Ryan Schimpf Daily Fantasy News, Rankings, Projections

It would seem unfortunate that Shohei Ohtani is out of the lineup for this trip to Texas against Doug Fister, who has issues with LHBs. After returning to the majors with a two mile per hour jump in velocity last season, he's added another mile per hour through two starts this season. While the Angels currently own the second highest projected run line on the board (4.75), there are some issues working against rostering batters from this lineup. They lineup predominantly right-handed, a side Fister has been much stronger against (.280 wOBA, 25.5 Hard%, 51.4 GB% since last season) and he's been held to 85 pitches or less in each of his first two starts, though he has dealt with control problems so far. Zack Cozart (133 wRC+, .241 ISO vs RHP since last season), Mike Trout (184 wRC+, .347 ISO) and Justin Upton (122 wRC+, .242 ISO) are all strong enough against RHP that players can still consider paying up for them in a great park. Luis Valbuena (102 wRC+, .240 ISO, 51.9 FB%) is a fly ball oriented value play here ($3.5K or less on either site). Ryan Schimpf (89 wRC+, 258 ISO, 64.3 FB%) is a cheap fly ball machine, who may not get many opportunities to face the starting pitcher, batting ninth.

Prices appear to be slowly increasing throughout the industry as we're nearly one-third of the way through the season, but with Chris Sale on the mound tonight, players are certainly looking to save and there are still quite a few bats with positive outlooks that will may allow you to do just that. John Jaso is in the middle of the Pittsburgh order tonight for just $3K on DraftKings, where he's OF eligible. He has a 114 wRC+ against RHP since last season and faces a struggling Julio Teheran (LHBs .344 wOBA since last season). Ryan Schimpf costs just $300 more and has a 244 wRC+ with a 62.5 Hard% over the last week. He, too, faces a struggling RHP (Robert Gsellman). Chris Young is likely to be the popular value play on FanDuel. He's just $2.5K against Martin Perez. Players willing to punt First Base may want to opt for Jaso's teammate Josh Bell (127 wRC+, .191 ISO vs RHP career) with a better lineup spot, hitting third tonight. Matt Adams (213 wRC+, 45.5 Hard% over the last week) is a $2.4K FD option on the other side of that matchup, against Trevor Williams. Javier Baez (115 wRC+, .188 ISO vs LHP since last season) leads off for the Cubs tonight against Matt Moore, who has allowed Barrels on 8.1% of PAs. Baez costs $2.9K on FanDuel. Andres Blanco has been about a league average bat (95 wRC+, .148 ISO vs RHP) when he gets opportunities since last season. He gets one tonight in the middle of the lineup and is eligible at several positions across the infield for less than $3K on either site, including the absolute minimum on FanDuel. Lucas Duda (103 wRC+, .178 ISO vs RHP since 2016) is another cheap First Base bat ($2.5K on FD) in the cleanup spot against Jarred Cosart.

Michael Conforto's 335 wRC+ (66.7 Hard%, 4 HRs) is highest on the slate over the last week (10 PA min.) with a backup Catcher (Kurt Suzuki 302 wRC+) being the only other player above 300 over the last week. Conforto is in an interesting spot at home against Jarred Cosart. LHBs have a 62.4 GB% and -0.8 Hard-Soft% in his career, but just a 3.2 K-BB% and Conforto has a 202 sOPS+ against ground ball pitchers this year (Baseball-Reference) in 30 PAs with four extra-base hits. Another batter of interest in that game may be Ryan Schimpf (244 wRC+, 62.5 Hard%, 2 HRs last seven days). He homered last night and faces Robert Gsellman, who has allowed a 35.4 Hard% to LHBs since entering the league. Whoever the Braves employ behind the plate tonight will enter the game hot. Tyler Flowers has a 242 wRC+ and 50 Hard% over the last week. The Braves are projected for a surprisingly high 4.95 runs facing Trevor Williams (RHBs .370 wOBA). A pair of Angels comprise two of the other hottest hitters on the slate in Mike Trout (251 wRC+, 72.7 Hard%, 3 HRs) and Cameron Maybin (240 wRC+, 40 Hard%, 2 HRs). One of those names might be a surprise. They face the competent Erasmo Ramirez (3.00 ERA, 3.37 SIERA, 20.5 K%), but then likely a lot of a mediocre Tampa Bay bullpen in the latter half of the game.

