Parker Bridwell Daily Fantasy News, Rankings, Projections

There's a lot of confidence in suggesting that Parker Bridwell did not deserve his 3.64 ERA last season. Not only were all of his estimators nearly a run and a half higher, but he had the largest negative difference (32 points) between his wOBA and xwOBA (.346) on the board for 2017. RHBs had an xwOBA 37 points higher than actual against him, while LHBs had an xwOBA a full 50 points higher (.325 - .375). Although the lineup is not yet confirmed, the A's have four strong hitters against RHP expected to play tonight. Matt Olson (180 wRC+, .404 ISO vs RHP career) and Khris Davis (135 wRC+, .290 ISO vs RHP since last season) are the most obvious. Matt Joyce (125 wRC+, .247 ISO) and Matt Chapman (120 wRC+, .253 ISO) are more affordable, though Chapman's cost is oddly the highest of the four on FanDuel.

The Angels starter has also limited opposing right-handers (190 faced this year) to a collective .125 ISO, but Bridwell has posted some notable handedness splits this season. For example, his 25.4% Hard-Soft% against LHB is far worse than his 10.9% rate to the opposite side. That's a major reason why he's allowed a .366 wOBA and .185 ISO to the 146 lefties he's faced. On top of that, he's given up a 44.1% fly ball rate to that side of the plate - a sharp rise from his 36.7% FB% to RHB - while forcing ground balls just 35.4% of the time. That sets up a great matchup for Oakland's five lefties this afternoon with Matt Joyce, Matt Olson, and Jed Lowrie standing out as the top three choices to exploit Bridwell's weaknesses. The trio have all posted fly ball rates between 46.5-47.1% against RHP this season, so they should have no trouble getting the ball in the air. Across 111 plate appearances, Olson has used a 38.5% Hard% to deliver a .316 ISO and .382 wOBA. His primary drawback is his high 29.7% strikeout rate, however, Bridwell K's lefties at a poor 13.3% clip. Lowrie rarely strikes out as is (14.9%) and has also managed a strong 37.5% Hard%, although his .178 ISO is much lower than Olson's and Joyce's .252. Khris Davis and his .309 ISO against RHP is naturally the top righty to target, but he's been cold recently. Over the past eight games, he's batting .185 with a 44.4% K% and a lone homerun. Fortunately, he'll be in a favorable strikeout matchup (Bridwell has a hitter-friendly 16.8% K% against RHB this year) and he has a good shot to overcome Bridwell's tough batted ball profile considering his 43.7% FB% and 40.9% Hard% this season. With an implied total of just 4.36 runs, the A's should fall under the radar in GPPs this afternoon. That makes Joyce, Olson, and Lowrie appealing tournaments targets given their favorable matchup with Bridwell.

It's an unusual night in the majors as three pitchers are making their first major league starts. While none are considered big prospects, Eric Skoglund is probably the most highly regarded of the group and the only one making his actual major league debut. The lefty was the eighth ranked prospect in the organization via Fangraphs with a 45 grade, projecting him as a potential back of the rotation innings eater if all goes right. He’s ascended through the minors at about a level per year with a K-BB between 15% and 16.3% at virtually every stop, but the Detroit RHBs are hammering LHP this season (42.3 Hard%, 16.3 HR/FB). If you had told the Mets that Tyler Pill was going to even sniff the major league roster this year, they would have known trouble was afoot. Not even on the 40-man roster until a few days ago, the 27 year-old is minor league depth with a K-BB below 5% at AAA this season. This will likely be his only start as Steven Matz is nearing a return. Those considering stacking Brewers should consider the weather tonight, but it's not a bad play otherwise. Parker Bridwell threw 3.1 innings in relief for the Orioles last year, but the Angels have recently turned him into a starter at AA/AAA this year (as they've successfully done with a couple of relievers this year). Results have been positive thus far as he's stretched out to five innings or more in each of his three AAA starts (24.2 K%), but he does not appear to be available on either site against the Braves tonight. Additionally, Asher Wojciechowski is three years removed from his only three major league starts for the Astros. The now Cincinnati Red 28 year-old has turned in a 23.0 K-BB% at AAA with just a 25.4 GB%. In four relief innings in the majors this year, he has a 12.5 K-BB% with a 25 GB% in the majors. The strikeouts are interesting and he looks to have the top defense in the majors behind him, but how those five starts translate to the majors, especially a now healthy Toronto offense is a bit of an unknown.