Jake Smolinski Daily Fantasy News, Rankings, Projections

The Oakland A's are tied for the third highest implied run line tonight (4.57) at home against Tyler Skaggs. They had just a 90 wRC+ and 24.2 K% against southpaws last year, but there's some right-handed thunder in this lineup. Khris Davis (109 wRC+, .238 ISO vs LHP) and Matt Chapman (109 wRC+, .220 ISO) both had an ISO above .200 against lefties last year. Marcus Semien (116 wRC+, .193 ISO vs LHP career) leads off. Jake Smolinski bats second and has a career 140 wRC+ and .208 ISO against them. He costs $2.5K or less on either site. New pickup, Stephen Piscotty (139 wRC+, .205 ISO vs LHP) adds even more thump. Although the oft-injured Tyler Skaggs doesn't have much of a platoon split with batters from either side hitting at around a league average rate(a case for Matt Olsen as well - 103 wRC+, .261 ISO vs LHP in 53 PAs), but RHBs do have a hard hit rate quite a bit higher (33.1% vs 26.4%).

Ariel Miranda has allowed 11 HRs in 52.2 innings with a 0.68 GB/FB and 36.5 Hard%. This month, he has a .137 BABIP and 86.4 LOB% leading to a 2.79 ERA. He’s allowed exactly three hits in four straight starts with five of the 12 hits being HRs. He has a well below average 17.9 K% on the season. The A's have some potent bats against LHP, but with Valencia and Smolinski hitting a bit lower than expected, Ryon Healy (148 wRC+, .246 ISO vs LHP) batting third for $3.7K or less on either site, might be the most interesting bat. He has a 228 wRC+ over the last week. Kris Davis (139 wRC+, .287 ISO vs LHP this season) and Marcus Semien (119 wRC+, .262 ISO vs LHP this season) are priced affordably on FanDuel.

Reason # 1: Over the last two weeks, Eduardo Rodriguez has a strikeout rate of 4%. Yes, you read that correctly, 4%.

Reason # 2: Rodriguez has not had good command and holds a 0.25 K/BB ratio over that same two week time period, leading to a laughable SIERA of 7.66.

Reason # 3: If E-Rod does not get back on track in a hurry, the Athletics have a slew of right-handed, lefty-smashing specialist, including Danny Valencia, Jake Smolinksi, Marcus Semien, and Khris Davis who hold wRC+ totals vs. LHP of 171, 158, 136, and 133, respectively.

The Athletics may have taken a peek at some sabermetrics when constructing the lineup today, considering that the first four batters in the lineup are in order, Marcus Semien, Jake Smolinski, Danny Valencia, and Khris Davis at cleanup.

Trevor Bauer takes the mound this afternoon for the Indians fresh off a 13 strikeout performance against the Blue Jays in his last start. While he's been somewhat inconsistent this season it seems unlikely that he'll meet much resistance this afternoon as he defeated the Athletics in their only prior meeting this season and this Oakland team also happens to own just a .304 wOBA against right-handed pitching as well as an ugly .290 wOBA at home. Stephen Vogt tends to draw plenty of attention behind the plate when facing right-handed pitching, but it's been rookie Ryon Healy with a team best .360 wOBA against right-handed pitching thus far. Meanwhile Khris Davis has already smacked 33 home runs on the season and his .276 ISO against right-handed pitching highlights his upside here against the power-pitching Bauer. With Coco Crisp out of the lineup, Jake Smolinski gets a rare crack at the lead off spot.

Wade LeBlanc has an xFIP of 5.82 over his last couple of starts, striking out 14% of batters over that same time period. LeBlanc has struggled more against RHBs this year, possessing an xFIP of 5.38, and giving up a massive fly ball percentage of 50%. Jake Smolinski is this year's Scott Van Slyke, holding a wRC+ of 202 and posting a ridiculous ISO of 0.306. Southpaws are rarely sending Smolinski back to the dugout without putting the ball in play, considering Jake has a exceptional k rate versus LHP of 6%.

