Eddie Butler Daily Fantasy News, Rankings, Projections

Five of 12 offenses have an implied run line above five runs tonight with the Yankees (5.84) currently being the highest. It looks like the most stackable spot against David Holmberg (RHBs 39.7 Hard%), but the Yankees are dealing with some injuries and have just a 96 wRC+ LHP. In theory, they should make short work of a subpar lefty, but on a night where players may be paying up for pitching, it could be difficult to afford top Yankee bats as well. Ricky Nolasco has allowed multiple HRs in 10 of 15 starts and would be the next victim against a red-hot Dodger offense (176 wRC+ over the last week). They have a 5.45 implied run line. Nolasco has a reverse split (RHBs .345 wOBA, 36.5 Hard% since last season), which may make Justin Turner (152 wRC+, 225 ISO RHP since last season) and Chris Taylor (124 wRC+, .204 ISO vs RHP this year) the top plays and persuade the Dodgers to play a few more RHBs tonight. LHBs have hit Nolasco well too though (.326 wOBA, 34.5 Hard%). While Eddie Butler has shown some improvement against RHBs this year (.300 wOBA, 54.2 GB%), LHBs continue to hit him hard (25 GB%, 38.3 Hard%), making not only Harper and Murphy top plays, but Brian Goodwin (101 wRC+, .217 ISO vs RHP since last season) a nice salary savor as well. Potentially less popular and with the lowest implied run line (5.1) of those above five, Cleveland bats could leave their mark on a returning Cole Hamels tonight.

Max Scherzer is the clear top option on the mound this afternoon as no other starter can touch his 35.1% K%, 15.4% SwStr%, and 2.77 SIERA. After him there are a few targets to consider: Dan Straily (25.1% K%, 11.8% SwStr%, 4.06 SIERA) will face a weak Nationals lineup with several starters resting, Eddie Butler (14.3% K%, 7.4 SwStr%, 5.76 SIERA) doesn't have great numbers but he's facing a Padres team that has a 27.8% K%, and Drew Pomeranz (26.6% K%, 10.4% SwStr%, 3.82 SIERA). The latter seems to be the best of the three, despite the hot weather in Kansas City (91 degrees at first pitch) as the Royals may not have enough firepower to exploit those conditions. Their starting lineup has a combined ISO of .137 and .284 wOBA. There is some concern that their K% is just 16.1% and they'll run six righties against him (Pomeranz has a 23.8% K% vs. RHB and 31.9% K% vs. LHB), which could limit the upside. Even so, he has stronger peripheral stats than the other targets mentioned and our projections model gives him a solid leg up on them in raw points.

The visiting team in Coors is often the top projected offense, but it's not often nearly a run above the next highest offense, but that's what we see tonight with Toronto being projected for 6.7 runs tonight. All bats are playable and worth paying up for on either site against a pitcher who has allowed LHBs (.437 wOBA, 33.8 Hard%) and RHBs (.368 wOBA, 29.8 Hard%) to hammer him since last season. The top bats (Donaldson and Encarnacion) may be most worth paying up for as well as being potentially the top two bats overall tonight. Both have a wRC+ just below 150 with an ISO above .260 vs RHP since last season. Devon Travis (135 wRC+, .215 ISO vs RHP career) is a great buy batting 2nd, especially on FanDuel for $3.7K. Michael Saunders (139 wRC+, .242 ISO vs RHP this season) rounds out the four players should attempt to pay up for if possible, but all bats project well here.

Eddie Butler at least had an above average ground ball rate last year, but this year it's down to 43.7% with a 25.2 LD% and 26.0 Hard-Soft% to go with just a 15.2 K%. Expecting a lot of hard contact tonight, Arizona is easily the top projected offense tonight (6.15 runs). Every bat in this lineup is playable. Unfortunately, there are only two LH bats in Lamb (150 wRC+, .289 ISO vs RHP this season) and Brito (83 wRC+, .161 ISO vs RHP career), who bats 9th. LHBs have a .432 wOBA against Butler in his career. RHBs still hit him well too (.363 wOBA). Paul Goldschmidt (150 wRC+, .240 ISO vs RHP since 2015) is the top bat, while Yasmany Tomas (74 wRC+, .114 ISO vs RHP career) gains some value now batting 2nd for around $4K. Phil Gosselin (100 wRC+, .151 ISO vs RHP since 2015) is the cheapest bat, below $3.5K on either site, and the surprise entry in tonight's lineup.

While the Reds are facing a low strikeout pitcher in a great park, they are tied for 2nd in run projection tonight (5.1), well behind the team they are facing. Many of the bats in this lineup are still playable and even building blocks of a strong lineup tonight, though it might not be what you'd expect from a visiting team at Coors. Butler has kept RHBs on the ground 51.9% of the time in his career with a 10.4 HR/FB, but also a .340 wOBA, so a guy like Adam Duvall, who has thrashed RHP (126 wRC+, .331 ISO since 2015) is still playable. Zack Cozart (101 wRC+, .188 ISO vs RHP since 2015) is a top value SS out of the leadoff position for just $4.2K on DK. Butler has allowed lefties a .417 wOBA, 32.8 Hard%, and 20.3 HR/FB since last season. Joey Votto (111 wRC+, .233 ISO vs RHP this season) has retained his power even if his overall offense has been a bit less this year. He and Bruce (127 wRC+, .301 ISO vs RHP this season) are top bats at their positions tonight.

The Pirates have too many players for too few IF spots, so we're probably going to see a lot of shuffling here as long as all are healthy and today Kang is the odd man out. Eddie Butler has an increased K rate (20.8%) through three starts with just a 3.9 BB% that will be challenged against the Pirates (9.1 BB% vs RHP). He has an unimpressive 4.93 xFIP on the road since last season though. While a lot of this is due to Colorado, Butler has allowed a .450 wOBA and 23.1 HR/FB to LHBs in his career, while the LH Pirate bats have been on fire. Gregory Polanco (118 wRC+ vs RHP since 2015) has a 273 wRC+ over the last week, but is one of the highest priced bats on DK ($5K). John Jaso (130 wRC+ vs RHP) is much more affordable atop the lineup and a great value at 1B (159 wRC+ last seven days). RHBs have still hit Butler well (.344 wOBA), but with a 54.0 GB% in his career in a park that kills RH power, it's difficult to find any great value in high cost OFers at the top. Pittsburgh does have a 4.56 run projection near the top of the board tonight though.