 GB%. Austin Romine is the only batter in the lineup below a 105 wRC+ against RHP over the last calendar year. Aaron Judge (.342), Giancarlo Stanton (.314), Gleyber Torres (.290), .Didi Gregorius (.268) and Miguel Andujar (.225) all exceed a .200 ISO against RHP over the same time span. What this means is that virtually everyone except Romine is a strong play in this spot.

The Yankees have the highest run line on the board (4.59) against Lance McCullers, who has all the talent in the world (25.8 K%, 12.0 SwStr%, 4.25 ERA, 3.41 SIERA, 3.52 DRA), but is a difficult sell even at a lower than normal cost, due to injury issues that have plagued him throughout the season. He hasn't thrown more than 83 pitches in a major league outing since July and has thrown just three innings in one post-season outing this month, in which 10 of the 13 batters he faced either struck out or put it on the ground. That's what he does when he's on: strikeouts and ground balls. It could be another all-out, short outing with Brad Peacock waiting in the wings to throw multiple innings behind him. Batters from either side put the ball on the ground above 58% of the time with a hard hit rate below 30% against him this year, though RHBs gained an advantage in the peripherals, strangely enough, with a 15.3 K-BB%, .332 wOBA and six of his eight HRs allowed (LHBs 21.5 K-BB%, .267 wOBA). This could mean that Aaron Judge (179 wRC+, .364 ISO, 45.1 Hard%, 42.1 FB%) should be the batter players want, especially at a reduced cost. While all of the attention had been paid to his strikeouts this post-season, he did homer last night and has hit the ball extremely hard (three extra-base hits, including two HRs), when he's not striking out. Especially notable should be the sizable strike zone called against him, which really makes his post-season results look much worse than the process. Starlin Castro, Todd Frazier and surprise starter Austin Romine are the only three batters in the lineup below a .190 ISO vs RHP this season. Frazier is the cheap choice at 3B today and did have a 101 wRC+ and .173 ISO vs RHP this year. Current Yankee starters have little career data against Lance McCullers (none with a HR or more than nine PAs). While it's expected to be a bit chilly at Yankee Stadium this afternoon with temperatures around 60 degrees, wind isn't expected to be much of a factor. Chris Guccione is expected to be tonight's home plate umpire. In 314 games called in the Swish Analytics database, Umpire Factors available on RotoGrinders, he's leaned towards pitchers with a 1.12 K-Boost and 0.92 BB-Boost (19.7 K%, 8.0 BB%).

Four batters on tonight's slate have a wRC+ above 300 over the last week (10 PA min.), all with a hard hit rate of at least 50% as well. Scooter Gennett (343 wRC+, 56.3 Hard%, four HRs) is still riding the wave of one monster game. He has just one double and a 96 wRC+ in 12 PAs since, but with a 44.4 Hard%. Luis Perdomo, tonight's opponent, has had issues with LHBs (.368 wOBA, 38.6 Hard%, 52.5 GB% since last season). Aaron Judge (314 wRC+, 66.7 Hard%, three HRs)...is he ever not red hot? He does not have Yankee Stadium tonight and transitions to the west coast to face the Angels and Alex Meyer, who has allowed just three HRs this season in seven starts. RHBs have just a .303 wOBA against him since last year. His Achilles is the base on balls (15.3% this year). Mark Reynolds (308 wRC+, 50 Hard%, three HRs) continues to hit well on the road and has the power to get it out of any park, but Pittsburgh suppresses RH power more than almost any other park and it's Jameson Taillon has held RHBs to a .309 wOBA since last season. Cameron Maybin (304 wRC+, 57.1 Hard%, no HRs) missed a few games and barely meets the cutoff, but has made up for lost time by swiping six bases in two games since returning. In this instance, we may be looking at Mashiro Tanaka and Gary Sanchez's marginal ability to hold runners above anything else, although there's a rumor that Tanaka appears to prefer Austin Romine. Be sure to watch for confirmed lineups tonight.

This week's list of hottest hitters include a couple of part-timers and not a single outfielder (min. 10 PAs). Trey Mancini has just 13 PAs over the last week, but has done the most with them, homering four times for a 508 wRC+. He's unconfirmed, but could be in the lineup in an NL park against rookie lefty Amir Garrett. Alex Aliva has a 100% hard hit rate and two HRs on six batted balls (407 wRC+). Freddie Freeman (397 wRC+, 61.5 Hard%, 3 HRs) is the top bat among regulars. He's expensive, but should be popular against Nats RHP Joe Ross, who struggles against LHBs. Jose Altuve (295 wRC+, 50 Hard%) faces JC Ramirez and Jose Ramirez (289 wRC+, 40 Hard%, 3 HRs) needs to make it through some weather issues to see Adalberto Mejia tonight. Austin Romine (279 wRC+) could serve as a punt Catcher against rookie Dylan Covey, but may be a bit of a fluke on this list, as he appears with just a 15.4 Hard% and 16.4 SwStr%.

