Danny Espinosa Daily Fantasy News, Rankings, Projections

Andrew Cashner has had terrible peripherals since the trade with a 12.7 BB% and 38.7 Hard%. LHBs have absolutely destroyed him since last season (.380 wOBA, 37.5 Hard%), which makes this a great spot for the return of Bryce Harper (118 wRC+, .192 ISO vs RHP this year). He's had a down season with many suspecting he's been injured for most of it, but is certainly worth a flyer here at a reasonable price based on matchup alone. Stephen Drew (132 wRC+, .270 ISO vs RHP this season) is putting up Bryce Harper's numbers in limited opportunities vs RHP this year and is the bargain SS on FanDuel for $2.5K. Other LHBs Lobaton, Robinson and Espinosa are also priced near minimally on FD and lowly on DK, but are all below average hitters with below average power against RHP.

Mike Foltynewicz strangely struck out just three Padres after whiffing six Giants. He’s had some decent starts over the last few weeks, but also some poor ones in mostly favorable spots. He does miss bats at a league average rate (20.2 K%, 9.9 SwStr%) and is in sort of a neutral spot tonight (Nationals 98 wRC+ at home, 96 wRC+ vs RHP), but at a cost ($7.9K on DraftKings) he may not have enough upside to exceed by much, if at all. For the Nationals, your staples are Harper (128 wRC+, .209 ISO vs RHP), Murphy (164 wRC+, .265 ISO vs RHP) and Turner (149 wRC+, .233 ISO vs RHP) against RHP, though none of the three are cheap. Lesser hitters vs RHP, Zimmerman (71 wRC+, .149 ISO) and Espinosa (88 wRC+, .145 ISO) are both below $3K on DraftKings. Anthony Rendon sits out tonight.

This inter-league rivalry switches parks tonight and with it goes the DH, which is really doesn't mean much from Washington's side of things, though the transition from Baltimore to Washington is a park upgrade for pitchers. Wade Miley, who has been torched since being traded to the Orioles, is going to need more than that facing an offense with a 106 wRC+ and 16.3 HR/FB vs LHP. RHBs have a .344 wOBA with 32 HRs against Miley since last season and the Nationals are projected for 4.8 runs tonight. The issue is with an enormous cost on DraftKings, where just Ramos and Espinosa are below $4.8K. It's a bit rosier for the top two bats against LHP since last year on FanDuel, where Jayson Werth (152 wRC+, .287 ISO) costs $3.6K and Ryan Zimmerman (144 wRC+, .310 ISO) costs just $3K. He, along with Rendon, Harper and Turner all have a wRC+ above 150 over the last week, but Turner has just a 61 wRC+ and .064 ISO vs LHP in his short career and Miley is not a pitcher he can run on.

Jorge de la Rosa has the strange reputation for being a better pitcher at home than on the road. This technically true since de la Rosa is terrible on the road, where he is just merely bad at home. His numbers have also really lacked any sort of consistency from season to season, making his career splits at home the preferred data to analyze. Versus right-handed batters at Coors Field, de la Rosa owns a 18.1% strikeout rate, a 48.1% ground ball rate, and a 30.2% hard contact rate. This basically equates to below-average strikeouts, a mediocre batted ball profile, amd a hard contact rate that is slightly above average. However, de la Rosa has seen much more success against left-handed batters at Coors in his career, posting a 24.8% strikeout rate, 49.0% ground ball rate, and a 26.5% hard contact rate. The Nationals hitters that line up best in this matchup are right-handed batters that hit the ball in the air and make hard contact against left-handed pitching. This means that Jayson Werth (177 wRC+, .439 wOBA, .270 ISO vs LHP), Wilson Ramos (159 wRC+, .412 wOBA, .309 ISO vs LHP), Anthony Rendon (129 wRC+, .367 wOBA, .156 ISO vs LHP), Danny Espinosa (.272 ISO vs LHP), and Trea Turner are the preferred Washington bats to target.

Samardzija (4.31 SIERA) has been substantially better against right-handed batters than left-handed batters this season (.358 wOBA, .491 xFIP vs LHB). Samardzija is surrendering 1.57 HR/9 to left-handed batters with a low 15.7% strikeout rate that will really add to the upside of Nationals left-handed bats. Samardzija still shockingly has some name value with a majority of DFS players even though the numbers suggest that he is merely an average to below-average major league starter at this point. That means we should be able to get Nationals lefties at lower ownership than they probably deserve in this spot. Daniel Murphy (177 wRC+, .438 wOBA, .277 ISO vs RHP) is the top overall option here and should be the cog to any Washington stack. Bryce Harper (177 wRC+, .431 wOBA, .297 ISO vs RHP since 2015) hasn't been doing "Bryce Harper things" of late but always needs to be considered in a matchup against an average RHP. Danny Espinosa (.162 ISO vs RHP) and Clint Robinson (.181 ISO vs RHP) could make for interesting tournament plays since they bat lower in the order. However, they both have some pop and be able to get ahold of one from Samardzija.

