Chris Herrmann Daily Fantasy News, Rankings, Projections

Players looking to save money on bats to pay up for pitching tonight have a few options, especially if willing to use some lower lineup bats. Chris Herrmann is low cost on either site ($2.1K on FD) and has an ISO above .200 vs RHP. He faces rookie Sal Romano in power friendly Cincinnati. On FanDuel, Yasiel Puig (132 wRC+, .267 ISO vs RHP this year) costs just $2.5K on FanDuel. The Dodgers have the second highest implied run line tonight, nearing six runs. Steve Pearce ($2.8K on FD) has a 159 wRC+ and .302 ISO against LHP since last season and RHBs have a .376 wRC+ against Brian Johnson. On DraftKings, Matt Chapman moves up to the fifth spot against lefty Blake Snell. He costs the minimum on DraftKings. Eugenio Suarez (128 wRC+, .227 ISO vs LHP since last year) costs $2.9K against Robbie Ray (RHBs .324 wOBA since last season).

With Chris Sale on the mound and a game at Coors tonight featuring one vulnerable lefty, players are going to need spots to save salary. The best spot for that may be at SS. Allen Cordoba (125 wRC+ vs RHP) is hitting leadoff. Eddie Butler sometimes gets ground balls, but not a lot of strikeouts and Cordoba is $2.6K or less on either site. Though he bats further down in the order tonight. Tim Beckham is another option at SS for $3K or less on either site in Texas against Nick Martinez. For FanDuel players, Catcher is another spot to save with Chris Herrmann costing $2.2K ($1.5K more on DraftKings). He bats in the lower half of the order as well, but has a .212 ISO vs RHP since 2015 and Pittsburgh is more forgiving to LH power than RH. Dixon Machado is another middle infield bat leading off for $2.7K on DraftKings and the absolute minimum on FanDuel. He has just a 78 career wRC+ against LHP though and faces a debuting LHP in Eric Skoglund. Competent cheap bats in decent spots are becoming more difficult to find as we get deeper into the season.

Ivan Nova is just one of two pitchers with a ground ball rate above 50% this year and his 50.2 GB% just barely qualifies. Unfortunately, he combines that with a 13.2 K% that makes him difficult to roster even if he has gone at least six innings in every start. Arizona has just a 74 wRC+ on the road, but a 107 wRC+ against RHP. They've also been the second best offense against GB pitchers according to Baseball-Reference with a 126 sOPS+. A lot of that is BABIP related (.362), but they also have a major league high .465 SLG against ground ballers. Despite being a ground ball hitter himself, Paul Goldschmidt has been the top hitter with a 279 sOPS+ and four HRs. Chris Herrmann, David Peralta and Brandon Drury all have an sOPS+ above 150 as well against worm burning pitchers.

Zach Davies continues to be just a serviceable starting pitcher at the Major League level and is someone that we typically don't go out of our way to plug in lineups or go out of our way to avoid rostering opposing hitters. Tonight he'll take on a dangerous Arizona Diamondbacks offense at home in one of the top home run parks in the league, meaning this is actually a boost to the home run expectations of Diamondbacks hitters, contrary to popular belief. Davies is a perfectly average starting pitcher, evidenced by his 19.0% career strikeout rate to batters from both sides of the plate, accompanied by an average 46.1% groundball rate and a 33.7% hard hit rate. Given the neutral matchup, we should give the edge to the Arizona hitters, as they will astonishingly roll out five bats that sport wOBAs over .380 versus right-handed pitching on the season. Those bats are obviously headlined by the likes of Paul Goldschmidt (188 wRC+, .472 wOBA, .317 ISO) and Jake Lamb (177 wRC+, .455 wOBA, .353 ISO), closely followed by Brandon Drury (138 wRC+, .395 wOBA, .206 ISO), Chris Herrmann (135 wRC+, .391 wOBA, .333 ISO), and David Peralta (130 wRC+, .382 wOBA). While Chris Owings (111 wRC+, .353 wOBA) isn't elite enough against righties to join the company of the aforementioned players, he possesses enough skills at the plate to realistically be included as a part of Diamondbacks stacks in tournaments.

