Jarrod Saltalamacchia Daily Fantasy News, Rankings, Projections

Kyle Gibson has a league average SwStr% that only transitions into a 15.8 K%, but he does generally keep the ball on the ground about half the time vs both lefties and righties. While LHBs have hit him a bit better since last season (.339 wOBA), the Tigers have two RHBs that hammer same handed pitching in Martinez (144 wRC+, .247 ISO vs RHP since 2015) and Cabrera (151 wRC+, .215 ISO vs RHP since 2015), both more viable options on FanDuel for $3.7K or less. Tyler Collins (103 wRC+, .165 ISO vs RHP since 2015) and Jarrod Saltalamacchia (86 wRC+, .200 ISO vs RHP since 2015) are both punt options for $2.2K each on FanDuel as well.

Miguel Gonzalez struck out seven of 24 in a rehab start, but also allowed two HRs and hasn’t pitched in the majors in nearly a month. He has no real platoon split which favors a predominantly RH lineup for the Tigers. We're looking at two strong bats and one hot one for Detroit. Miguel Cabrera (155 wRC+, .220 ISO vs RHP since 2015) and J.D. Martinez (144 wRC+, .252 ISO vs RHP since 2015) pummel same handed pitching and have a 200+ wRC+ over the last week. Justin Upton (115 wRC+, .210 ISO vs RHP since 2015) also has a 207 wRC+ over the last week (44.4 Hard%) and costs just $2.9K on FanDuel. Jarrod Saltalmacchia (90 wRC+, .205 ISO vs RHP since 2015) is surprisingly the next most powerful bat against RHP in this lineup and costs just $2.3K behind the plate on FanDuel. Ian Kinlser remains out of the lineup.

The Tigers tanked on the juicy James Shields matchup last night, but get a second shot at a terrible RHP in Anthony Ranaudo tonight. Batters from either side have a .350+ wOBA and 33+ Hard% through 74.1 big league innings over parts of the last three seasons. Detroit is once again the top projected offense on the board (5.74) and while this is a lineup that's a bit costly up top, they nearly all project well here, but may have a bit more value on FanDuel where they're a bit cheaper across the board. Cabrera (156 wRC+, .220 ISO vs RHP since 2015) and J.D. Martinez (140 wRC+, .245 ISO vs RHP since 2015) are the top bats, though Justin Upton (115 wRC+, .205 ISO vs RHP since 2015) has been coming on with a 197 wRC+ over the last week and still costs just $3.2K on FanDuel. Value seekers may want to look at Saltalamacchia (91 wRC+, .208 ISO vs RHP since 2015), who homered last night and Tyler Collins (103 wRC+, .172 ISO vs RHP since 2015), replacing Maybin in the second spot.

James Shields trumps Coors tonight as the Tigers enter the evening with tonight's highest run projection (5.9%), facing HR machine James Shields, who has allowed 11 HRs over his last 15 innings, spanning four starts. Nineteen of his 31 HRs this year have been surrendered to RHBs. The obvious is that Miguel Cabrera (156 wRC+, .221 ISO vs RHP since 2015) is a top overall bat, while both Martinez boys with a wRC+ above 130 and ISO above .200 vs RHP this season project strongly as well tonight. Players looking for some more affordable exposure need to consider Cameron Maybe (124 wRC+ vs RHP this season) as an essential part of any stack. Though a bump to leadoff is just one spot and he hasn't hit for any power this year, he has a 208 wRC+ and 42.9 Hard% over the last week and is likely to score at least one run tonight. He's the only bat in the first six that costs less than $3K on FanDuel. Jarrod Saltalamacchia (94 wRC+, .220 ISO vs RHP this season) is a very reasonable pivot from the popular Babe Sanchez behind the plate.

James Shields has allowed a total of six runs over his last four starts, but has just a 10.9 K% with a .195 BABIP (25.2 LD%, 8.9 Soft%) and 98.2 LOB%. Half the slate has a projection above five runs tonight and Detroit is one of those teams. Though they've been burning players lately, they're in another good spot here. Although the Tigers have just two LHBs, they have a .371 wOBA against Shields since last season, making Jarrod Saltalamacchia (120 wRC+, .263 ISO vs RHP this season) a top Catcher among a terrible batch tonight. RHBs have a .327 wOBA against him since last season too, making Miggy Cabrera (148 wRC+, .242 ISO vs RHP this year), Kinsler (118 wRC+, .204 ISO vs RHP this year) and Castellanos (141 wRC+, .227 ISO vs RHP this season) strong plays as well. And perhaps Justin Upton (74 wRC+, .142 ISO vs RHP this season) is coming around too with with a 121 wRC+ and 50 Hard% since the break. If so, he would be the value play here for $3.5K or less on either site.