Harvey's success in 2013 and 2015 (he missed all of 2014) seems like a distant memory. He's fallen off a cliff this season and hasn't shown much to suggest that a turnaround may be on the way. Through 45.1 IP, Harvey has already allowed 11 HRs on the year - five to lefties and six to righties - and his strikeout numbers have really fallen off, as his K% against hitters from both sides sits below 18%. Harvey has his lowest K% of his career this season along with his highest BB% (11.0%), and his 6.41 FIP is far and away the highest mark he's had to date (his 3.47 FIP last season was the worst of his career up until 2017). The one area where Harvey may be getting a little unlucky is in the HR department - he owns a HR/FB ratio over 20% against both right and left-handed hitters. He also isn't doing a great job of limiting hard contact, but his batted ball data isn't much different than last season - the main difference between the two seasons is the decreased strikeout numbers and increasing control problems. The Padres aren't going to be a popular stack this evening, but they do have appeal as a contrarian option on a full slate and the cheap bats towards the top of the order can be utilized as one-offs or salary saving plays. Given that Harvey has been dealing with HR issues and Wil Myers has already blasted 10 long balls off RHP (.307 ISO vs. RHP on the year), he's a very nice against-the-grain play at a loaded 1B spot. Speaking of HR upside, Ryan Schimpf is a nightly threat to leave the yard against RHP, as that is where he pulls the large majority of his fantasy value (.253 ISO vs. RHP with a 33.3% K-rate). Manuel Margot, Yangervis Solarte and Hunter Renfroe also have GPP appeal.

While the top two projected offenses are once again playing in Colorado, the Rockies may be a bit over-valued with just an 87 wRC+ at home and 75 wRC+ vs RHP, facing Jake Arrieta. Further consider that the Cubs played 18 innings last night and the Yankees, fourth with an implied run line of 4.6, played those same 18 innings with them and players might be more confident in looking for bats outside those lineups tonight. Cody Bellinger (235 wRC+, .533 ISO vs RHP) should be a bat players seek out tonight, both for his tremendous power and cost savings ($3.6K or less on either site). Fellow rookie Trevor Williams has generated just a 24.3 GB% against LHBs in just a few major league innings. Trey Mancini (128 wRC+, .294 ISO vs LHP) is another low cost 1B or OF option on DraftKings, facing Gio Gonzalez (RHBs .321 wOBA, 31.3 Hard% since 2015). Ryan Zimmerman (100 wRC+, .198 ISO vs RHP since 2016) gets a shot at a reverse platoon pitcher, Kevin Gausman (RHBs .362 wOBA since 2015) in that same game. Projected for 4.4 runs, the Nationals seem like a prime contrarian stacking opportunity, now more cost friendly with Trea Turner out as well. Savvy players could also omit an expensive LHB like Daniel Murphy do to the pitcher platoon split. Ryan Schimpf (133 wRC+, .313 ISO vs RHP career) is another interesting 3B or 2B pivot in Texas tonight (Nick Martinez LHBs .329 wOBA since 2015).

Zack Greinke is coming off of a stellar eight-inning, six strikeout performance against the San Diego Padres where he allowed just one earned run on a single solo home run. Coincidentally, he'll take on that same Padres squad tonight, however, this time the game will take place at home instead of the spacious confines of Petco Park. This could be problematic for Greinke considering his overall struggles pitching at Chase Field since he was acquired by the Diamondbacks prior to last season. In 2016, Greinke’s xFIP was more than a full run higher at home than on the road (4.54), which can only be explained by the significant dropoff in strikeouts (16.3% K%) and a severe increase in walks (7.4% BB%). Nowadays, Greinke seems to carry more name recognition than actually daily fantasy relevance and on a slate dearth of recognizable starting pitching options, he may gain traction as a popular choice at pitcher in lower dollar tournaments despite being relatively average to below-average in nearly everyone important metric, 19.8% strikeout rate, 35.1% fly ball rate, and 38.7% hard hit rate leading to a 3.80 SIERA. Further adding to the fade Greinke argument is that the matchup is not as great as it seems at first glance. The Padres have several power bats that hit right-handed pitching well throughout their lineup and get the additional benefit of the largest ballpark upgrade they could possibly see outside of Coors Field. In fact, Ryan Schimpf (.292 ISO), Wil Myers (.211 ISO), Hunter Renfroe (.269 ISO), and Austin Hedges (.281 ISO) all own an ISO greater that .200 versus right-handed pitching, making each of them interesting one-off options in tournaments.