Archie Bradley has had some decent outings recently that have boosted his season numbers a bit. Bradley has a high 26.2% strikeout rate against right-handed batters this season, but if we dig deeper, we'll find that he's faced a bottom-barrel strikeout offense in seven of his last 12 starts. His 7.7% SwStr% indicates that we should expect some serious regression to his strikeout rate in the near future. Even with the strikeout success he's had against right-handed batters, Bradley is still inducing below-average ground balls (41.0% GB%) and allowing a ton of hard contact to righties (34.5%). Bradley is striking out left-handed batters at a below-average rate (17.7%), while surrendering a massive 40.5% Hard%. This is a great spot for the Nationals lefties and even a full Nationals stacks. Daniel Murphy (169 wRC+, .425 wOBA, .270 ISO vs RHP) and Bryce Harper (125 wRC+, .360 wOBA, .213 ISO vs RHP) are the top plays that should be included in any Nationals stack. Danny Espinosa (.163 ISO vs RHP) can be considered as a tournament punt given his power upside and scarcity at the SS position.

Scott Kazmir has been incredibly erratic in the three true outcomes (HRs, Ks, and BBs) to be trusted against an offense with a 115 wRC+ and 16.7 HR/FB vs LHP. He's basically been Cole Hamels without the high strand rate, but this lineup has been Dusty Baker'd with four LH bats in the top six. It's understandable that a Catcher has to rest, but tonight is bad night to do so, though Kazmir hasn't shown much of a split with LHBs and RHBs having a wOBA just above .300 against him since last season (though RHBs have been a bit better this season). It's more of a question of the benched guys and Werth (186 wRC+, .259 ISO vs LHP this year) hitting LHP better than the guys in their spots. Danny Espinosa (135 wRC+, .333 ISO vs LHP this season) gets a slight bump with a $2.4K cost on FanDuel moving up a spot. Trea Turner in the leadoff spot at a low cost on either site may have some appeal as well in the middle infield.

Liriano (5.01 SIERA, 7.0% K-BB%) is in the midst of his worst season as a member of the Pirates. He has posted his lowest K%, highest BB%, lowest SwStr% (10.3%), and is surrendering a career-high 33.9% Hard% at this point in the season. All the warning signs are there to avoid rostering Liriano at all costs until he shows any flash of resemblance of his former self. Piling on to the struggles of Liriano, is the difficult matchup the Nationals present as a team (118 wRC+, .352 wOBA, .219 ISO vs LHP). We can realistically look to target any Nationals right-handed batters as viable options tonight. Jayson Werth (201 wRC+, .475 wOBA, .275 ISO vs LHP) has been a lefty-masher throughout his career and gets the second spot in the order. Trea Turner is a great cost-saving option at the 2B and/or SS position on this slate as he carries a cheap price tag on both sites and will bat lead off. Danny Espinosa (144 wRC+, .390 wOBA, .362 ISO vs LHP) is a little pricey given his lineup spot but could make for a contrarian tournament play. Don't be afraid to include Bryce Harper and Daniel Murphy in any Nationals stack even with the LvL matchups.

Zach Davies was pounded by the Dodgers in his last start (three HRs) and has not increased his SwStr rate at all over the last month (8.0% is the same as his season rate) despite the recent spike in K% (24.6 over the last month). LHBs (.319 wOBA) have been slightly better than RHBs (.299 wOBA) against him in his short career, but considering that Ramos (164 wRC+, .206 vs RHP this season) is the only RH National that can hit RHP, we weren't planning on going in that direction anyway. He, along with the three lefties excluding Revere, all with a wRC+ above 140 over the last week, are probably better values on FanDuel with all having price tags above $4.5K on DraftKings. Harper (171 wRC+, 52.4 Hard%) and Espinosa (285 wRC+, 70.6 Hard%) have both been hitting the ball particularly hard over the last week.

Brandon Finnegan (.249 BABIP) has thrown a couple of decent games over the last month, but is still mixing in some stinkers and walking too many batters (5.8 K-BB%). The Nationals are a strong team against LHP.(114 wRC+, 15.8 HR/FB). LHBs (.335 wOBA, 33.9 Hard% since 2015) have actually hit him harder than RHBs (.303 wOBA, 34.6 Hard%) since last season, but we wouldn't expect Dusty to understand that. That makes Daniel Murphy (125 wRC+, .170 ISO vs LHP this season) fairly interesting for $3.8K on DraftKings, though the same price basically on FanDuel. Jayson Werth (153 wRC+, .287 ISO vs LHP since 2015) is the strongest play here for about $4K on either site. Both would seem to have more value on DraftKings, but Anthony Rendon (120 wRC+, .093 ISO vs LHP since 2015) batting 5th and possibly Danny Espinosa at SS (111 wRC+, .216 ISO vs LHP since 2015) hold more value on FanDuel just above $3K each. Zimmerman and Ramos have a below average wRC+, but ISO above .200 vs LHP this season.