Yoenis Cespedes Daily Fantasy News, Rankings, Projections

The New York Mets currently have the highest implied run line on the board (4.83) in a very power friendly park against a very power friendly pitcher. Homer Bailey has lived up to his name, allowing two in each of his last three starts. Batters from either side of the plate have tagged him for a .350+ wOBA and .370+ xwOBA since last season. His .405 xwOBA and 45% 95+ mph EV this year are both tied for worst on the board. Ironic that Todd Frazier (117 wRC+, .178 ISO vs RHP last calendar) year is the low man on ISO among the first five in the batting order. Each of the first four (Michael Conforto, Yoenis Cespedes, Jay Bruce, Asdrubal Cabrera) have at least a 110 wRC+ and .200 ISO against righties over the last calendar year. Cespedes and Cabrera both are above a 140 wRC+ over the last week. Conforto has a -48 wRC+ and 57.1 K% over that span, but may be facing a slump buster in Bailey and costs below $3.5K on either site.

Both teams in the Braves @ Mets affair are hovering around the 4.5 implied run mark. Jason Vargas was torched for two homers and nine runs (23 BF) in San Diego in his first start for the Mets. While LHBs have a wOBA 37 points higher than RHBs since last season, xwOBA has both sides between .335 and .340. The soft-tosser is not the kind of pitcher you can't use a quality LHB like Freddie Freeman (159 wRC+, .273 ISO vs LHP since 2017) against at all. Players can hope the same-handed matchup may lower his ownership at a high cost. Kurt Suzuki (116 wRC+, .217 ISO) and Ozzie Albies (102 wRC+, .191 ISO) are strong plays as well with the Catcher costing much less than his top of the order teammates. Ronald Acuna has a 213 wRC+ (36.8 Hard%) in his first week of major league action. Julio Teheran shut out the Mets for seven innings (as he often seems to do) before leaving his last start against the Phillies early with a back injury. Players who are willing to gamble on his health can see upside in his 22.8 K% (11.7 SwStr%) at a cost below $7K. He had allowed just three runs over 19 innings (22 Ks) in three starts leading up to the injury. Teheran struggles significantly with LHBs though (.341 wOBA, .364 xwOBA since 2017). The struggling Michael Conforto (152 wRC+, .260 ISO vs RHP since 2017) drops to fifth in the order today. Jay Bruce (127 wRC+, .257 ISO) and Asdrubal Cabrera (108 wRC+, .181 ISO) are the other strong left-handed bats against RHP. Yoenis Cespedes (135 wRC+, .230 ISO vs RHP) has a 276 wRC+ over the last week.

Mike Soroka is a late addition to the board, replacing Sean Newcomb. The much heralded 20 year-old is making his major league debut at Citi Field against a lineup that surprisingly contains Yoenis Cespedes (215 wRC+, 43.8 Hard% over the last week), who injured his thumb in San Diego. Soroka was number 34 on the Fangraphs Top 100 list this pre-season. He doesn’t throw particularly hard, but a high spin slider is complimented with an improving change-up, aiding him to a 21.8 K-BB% in his first 22.2 innings of AAA action this season. It may seem under-whelming on a board full of Aces, but he has a chance to at least be an above average pitcher and completed seven innings (26 batters) in his most recent start. His $4K price tag on DraftKings automatically makes him one of the more interesting arms on a board where he could allow substantial lineup flexibility when paying up for one of tonight's five studs. Along with Cespedes, Jay Bruce is heating up as well (220 wRC+ over the last week) and a Mets stack (4.37 implied runs) could have a duel effect if it pays off and takes some Soroka lineups out. There's reasonable justification for exposure to either side of this matchup.

Clayton Richards has previously been dominant at least in the fact that left-handed batters could not get the ball off the ground against him, while right-handed batters still have a 55.6 GB% since last season, but also a .379 wOBA (.359 xwOBA) with a 38.5 Hard%. If we're looking at just this year, it's a 47 GB% and 43.9 Hard%. In fact, that ground ball rate against right-handed batters is below 46% in four of his five starts and the hard hit rate has been above 35% in every one. This makes a few Mets bats very interesting tonight, despite the low 3.9 implied run line. This includes Yoenis Cespedes (94 wRC+, .255 ISO vs LHP since 2017), Todd Frazier (124 wRC+, .315 ISO), Wilmer Flores (113 wRC+, .233 ISO) and maybe Asdrubal Cabrera (152 wRC+, .341 xwOBA, .130 ISO). The lineup has not yet been confirmed, but although unlikely, keep an eye on Amed Rosario (126 wRC+, .235 ISO) as a low priced SS if he finds himself batting higher in the lineup tonight.

Michael Wacha (16.1 K%) exceeded five innings for the first time in four starts against the Reds last time out and has been hit hard enough to draw a .401 xwOBA with 43.9% of his contact above a 95 mph EV. While right-handed batters actually have the higher wOBA against him by 22 points since last season, xwOBA flips that in favor of left-handed batters by 33 points. Consider the entire Mets outfield at the top of the order. Michael Conforto (157 wRC+, .272 ISO vs RHP since last season) in the leadoff spot, Yoenis Cespedes (126 wRC+, .225 ISO, 49.3 FB%) hit one into orbit last night, and Jay Bruce (126 wRC+, .265 ISO) collected three hits, including the game-winning homer last night. Each has a hard hit rate between 39-41% against RHP since 2017

The Braves have finally confirmed Matt Wisler as tonight's starter. He has had two fantastic starts in AAA (12 IP - 3 ER - 1 HR - 1 BB - 11 K - 43 BF), but has been torched by left-handed batters in his major league career (.378 wOBA, 0.5 K-BB%). The strikeouts and walks are enough for a 70 point wOBA disparity in his splits with the batted ball distribution being fairly even with a ground ball rate and hard hit rate in the mid-30% range to batters from either side of the plate. Michael Conforto (161 wRC+, .282 ISO vs RHP since 2017) and Jay Bruce (125 wRC+, .262 ISO) are the standard plays. The latter costing less than $3K on FanDuel, but owning a scary -32 wRC+ (18.2 Hard%) over the last week, and potentially still dealing with a foot issue that sidelined him two games last week. Yoenis Cespedes (132 wRC+, .226 ISO) and Todd Frazier (111 wRC+, 180 ISO) are certainly playable as part of stacks. The newest Met has a lineup leading 270 wRC+ and 54.6 Hard% over the last week. The Mets have a 4.57 implied run line that's third best on the slate tonight.