Brett Lawrie Daily Fantasy News, Rankings, Projections

Eduardo Rodriguez has been terrible, striking out just three more batters than he's walked through four starts with six HRs. RHBs have all six of those HRs with a .419 wOBA against him this season. Todd Frazier (98 wRC+, .308 ISO vs LHP this season) and Brett Lawrie (127 wRC+, .213 ISO vs LHP this season) top a list of interest here at $3.7K or below on either site without either expected to be highly owned. Melky Cabrera (124 wRC+, .204 ISO vs LHP this season) has showed renewed power against lefties this year, but costs a bit more on DraftKings.

Steven Matz has been dominating right-handed batters this season (.219 wOBA) and the White Sox have the heart of their order hitting from that side of the plate. Matz has also been hard on left-handed bats, generating a 77.8 GB% against them at home. Matz has a 29.4 K% with a 2.36 ERA this season. The last 14 days have not been pretty for Melky Cabrera (.270 wOBA), Jose Abreu (.267 wOBA), Brett Lawrie (.243 wOBA), and Jimmy Rollins (.198 wOBA) proving that the White Sox have really been struggling over the past couple weeks. With the numbers really favoring Matz, it'll be tough to recommend any White Sox hitters against him. Matz is the 3rd most expensive pitching option on this slate and could have a lower than usual ownership levels with Jose Fernandez and Jake Arrieta on the slate. On sites that allow for two pitchers, Matz a strong 2nd option to stack with one of the top guys, if you can find value bats elsewhere.

Danny Duffy has gone three and 4.1 innings in each of his first two starts, but they've been effective innings (5 H - 0 R - 2 BB - 7 K - 29 BF). He's on an 80 pitch limit tonight, but in a neutral matchup at home that might be enough for $4.8K on DraftKings if Kevin gives us a favorable report tonight (there was some concern for this game in the morning forecast). Adam Eaton sits out against the lefty tonight, but another issue we run into with Chicago bats is that the Royals are a decently sized favorite here (-154) and will likely be mixing and matching with the top of their bullpen by the 6th inning. Todd Frazier (135 wRC+, .335 ISO vs LHP since 2015) would be the most potent bat. Brett Lawrie (132 wRC+, .199 ISO vs LHP since 2015) might provide some 2B value at a low cost.

Through 31.1 IP this season, Derek Holland has performed considerable worse against right handed batters. He is allowing them a .343 wOBA while owning a 5.36 xFIP and low 13.3K%. Holland shouldn’t be in consideration in any format tonight. The White Sox have a few hitters who crush LHP and own a Vegas projected run total of 4.66, making them very solid stack candidates in GPP’s. Todd Frazier (.356 wOBA - .244 ISO – 124 wRC+ career vs LHP) is coming off a 2 HR game last night, and is another favorable position tonight. Jose Abreu (.364 wOBA - .204 ISO – 133 wRC+) will likely be a popular 1B this evening, and with good reason. Brett Lawrie (.354 wOBA - .191 ISO – 128 wRC+ vs LHP in 2015) makes for an interesting play as he also hit LHP well last season and throughout his career.

Henry Owens has walked and struck out seven through two starts with an 88 mph fastball and now owns a 4.62 FIP/4.60 ERA through 72.1 major league innings. Batters from either side have hit him well. Brett Lawrie may be the top Chicago bat vs LHP with a 134 wRC+ and .190 ISO since last season. He also has a 311 wRC+ over the last week and doesn't project to be highly owned in the 6th spot with an average price tag. The other hot bat in the lineup is Jose Abreu (282 wRC+ last seven days), but he's been a reverse platoon player with just a 77 wRC+, .119 ISO vs LHP since last season. Todd Frazier carries a 127 wRC+ and .321 ISO vs LHP since 2015 and carries a similar cost to the previous two on DraftKings at around $4K. This is a spot where neither the offense or opposing pitcher shine brightly.

Martin Perez has been off to somewhat of an odd start. While he's missing more bats (8.2 SwStr%), he's also walking more batters and has had some HR issues early this season, something he was not accustomed to either of the past two seasons. He'll take on a right-handed heavy White Sox lineup in U.S. Cellular this evening, which bodes well for the outlook of Todd Frazier, Jose Abreu and Brett Lawrie. Frazier is the best of the bunch with his .377 wOBA and .346 ISO against LHP last season, while Abreu still boasts a ton of upside despite a slow start to the season (he finished 2015 with a fairly solid 34.2 hard%, but hit just 3 HRs against LHP). Brett Lawrie is the sneakiest of the White Sox targets, as he's not typically a DFS asset unless he's facing lefties (.354 wOBA, .191 ISO, 36.2 hard% last season). He'll slot into the six spot and should see some RBI chances behind Abreu, Frazier and Melky Cabrera. Austin Jackson is a viable punt play in the two-hole (Jimmy Rollins is not in tonight's lineup), while Jerry Sands has some deep-GPP appeal given his power potential.

Brett Lawrie might be an under-owned 2B option tonight as he has a 133 wRC+ vs LHP since last season and a 225 wRC+ over the last week. In fact, he is one of six batters with a 105 wRC+ or better vs southpaws over that span with Melky Cabrera (56 wRC+), Adam Eaton (86 wRC+), and Jose Abreu (81 wRC+) shockingly being the exceptions. I don't see this continuing in Abreu's case with a 35.3 Hard% against them, making this an interesting stacking opportunity tonight. Todd Frazier leads the pack with a 131 wRC+, .335 ISO, 38.5 Hard% vs LHP since last season, even though he hasn't been hitting all that well lately (83.75 avg exit velocity on 28 batted balls) and Jimmy Rollins hits better from the right side (124 wRC+ since last season) at this point in his career. Hector Santiago has generated more weak contact than usual over his first two starts (26.2 Hard%), but that hasn't been the case throughout his career (30.4 Hard%). He's up to his old BABIP tricks again (.205), but that won't last, nor should his 5.5 BB% (10.2% career). He might miss a few bats, but is a below average pitcher with many flaws and should be a good pitcher to target with RH bats in a lineup projected to score 4.3 runs tonight.