Jett Bandy Daily Fantasy News, Rankings, Projections

The Milwaukee Brewers (5.23) are the only offense Vegas projects above five runs tonight. While Dillon Peters has completed six innings with two runs or less in two of his three starts, he was tagged for nine runs in between, while failing to strike out more than three batters in any start this year. An 8.4 SwStr% suggests some potential improvement there, perhaps closer to his 19.4 K% in 31.1 major league innings last year, but his hard hit rate was actually lowest (30.8%) in his worst start. His .398 xwOBA, 93.1 mph aEV, and 53.8% 95+ mph EV are all easily worst on the board tonight. Peters still has a hard hit rate below 30% against batters from either side of the plate in 46 career innings (LHBs have a 63.9 GB%), though a double digit walk rate allows batters from either side an xwOBA above .350 in his short career. The amazing thing is that Milwaukee bats are fairly cheap tonight, allowing for easy stacks. Domingo Santana (113 wRC+, .197 ISO, 44.3 Hard% vs LHP since 2017) costs $3K or less on either site with Jesus Aguilar (140 wRC+, .223 ISO, 59.3 Hard%) in the same range. While lower end of the lineup batters are not usually recommended, a cheap power hitting catcher on a short slate is an acceptable exception. Jett Bandy (151 wRC+, .258 ISO) will not be hitting eighth much longer should he continue lefty-mashing like this, but beware that his xwOBA (.326) suggests some decline. In fact, his hard hit rate (26.1%) is lowest in the lineup against LHP since last season.

Jon Lester struggled in 2017, but there were some positive indicators in an xwOBA (.301) 25 points below his actual one with an 85.4 mph aEV, while both his 23.6 K% and 11.0 SwStr% remained well above average. Unfortunately, he didn't exactly squash concerns, getting knocked out in the fourth innings with a further drop in velocity in his first start in Miami of all places. Now he has a much more difficult matchup in Milwaukee, where the Brewers look to assault him with seven right-handed bats. RHBs had a .343 wOBA against Lester last year, but yet again, Statcast bails him out a bit with a .323 wOBA. His 28.8 Hard% was also below the league average of 31%. Never the less, this is a potent lefty-mashing lineup with Lorenzo Cain (121 wRC+, 201 ISO vs LHP since last season), Domingo Santana (129 wRC+, .216 ISO), Ryan Braun (113 wRC+, .263 ISO) and perhaps more conspicuously, Jesus Aguilar (131 wRC+, .219 ISO, 52.1 Hard%) and Jett Bandy (153 wRC+, .276 ISO). In fact, line-makers agree, giving Milwaukee the second highest implied run line (4.42) on the three game DraftKings slate.

We're still waiting on some late lineup confirmations, but we're already looking at nice cheap bats to helps supplement your expensive pitching or top bats. If unconcerned about lineup placement when considering Catcher, James McCann (136 wRC+, .310 ISO vs LHP since last season), Martin Maldonado (136 wRC+, .136 ISO vs LHP since last season) and Jett Bandy (125 wRC+, .269 ISO vs LHP career) are all extremely affordable options and above average hitters against southpaws. Ian Happ costs just $2.2K on FanDuel in the middle of the top projected offense tonight, while teammate Jeimer Candelario costs just $200 more. This is likely where most players will look to save some offensive dollars. Nich Ahmed (unconfirmed) has a 219 wRC+ over the last week and costs $2.8K on either site against Tommy Milone if players are looking to punt SS tonight, while Wilmer Difo is the minimum on FanDuel against Chad Kuhl. Your cheap Outfielders are where some of the more premium lineup spots can be found with Joey Rickard (120 wRC+, .175 ISO vs LHP career) costs less than $3K on either site, as does Adam Frazier (107 wRC+ vs RHP) in a tougher spot against Stephen Strasburg.

