Tim Lincecum is on a roll. Will he be smart and just not pitch to Aaron Hill and Paul Goldschmidt so he can continue to have success? Will Anibal Sanchez continue to dominate the Royals? Will Ray Flowers continue to binge watch 24: Live Another Day?Here are the BVP matchups for Friday, July 11th.
* NOTE: Players are listed in alphabetical order for the sake of making them easily sortable/findable. The matchups are also generated based on Batter vs. Pitcher data. Just because a player is not listed does not mean that he is a bad or good play. The players listed below are mentioned merely because of the BVP data for the matchup.
DISH DIAMONDS – The Best Hitting Matchups of the Day
Elvis Andrus has hit a solid .333 over 21 at-bats, but it's his wheels that excite when Garrett Richards is throwing. Andrus is 5-for-5 in steal attempts.
Domonic Brown might actually do something Friday. He's had six hits in 12 at-bats against Jordan Zimmermann.
Alberto Callaspo has 47 at-bats against Felix Hernandez and he's actually had some success hitting .298 with a homer and six RBIs.
Todd Frazier against Jeff Locke: one homer and a .417 batting average in 12 at-bats.
Paul Goldschmidt dominates Tim Lincecum as much as any batter ever has against any pitcher – ever. In 26 at-bats Goldschmidt has 15 hits leading to a .577 average. Nine of those hits are extra base knocks including seven homers leading to a 1.462 SLG. He's also driven in 17 runs. It's simply preposterous. Aaron Hill and his .579 average over 19 at-bats just might deserve a mention too.
Will Matt Holliday finally go deep? In 33 at-bats against Yovani Gallardo he's previously hit four homers with 10 RBIs an a 1.106 OPS. Jon Jay has actually gone deep twice against Gallardo while batting .323 over 31 at-bats.
Adam LaRoche has the following slash line against A.J. Burnett in 33 plate appearances: .393/.500/.750. He has two homers and six RBIs. Denard Span has whiffed in 10 of 34 at-bats but he's also hit .294 with three thefts.
Evan Longoria has a homer, five RBIs an a .323 batting average against Mark Buehrle over 21 at-bats. Surprisingly, Jose Molina has hit .308 with a homer in 39 at-bats.
Nick Markakis has hit .320 with a homer in 25 at-bats against Hiroki Kuroda.
Mike Napoli mashes Scott Feldman (as most should). He's come to the dish 32 times and hit .414 with two homers, seven RBIs an a 1.124 OPS. Dustin Pedroia has been nowhere near as flashy but .412 over 17 at-bats still deserve a mention.
David Wright is batting .375 over 16 at-bats against Henderson Alvarez. He also has three RBIs. Daniel Murphy is slightly worse at .316 with two RBIs an a steal over 20 plate appearances.
DISH DISASTERS – Worst Hitting Matchups of the Day
Jose Bautista has but one K in 11 at-bats against Chris Archer. He's also got one measly hit.
Marlon Byrd has been better than expected this season, but he likely won't do much Friday. He has hit but .214 with a .588 OPS against Jordan Zimmermann over 30 plate appearances. Ryan Howard has a homer but he's hitting .200 over 15 at-bats.
Curtis Granderson has turned his season around but he's also struggled in the matchup with Henderson Alvarez. Granderson has but one RBI while batting .182 with seven strikeouts in 22 at-bats. Lucas Duda is also junk with two singles in 15 at-bats (.133).
Adeiny Hechavarria is 0-for-11 when facing Zack Wheeler. That's only slightly worse than than Giancarlo Stanton who has but one hit in 10 at-bats.
Omar Infante is batting .143 over 21 at-bats against Anibal Sanchez. That's a bit worse than Eric Hosmer who is at .158 in 19 at-bats. It's better than the .125 in 16 at-bats for Jarrod Dyson or the 0-for-12 spot that Salvador Perez has slumped to.