While usually looking to cut off bargains at $3K on DK & $2.5K on FD, there aren't many tonight, but there are a few player just above those marks today that are difficult to ignore. Mike Moustakas ($3.2K DK) should be a top 3B play with a 134 wRC+ and .302 ISO vs RHP since the beginning of last season (injury shortened). His opponent, Matt Cain has allowed a .400 wOBA to LHBs since 2015. Taylor Motter (also $3.2K on DK) is facing a LHP (Wei-Yin Chen .345 wOBA vs RHBs since 2015) and has a 311 wRC+ over the last week. Michael Conforto ($2.7K on FD) is leading off against a contact prone RHP (Zach Eflin .388 wOBA vs LHBs) and has a .245 career ISO against RHP. Austin Romine (317 wRC+ last seven days) bumps up a spot to seventh against Miguel Gonzalez and costs just $2.6K on DraftKings, a position players may need to punt tonight. Kevin Pillar (89 wRC+, .135 ISO vs LHP since 2016) leads off against Boston spot starter Brian Johnson and costs just $2.4K on FanDuel, where Manny Pina (281 wRC+ last seven days) might be your punt catcher, batting sixth against Brett Anderson for $2.3K. Seth Smith ($2.6K) is probably going to be incredibly popular leading off against Bronson Arroyo. Michael Saunders (101 wRC+, .191 ISO vs RHP since 2016) bats fifth against Zack Wheeler for $2.3K. Unlike previous days, there's just one near minimum leadoff hitter tonight and that's Jaff Decker ($2.1K DK/$2.3K FD), but he's going up against Yu Darvish.

A list of the hottest hitters over the previous week is topped by several first basemen followed by a couple of catchers. The hottest hitter over the last week (Trey Mancini) is, unfortunately, riding the pine tonight, but there are still a couple 1B bats expected to play tonight with red hot bats. Eric Thames (370 wRC+, 47.6 Hard%) homered again last night, but is facing a pitcher who grounds LHBs 69.5% since 2015. Freddie Freeman (333 wRC+, 69.2 Hard%) faces Max Scherzer (.302 wOBA vs RHP since 2015), but this is a pitcher known to allow a HR or two. Austin Romine (317 wRC+) and Travis D'arnaud (310 wRC+) both hit at the bottom of the order, but both are affordable catchers facing contact prone fly ball pitchers. Taylor Motter (311 wRC+, 56.3 Hard%) is the other bat projected to be in the lineup with a wRC+ above 300 over the last week. He faces Wei-Yin Chen (345 wOBA vs RHBs since 2015).

David Huff returns to the major leagues in Yankee Stadium. He has thrown just 100 major league innings since 2013 and has a career ERA of 5.08 with estimators just below five. The Yankees stack up on RH bats, but really, batters from both side have hit him well in his career (.368 wOBA vs LHBs, .345 wOBA vs RHBs). Despite an inability to generate much offense this season, this is a lineup with a lot of value in it with only their leadoff many above $3.8K on either site. The two big bats are Alex Rodriguez (142 wRC+, .271 ISO vs LHP since 2015) and Carlos Beltran (102 wRC+, .204 ISO vs LHP since 2015) with the value or punt plays filling in around them. Rob Refsnyder has just a 95 career wRC+ vs LHP in limited opportunities, but plays 2B, bats 2nd, and costs less than $3K against a bad pitcher. Starlin Castro is a similar bat at a similar cost at the same position batting 5th. You have to drop further for Austin Romine, but this is a Catcher who has been about an average hitter vs LHP this season (100 wRC+, .146 ISO) for $2.5K. The Yankees are projected for a slate high 5.28 runs (before the lineup came out).

Matt Boyd has allowed 17 HRs in 57.1 major league innings. He allowed two in just five innings in his return to the majors over the weekend, but also struck out seven of 21 A's and had an above average 14.3 K-BB% with just three HRs in 48 AAA innings this season. If the Yankees had much power, you'd be worried, but they have just a 7.7 HR/FB vs LHP this season with the 4th lowest wRC+ (80). They also now have the worst road offense in baseball (69 wRC+). For under $6.5K on either site, Boyd could allow a HR or two if he keeps it clean with a few strikeouts otherwise. There are a few bats for the Yankees worth mentioning against such a HR prone lefty. Alex Rodriguez (142 wRC+ vs LHP since 2015, 116 this year) is not hitting lefties as well overall, but still for a lot of power (.278 ISO vs LHP since 2015, .316 this year). Carlos Beltran (101 wRC+, .196 ISO vs LHP since 2015) has steadily provided average offense with some power from the right side. Austin Romine is a cheap Catcher (and you might need to punt here) with a 137 wRC+ and .162 ISO vs LHP since last season. Starlin Castro is an inexpensive middle infield option batting 2nd with just a 101 wRC+, but .176 ISO vs LHP this season.