The Brewers are implied for just 3.87 runs in a negative run environment in San Diego, but may offer an affordable contrarian stacking opportunity against Clayton Richard, an extreme ground ball pitcher with a size-able platoon split. RHBs have a .367 wOBA and all 10 HRs he's surrendered since last season. LHBs have just a .275 wOBA, 80.7 GB% and 16.5 Hard% against him. The Brewers have very few LHBs on the roster though. While they strike out a lot, they have a 118 wRC+ and 22.4 HR/FB against LHP, along with a 21.0 HR/FB on the road. Consider Jonathan Villar (123 wRC+, .207 ISO vs LHP since 2015) and Domingo Santana (142 wRC+, .234 ISO vs LHP career) as top bats with Jett Bandy (137 wRC+, .304 ISO vs LHP career) and Jesus Aguilar (if he plays) for savings. No RH Brewer should be off limits in this lineup though.

Among batters either confirmed or projected to be in the lineup tonight with at least 10 PAs over the last week, Bryce Harper is the hottest hitter in baseball (367 wRC+, 50 Hard%) and he takes his act to Colorado. While he's hit LHP well (144 wRC+, .225 ISO since 2015), he faces a LHP who has allowed just a 23.5 Hard% to LHBs since entering the league last year and has one of the highest price tags we've ever seen for a batter on either site. Teammate Ryan Zimmerman is right behind him (323 wRC+, 53.3%). He costs more than $1.5K less with the same 144 wRC+, but a .311 ISO vs southpaws since 2015. He'll certainly be one of the most popular bats on the board tonight. A couple of more affordable Catchers are streaking as well. Players are probably paying down for pitching tonight, but will need savings elsewhere to afford Coors bats. They could come in the form of Miguel Montero (306 wRC+, 50 Hard%) or Jett Bandy (294 wRC+, 38.5 Hard%). Montero (101 wRC+, .157 ISO vs RHP since 2015) has a nice matchup with Chad Kuhl (.373 wOBA, 37.9 Hard% career vs LHBs), while Bandy may be facing early season breakout Amir Garrett, but RHBs do have a 36.4 Hard% against him and the young backstop has been more prominent against LHP than players may realize (139 wRC+, .303 ISO with 57.4% of contact in the air.

The game log of Brandon Finnegan looks mighty impressive as the 20 strikeouts in his last two starts really jump off the page. The first reaction naturally might be to stay away from Angels bats. However, with the recent success, and the fact that Finnegan was widely expected to develop into a good pitcher, we should have no hesitation taking a chance on Angels hitters in tournaments with the suppressed ownership. We can’t just overlook that Finnegan has an 11.3% walk rate, 40.4% hard hit rate, 39.9% fly ball rate, and a 4.88 xFIP against right-handed batters this season with a 5.04 SIERA in total. Jett Bandy (162 wRC+, .406 wOBA, .316 ISO vs LHP), C.J. Cron (.185 ISO vs LHP), and Jefry Marte (.245 ISO vs LHP) should be at least considered in a tournament mini-stack, along with Andrelton Simmons for his minuscule price tag batting lead off.

The advanced metrics of J.A Happ continue to suggest regression, but he just continues to overcome with sparkling surface stats that include a 17-3 record and a 3.05 ERA. He has benefited significantly from a .269 BABIP, which would be the best BABIP he's ever posted in a full season if it holds. His 22.0% strikeout rate is generally lower than what we would expect for a pitcher that costs $10,900 on DraftKings, evidenced by a 4.08 SIERA that is more than a full run higher than his ERA. Happ is surrendering hard contact 31.7% of the time, and again his metrics just don't really stand out. This is an okay matchup against the Angels, and Happ is a large favorite, so the play does make sense on some levels. We should continue to pass on Happ, as the price tag is a huge over payment for the skill set of Happ. He might be a better play in cash games than tournaments, however, since he is such a big favorite. Per usual, we should avoid most of the Angels batters. Mike Trout (129 wRC+, .357 wOBA, .160 ISO vs LHP) is most definitely in play, though, as he is basically matchup proof. Jett Bandy (176 wRC+, .425 wOBA, .333 ISO vs LHP) and Albert Pujols (135 wRC+, .365 wOBA, .248 ISO vs LHP) can also be considered if looking to save salary at either position