Dylan Covey continues to prove that he is far from a Major League caliber starting pitcher and now heads to the hitters' paradise known as Chase Field to take on the Arizona Diamondbacks this evening. Covey's one calling card in Minors was his ability to keep the ball on the ground, something he has struggled with thus far in the 2017 campaign (45.6% GB%). When his low groundballs are combined with an unsightly 12.8% strikeout rate, 9.8% walk rate, and 6.2% swinging strike rate, you come away with his current 5.40 SIERA on the season. For whatever reason, Covey hasn’t been able to generate ground balls like he did in the Minors, and that has simply left him as an extremely hittable pitcher at the Major League level. Unfortunately for him, the Diamondbacks have a plethora of guys that mash right-handed pitching, beginning with Paul Goldschmidt (188 wRC+, .472 wOBA, .313 ISO vs RHP) and Jake Lamb (179 wRC+, .458 wOBA, .342 ISO vs RHP), who look to be two of the top options on Tuesday's entire slate. Yasmany Tomas (136 wRC+, .392 wOBA, .300 ISO vs RHP) and David Peralta (133 wRC+, .387 wOBA, .175 ISO vs RHP) follow closely behind and remain in play for all formats, though Peralta, along with Chris Herrmann (110 wRC+, .349 wOBA, .234 ISO vs RHP since 2016) are virtually must plays on FanDuel for their bargain price tags. If in need of additional salary savings, it's tough to even argue against a guy like Reymond Fuentes, who stands to benefit from leading off for this dangerous Arizona offense in a nearly perfect matchup.

Max Scherzer is coming off a rough outing his last time out, surrendering two home runs that equated to nearly all five of the earned runs he allowed against the New York Mets in six innings pitched. He'll take the mound this afternoon at home to take on a dangerous, but strikeout-happy Arizona Diamondbacks squad that features seven hitters (not including the opposing pitcher) that sport strikeout rates north of 20.0% versus right-handed pitching. So, despite ranking fourth in wOBA versus righties this season, it is clear that there is significant upside to be had in this matchup if Scherzer is able to avoid giving up the long ball, which has certainly been a problem for him in recent years. Other than the struggles with home runs, his numbers through five starts align relatively close to his advanced stats from the 2016 season, evidenced by a solid 3.18 SIERA and elite 30.3% strikeout rate. Additionally, Scherzer has done a great job of limiting hard contact this year with an 18.3% hard hit rate, although this is likely a result of an abbreviated sample size since he has basically surrendered near the league average throughout his career. However, if he is able to keep up with the current trend, it should help neutralize his aforementioned home run issues. All in all, it really goes without saying that Scherzer is the definitive top starting pitching option on the Early slate (and it's not really close), meaning that exposure to Diamondbacks hitters should be minimal. If attempting to go ultra-contrarian, Jake Lamb (129 wRC+, .376 wOBA, .279 ISO since 2016) or Chris Herrmann (.206 ISO since 2016) make the most sense as one-off targets given their power upside and plate skills versus right-handed pitching, though it is tough to ever really argue against rostering Paul Goldschmidt (127 wRC+, .374 wOBA, .187 ISO since 2016) in nearly any matchup as well.