The Tigers could be the type of team Ricky Nolasco would really struggle against (.372 wOBA allowed to RHBs since last season) even with his normally strong peripherals. It could get even worse with just a 3.8 K-BB% over his last four starts. Ten of his 15 HRs this year have gone to RHBs. The Tigers are projected for over five and a half runs and make an incredibly interesting pivot from the Coors game in terms of a lower priced stack. While Kinsler (117 wRC+, .198 ISO vs RHP this season), Cabrera (149 wRC+, .247 ISO vs RHP this season) and Castellanos (145 wRC+, .233 ISO vs RHP this season) don't offer much of a discount, all are still considered strong values with Cabrera projected for 10 points on DK via the BAT today. Justin Upton (112 wRC+, .193 ISO vs RHP since last season) and Jarrod Saltalamacchia (122 wRC+, .268 ISO vs RHP this season) may round out a stack at much lower prices ($2.3K or less on FanDuel).

James Shields has had about as horrible a two start stretch as one can have (4.2 IP – 16 H – 17 ER – 5 HR – 6 BB – 3 K – 36 BF), which have turned his season stats upside down. He's not a pitcher players can trust tonight, especially against a tough offense against RHP (106 wRC+), but they do have a 23.4 K% vs RHP and he does cost just $4.8K now on DraftKings. We know he's a better pitcher than that, but you'd have to embrace a large amount of risk to take advantage of that price. The Tigers have just two LH bats (.379 wOBA vs Shields since 2015), but Jarrod Saltalamacchia (117 wRC+, .289 ISO vs RHP since 2015) is a player you might think of dipping lower in the batting order for at a weak position. He costs just the minimum on FanDuel. The middle of the order (Cabrera, Castellanos, J.D. Martinez) along with Kinsler all have a wRC+ between 125 and 165 with an ISO above .220 vs RHP this season. The issue is cost with Martinez and Kinsler at the top of their position on either site, but Cabrera and Castellanos each $500 to $1K less on either site.

Jeremy Hellickson continues to miss bats at an impressive rate (24.2 K%, 12.0 SwStr%), but also still allows a lot of hard contact (32.9%) in the air (17.6 HR/FB) and faces the hottest lineup in the majors (158 wRC+ last seven days) in Detroit. He has allowed RHBs a .325 wOBA (.348 LHBs) since last season and particularly hot is Miguel Cabrera (170 wRC+, .222 ISO vs RHP since last season and even better this year) with a 454 wRC+ and 68.2 Hard% over the last week. He costs $4.5K tonight and might be the top overall bat to build lineups around tonight. J.D. Martinez (132 wRC+, .247 ISO vs RHP since 2015) has a 192 wRC+, 60.0 Hard% over the last week and should be a coveted OF bat for slightly less. Nick Castellanos (187 wRC+, .254 ISO vs RHP this year) has really turned it on vs RHP for a very reasonable cost below $4K, while Jarrod Saltalamacchia (148 wRC+, .364 ISO vs RHP this year) is a cheap play at a tough Catcher position for $3K or less. The Tigers have the 2nd highest run projection tonight (5.04).

Rich Hill has now started four games in each of the last two seasons and has struck out exactly 10 in five of those starts. Tonight, he can be had for still just exactly $7.7K on either major site and that's probably because he takes the mound against a lineup full of talented RH bats. Gose and Upton are the only two Tiger bats without at least a 135 wRC+ vs LHP since last season and Detroit has a team 121 wRC+, 15.6 K%, and 20.1 Hard-Soft% against them. Hill has walked eight, but struck out 21 of 64 RH batters faced this season with just 1 HR. This would be a very contrarian play, but Hill has the upside to make this work with a .263 wOBA to RHBs since last year. Aside from Upton, you could still look at Saltalamacchia (148 wRC+, .320 ISO vs LHP since last season), Castellanos (158 wRC+ vs LHP), and V.Martinez (145 wRC+vs LHP) all for below $3K on FanDuel, but this might otherwise be a pitcher we don't want to move too heavily against.

Kendall Graveman generated some interest last year with a 50% GB rate, but didn't really strike out enough batters to be daily fantasy relevant. This year, he's increased not only the GB% 15 points, while cutting down on hard contact (0.0 Hard-Soft%, 85.23 avg ExVel), but he has a 10.9 SwStr%/21.4 K% and is throwing over a mph harder as well. That's combination is nearly what won Dallas Keuchel a Cy Young last year. Even if we don't expect him to keep this up or the Tigers to continue their current slide, they do have a 20.5 K% vs RHP this year (the equivalent of an All Star pitcher), while Jarrod Saltalamacchia (205) is the only batter with a wRC+ higher than 114 over the last week. Although the middle of the order does pack three bats - Miguel Cabrera (150 wRC+), J.D. Martinez (133 wRC+), Justin Upton (126 wRC+) - that play strong against RHP since last season, all have an overall wRC+ below 50 for the past seven days and the Tigers could struggle to elevate. Graveman stands a good chance of far exceeding a sub-$6K price tag with potential low ownership due to a popular fear of the Detroit lineup.