James Loney Daily Fantasy News, Rankings, Projections

Jose Fernandez doesn't need much help, but he has struggled a bit vs LHBs (.319 wOBA, 34.3 Hard% since last season), so it does help a bit that two of the Mets more competent LHBs recently (Walker and Cabrera) are out with injuries, along with the struggling Jay Bruce. Among the five remaining ones, James Loney leads them with a 103 wRC+ vs RHP this year and only Granderson (.212 ISO) has an ISO above .140. Don't overthink this. Jose Fernandez leads baseball with a 35.4 K% this season (Mets strike out 22% vs RHP) and is tonight's top arm by a wide margin.

Greinke is finally set to make his return from the DL after missing time with an oblique injury. We're going to have to expect that Greinke is not yet back to full strength and may not be in line for his standard allotment of pitches in this game. The Diamondbacks bullpen may have to pick up some substantial innings in this spot, which will work in favor of the Mets offense, as the Arizona bullpen has been horrendous all season. With Greinke not really receiving any type of discount around the industry, it will be extremely easy to avoid Greinke in all formats until he proves he is healthy or his price decreases. The Mets lineup is not super inspiring but Jay Bruce (129 wRC+, .368 wOBA, .306 ISO), James Loney (129 wRC+, .358 wOBA, .159 ISO vs RHP), Michael Conforto (120 wRC+, .346 wOBA, .239 ISO vs RHP), Curtis Granderson (.214 ISO vs RHP), and Neil Walker (.158 ISO vs RHP) can all be considered as one offs orpart of a stack in tournaments.

John Lackey is coming off a couple of rough starts, walking three in each and allowing 10 ERs (three HRs) over 10.1 IP, but he's still missing bats at a career high rate (26.4 K%) and should be considered against a limping NY Mets lineup tonight without Curtis Granderson again in a negative run environment. Lackey has dominated RHBs (.266 wOBA since last season) potentially taking Cespedes (140 wRC+, .259 ISO vs RHP since 2015) off the board tonight as he has just a 76 wRC+ and 29.4 Hard% over the last week. LHBs have a .319 wOBA against Lackey since last year with a 31.1 Hard% though, so we may want to consider a few if not using Lackey. New leadoff man Brandon Nimmo has a minimum cost on both sites, potentially making him a great value. He has a great eye and Lackey's control has been lacking (pun not intended that time) lately. Neil Walker (110 wRC+, .172 ISO vs RHP since 2015) gains some value in the 2nd spot. James Loney (113 wRC+, .163 ISO vs RHP this season) bats cleanup for less than $3K and has actually been one of the Mets' best bats lately (150 wRC+, 40 Hard% last seven days).

Aaron Blair is one of the weaker arms on tonight's slate, and we have a chance to take advantage of that with some slightly underpriced Mets bats. Blair has walked more LHs than he's struck out (15 BBs, 11 Ks in 22.2 IP) and has allowed a wOBA of .388 to LHs, which paints a pretty clear picture as to why he's the owner of a 6.11 xFIP. He doesn't allow a ton of hard contact, but he doesn't miss many bats which makes it much tougher for him to keep runs off the board. On the Mets side, Curtis Granderson is a terrific GPP target with a .340 wOBA/.240 ISO/41.1 hard% against RHP, as he'll likely be underowned with most of the public fixated on the bats in Coors Field. Yoenis Cespedes is back in the Mets lineup and has mashed RHP this season to the tune of a .365 wOBA/.285 ISO/38.9 hard%, and he's an especially intriguing GPP option on FanDuel where he'll likely be available at under 5% owned given his $4,400 price tag. On the cheaper side, Michael Conforto and James Loney are viable punt plays, although Conforto continues to be ice cold at the plate. He'll have a nice opportunity to break out tonight, although his 7-spot in the order makes him a slightly tougher bat to target.

Matt Wisler has finally had his 38.2 Hard% catch up with as his ERA has flown over four over the last month to meet his estimators. While he's in a favorable park for a pitcher with with a 0.88 GB/FB, there really are no parks that can protect contact that hard to go with a below average 11.1 K-BB%. With Yoenis Cespedes out tonight, the Mets will use seven LHBs tonight. They have a .375 wOBA against Wisler in his career. All appear usable with perhaps the exception of De Aza (101 wRC+ vs RHP since 2015) on DraftKings for $3.6K, batting 8th. Granderson (142 wRC+, .231 ISO vs RHP since 2015) is the top bat for $4.3K on DraftKings and $3.5K on FanDuel. All other LH bats are $3.6K or less on either site. Asdrubal Cabrera and James Loney, batting 2nd and 3rd, both have a wRC+ above 175 over the last week, as the team's two hottest bats. Kelly Johnson (96 wRC+ vs RHP since 2015) costs the minimum on FanDuel.

Junior Guerra hasn't been bad (3.61 ERA, 4.05 SIERA, 22.7 K%, 11.6 SwStr%), but it didn't appear as if he'd be able to hold his 8.7 HR/FB with a 37.0 Hard%. The Mets initially appeared to have a bit too much firepower against him (although he's shown a reverse platoon split so far - .373 wOBA vs RHBs). In a lineup with Alejandro de Aza (109 wRC+ vs RHP since 2015) batting 2nd and James Loney batting cleanup (92 wRC+ vs RHP since 2015), he may deserve a 2nd look for just $7K. Incidentally, both of those bats are just $2.2K on FanDuel and need to be considered under the circumstances, especially with all of the expensive pitching on the board. Granderson and Cespedes both have a 141 wRC+ vs RHP with an ISO above .225 vs RHP since last season, though both are $4.4K or higher on DK.

Jacob deGrom hasn't been elite this season as he enters today with a 4.22 SIERA and paltry (for him) 18.8% K rate but he gets a plus match up against the White Sox today (24th in wOBA, 25th in ISO against RHP this season) and has shown signs of turning it around of late - he's the clear top option from the early games and trails only Max Scherzer if you're looking at the all day slate. Mets bats are also viable options today as they face Miguel Gonzalez, a SP who gives up a lot of fly balls and home runs. He's given up 28 homers the last two seasons and the top five (Granderson, Cabrera, Conforto, Walker, Loney) are all viable options today. Loney is particularly compelling at his minimum price tag batting fifth - he's had some success against RHP over the course of his career (.339 career wOBA).