Bartolo Colon is coming off a poor outing against the Miami Marlins where he went just four innings and allowed six earned runs while punching out just two batters. He'll take the mound this afternoon against an underrated San Diego Padres lineup that has several power hitters from each side of the plate to take advantage of a fastball pitcher like Colon that struggles striking out hitters (16.2% K% in 2016). This Padres lineup is littered with power up and down their order that should be able to capitalize on Colon's high 35.4% hard hit rate allowed from last season. Hunter Renfroe (136 wRC+, .370 wOBA, .305 ISO vs RHP), Ryan Schimpf (132 wRC+, .366 wOBA, .297 ISO vs RHP in 2016/17), Yangervis Solarte (123 wRC+, .353 wOBA, .188 ISO vs RHP in 2016/17), Wil Myers (123 wRC+, .353 wOBA, .221 ISO vs RHP in 2016/17), and Manuel Margot (.233 ISO vs RHP) have all exhibited power against right-handed pitching in their short Major League careers and are in prime position to put up solid fantasy production as one-offs or as a full stack in tournaments, which could end up being relatively contrarian.

Julio Teheran is looking to keep the positive momentum going as he takes the hill in tonight's game against the San Diego Padres. He is coming off two consecutive performances in which he went at least six innings and didn't give up an earned run. Teheran had a breakout season of sorts in 2016, posting a 22.0% strikeout rate to go along with a low 5.4% walk rate, though he was even better against right-handed batters, evidenced by his fantastic 24.7% K-BB% and 3.03 xFIP last season.The Padres do have a couple of left-handed hitters to worry about in Ryan Schimpf and Yangervis Solarte, but they are still a team that ranked second-worst in strikeout rate against right-handed pitching last season. Though the Padres are likely to improve on that number, they still project as a team that will be a plus matchup for a starting pitcher in the strikeout department, raising Teheran's already high floor at home this evening. This makes Teheran an ideal SP2 candidate on DraftKings and strong tournament option on FanDuel as a pivot away from higher priced pitchers like Clayton Kershaw and Noah Syndergaard. If looking at a Padres one-off in tournaments, Schimpf (135 wRC+, .371 wOBA, .304 ISO vs RHP in 2016/17) and Solarte (126 wRC+, .359 wOBA, .192 ISO vs RHP in 2016/17) remain the only viable options.

Nolan Arenado is projected to be owned in 40% or more lineups on either site tonight. Not homering off Jered Weaver tonight would be a surprise. His counterpart, Yangervis Solarte is projected to be popular as well with those two accounting for up to 65% of lineups on FanDuel according to our Projected Ownership page, while 3B eligibles Mark Reynolds, DJ LeMahieu and Ryan Schimpf on DraftKings all project north of 20% as well. Daniel Murphy (on DraftKings) and Manny Machado might be alternatives, both projecting for about 10% ownership, while Neil Walker could be an interesting 2B pivot, projecting at 10% or less on either site. Dylan Bundy had a 17.2 SwStr% against the Blue Jays in his first start and is expected to be in fewer than 10% of DFS lineups in Boston tonight. Players can see all the Projected Ownership rates with a Premium Membership.

The core Coors bats are projected to be overwhelmingly popular tonight with Ryan Schimpf joining them from the Padres as our Projected Ownership page now shows. Tyler Glasnow topping the Pitcher projections may be a bit of a surprise, at least on DraftKings, as a rookie with known control issues. Potential upside in his strikeout rate against a weak Cincinnati lineup is more difficult to ignore on FanDuel for the minimum cost, but that would call for more than half the slate fading deGrom in Philadelphia on a five game slate. Considering these projections, one should potentially consider paying up for the top arms tonight, especially if Lester is only somewhere in the neighborhood of 10% on FanDuel as suggested. You can find every player's Projected Ownership tonight with a premium subscription.