In his morning forecast, Kevin identified no less than five parks with potential winds of at least 10 mph and potentially more than 20 blowing out in one direction or another. Artificial power boosts may favor LHBs in Washington (Harper, Murphy vs Walker & Lamb, Herrmann vs Roark) with a breezy 10 mph drift out to right. Aaron Judge would hardly need a 20 mph boost to left-center against Mat Latos, but Jose Bautista, Russell Martin, and Steve Pearce may also benefit if they can generate contact in the air against Masahiro Tanaka (55.4 GB% this year, but just 43.9% vs RHBs since 2015). Baltimore batters have to make contact off Chris Sale first and even then, the strongest of the gusts (20+ mph) are blowing out to RF in Fenway, perhaps benefiting Chris Davis most. LHBs have a .262 wOBA against Sale since 2015. Good luck on that. Benintendi, Moreland and Bradley certainly deserve increased attention against Alec Asher though. Cleveland has a tough pitching matchup with Kluber facing Verlander so perhaps "15-20mph, gusts 30, blowing mostly out to left, a bit right to left" means you downgrade pitchers more than anything, but it could be incentive for a contrarian stack. Each offense has punished the opposing starter in their worst outings of the season already this year and Carlos Santana has some great career numbers against Verlander (8 HRs). Additionally, Cincinnati is already power friendly and 15 mph out to center just gives all of the power bats in that game an additional boost. Pittsburgh doesn't have much of it in today's lineup, but Tyler Glasnow lives dangerously with a 15.5 BB% and Cincinnati's two through six batters all have an ISO of .240 or better this season.

The magician known as Jered Weaver has somehow continued to string together quality starts despite allowing an astronomical 2.74 HR/9 through his first four outings. He's set to take the mound on the road against a powerful Arizona Diamondbacks lineup that is littered with power and speed from both sides of the plate up and down the lineup. Despite a solid ERA to this point in the season, the dreaded regression monster is bound to catch up to Weaver and his .182 BABIP and 91.6% LOB% through four starts. At this stage of his career, Weaver is nothing more than a low strikeout pitcher (13.4% K% in 2016) that allows a ton of flyballs (48.2% FB% in 2016) which, in turn, leads to well above average home run rates (1.87 HR/9 in 2016). The Diamondbacks are the clear top offense to target on tonight's microscopic 4-game slate, evidenced by their 6.2 runs implied team total. This should lead to some massive ownership and begs the question whether they are worth a fade in tournaments in hopes Weaver is able to keep the magic going for at least one more start. Ownership concerns aside, there are several hitters from this Arizona squad that are elite options for all formats, headlined by Jake Lamb (132 wRC+, .379 wOBA, .281 ISO vs RHP since 2016), Paul Goldschmidt (129 wRC+, .375 wOBA, .193 ISO vs RHP since 2016), and A.J. Pollock (111 wRC+, .348 wOBA vs RHP since 2016). They are closely followed by teammates David Peralta (108 wRC+, .345 wOBA, .183 ISO vs RHP since 2016) and Chris Herrmann (.199 ISO vs RHP since 2016) if in need of a salary-saving option at the catcher position.

While not necessarily due to arms, players are still going to need a couple of affordable bats if paying up for Coors tonight. There may not be many viable options at the top of the order, but there are plenty of punt plays behind the plate with at least some potential. Without a standout catching option tonight, that may be where players look to save. On FanDuel, Buster Posey is the only projected or confirmed starter at more than $3K where Miguel Montero (101 wRC+, .157 ISO vs RHP since 2015, 306 wRC+ over the last week) is just $2.6K ($3.2K on DK) against Chad Kuhl (LHBs .373 wOBA, 37.9 Hard% career). He is hitting seventh, as is Chris Herrmann (101 wRC+, .204 ISO vs RHP since last season), who is at home in Arizona against Jhoulys Chacin (LHBs .344 wOBA, 36.1 Hard% since 2015) for just $2.2K ($3.4K DK). Chris Gimenez (132 wRC+, .254 ISO vs LHP since 2015) faces his old teammate Martin Perez (RHBs .341 wOBA, 31.2 Hard% since 2015) also out of the seven spot for $2.1K ($3.2K DK). On DraftKings, Yasmani Grandal (122 wRC+, .229 ISO vs RHP since 2015) is also the same cost ($3.2K) and faces Matt Cain (LHBs .396 wOBA since 2015). It's a bit difficult to find an average or better bat out of the leadoff spot in a good matchup at a low cost tonight, but players may want to wait to see where Andrew Toles (131 wRC+, .191 ISO vs RHP career) hits tonight with the Dodgers dealing with some injury issues. He costs just $2.9K on DraftKings and $2.2K on FanDuel.