Miley is as marginal of a left-handed pitcher as there is in the majors. He has no definable skills that jump out in his pitching profile with below-average strikeouts (17.7%), solid control (6.9% BB%) and no significant lean towards ground balls or fly balls. Miley essentially is a strike-thrower that relies heavily on BABIP in order to have any sort of success. Danny Valencia (185 wRC+, .441 wOBA, .271 ISO) is the top play in the Athletics lineup by a large margin as he is a notorious lefty-masher and hasn’t slowed down this year versus left-handed pitching. Jake Smollinski (196 wRC+, .457 wOBA, .322 ISO vs LHP) and Marcus Semien (147 wRC+, .385 wOBA, .320 ISO vs LHP) find themselves at the top of the order making them the ideal options to pair with Valencia in Oakland stacks. Khris Davis (.227 ISO vs LHP) actually has hit right-handed pitching better this season, but always provides power upside and is definitely in consideration if stacking up the Athletics.

Perez has this uncanny ability to outperform his peripherals which can occasionally make him frustrating to stack against. While Perez sometimes manages to limit the damage, he is still a bad pitcher. Perez may be losing some of his magician-like abilities, however, as he's allowed at least five earned runs in each of his last three starts. Perez has posted a laughable strikeout rate to right-handed batters (9.5%) and while he has a 52.2% ground ball rate, it's tough to be too concerned with the amount balls that will be put in play tonight as the Athletics only strikeout at 17.8% clip versus LHP. Further compounding his struggles, Perez surrenders a 34.0% Hard% to right-handed batters. Basically, any right-handed Athletics bat with the ability go deep is an option in this matchup, which means Jake Smolinski (195 wRC+, .454 wOBA, .330 ISO vs LHP since 2015), Danny Valencia (180 wRC+, .436 wOBA, .244 ISO vs LHP), and Khris Davis (.235 ISO vs LHP) are our primary targets. Even, Marcus Semien (152 wRC+, .394 wOBA, .344 ISO vs LHP) could be an interesting tournament play on DraftKings as he is overpriced for his eighth spot in the lineup and could go overlooked.

Matt Moore did have one strong start against Boston to end June, but has just a 9.4 K% (2.3 K-BB%) in three July starts with a .224 BABIP and 81.7 LOB%. He also has just a 31.1 GB% (0.61 GB/FB), which actually might help him in Oakland, though the A’s have just an 18.1 K% at home and vs LHP. It's going to be a bit cooler in Oakland tonight, around 70, which may limit the lefty mashing ability of the A's, but RHBs have a .343 wOBA against Moore since last season. Marcus Semien carries the highest price tag on either site, but has absolutely crushed LHP this season (163 wRC+, .373 ISO) and gets the leadoff spot tonight. Valencia (185 wRC+, .271 ISO vs RHP this season) and Davis (97 wRC+, .250 ISO vs LHP this season) bat fourth and fifth at similarly marginal price tags. Unfortunately, the lowly priced Jake Smolinski (208 wRC+, .349 ISO vs LHP this season) bats eighth, but may still be able to overcome his cost in fewer opportunities with those numbers.

Dallas Keuchel may never live up to his Cy Young dominance again, but has been pitching well lately and has a perfectly league average 20.3 K% with the fifth best ground ball rate (57.4%) in the majors. While the Ks might take a hit in Oakland (18.0 K% at home and vs LHP) this is still a somewhat safe run prevention spot for him in a great park (A's 87 wRC+, 10.1 HR/FB at home). Keuchel is a very reasonable play if you don't trust some higher priced volatile arms. He has allowed 15 HRs this year though (13 to RHBs with a .343 wOBA) and the A's do have three lefty mashers in Smolinski, Valencia, and Semien, who all have a wRC+ above 170 with an ISO above .280 vs LHP this season. Khris Davis (106 wRC+, .261 ISO vs LHP since 2015) is a little less potent long those lines. While he'll have to carefully navigate those spots, the rest of the lineup shouldn't present much of an issue.