Adam Jones has hit .292 against Hiroki Kuroda but that effort includes just one RBI and one extra base hit over 24 at-bats. His OPS is .653. J.J. Hardy is volumes worse. He's hit .130 over 23 at-bats (one RBI). Nelson Cruz is better though 3-for-19 doesn’t get you paid (.150). And poor Nick Hundley has hit .188 with one RBI over 16 at-bats.
Jed Lowrie doesn't do so well against Felix Hernandez. He's not the only one. In 23 at-bats the middle infielder has hit .214. Yoenis Cespedes is much worse hitting .200 with 10 Ks in 30 at-bats. Josh Donaldson is worse yet with a .174 average and .448 OPS over 25 plate appearances.
Miguel Montero is hideous when Tim Lincecum is on the hill. He's had 60 at-bats and hit .167 with 16 strikeouts. His OPS is .440.
Alexei Ramirez has three hits in 17 at-bats against Corey Kluber. That's a .176 average. Gordon Beckham has one hit in 13 at-bats while Alejandro De Aza has two hits in 14 at-bats (five Ks).
B.J. Upton has five strikeouts and as .235 average and OBP in 17 plate appearances against the hot Jake Arrieta.
Will Venable has 15 at-bats against Dan Haren. He has one hit, the same number of base knocks that Cameron Maybin has in eight at-bats.
Jayson Werth is unlikely to have much success against A.J. Burnett if history is a guide. In 20 at-bats he's struck out seven times and hit .100, though both his hits have been big flies. Ian Desmond has hit .143 with five Ks in his 14 at-bats.
Bookmark the following three sources to check daily after you read this piece.
Fantasy Alarm Lineups
Batter Versus Pitcher
Daily Projections – For every single day of the season.
MOUND MAVENS – Starting Pitchers to Target
Chris Archer's last 10 starts: 12 earned runs. Only once has he allowed more than two earned runs. He's also allowed a total of two homers in that stretch as he's gone at least six innings eight times (in one of the other two outings he fall an out short). He pitches at home against the Jays. He’s sporting a 2.59 ERA and 1.17 WHIP over eight home starts.
Felix Hernandez has a 2.11 ERA and 0.89 WHP this season. His numbers at home this year are virtually identical with a 2.16 ERA and 0.84 WHIP. Don't know how you pass on him against the Athletics.
Corey Kluber has been nails this year with a 2.86 ERA, 1.18 WHIP and 137 Ks. He's also had a lot of success against the current White Sox holding the team to a .223 average and .638 OPS over 130 at-bats. Kluber is also the proud owner of a 2.74 ERA and 1.02 WHIP at home.
Mat Latos takes on the Pirates in Cincinnati. In five starts this season Latos a total of nine runs. Five cam in one game meaning hes allowed four runs in the other four starts. In 11 career outings against the Pirates he has a 2.96 ERA and 1.19 WIHP.
Hector Noesi has a 3-6 record and 4.90 ERA this season. At the same time he's faced current Indians batters 60 times and the results are rather spectacular: .153 average, .167 OBP and .305 SLG with one walk and only three extra base hits. The last time he faced the Indians he allowed one runs over 7.1 innings. The game is to be played in Cleveland.
Anibal Sanchez faces the Royals, and the current club just cannot hit him. In 186 at-bats the Royals are batting .210 with a .258 OBP and .269 SLG. They entire club has hit a total of one homer. Sanchez did allow seven tuns in his last outing but over the previous nine outings he allowed a total of 16 earned runs.
Zack Wheeler has had success against players currently on the Marlins roster. The current group of Fish has 85 at-bats and they've struck out 27 times while batting .153 with a .415 OPS. Those are dreadful numbers. The last two times Wheeler has taken the hill he's allowed two runs over 12.2 innings.
MOUND MESSES – Starting Pitchers to Avoid
Scott Feldman pitches at home against the Red Sox. He's allowed two runs in four of his last five starts and three earned runs in the others. Still, he's got a 4.66 ERA at home and has been brutalized in his career against the Sox: 5.86 ERA, 1.61 WHIP over 35.1 innings. There's simply so little upside with him that if he doesn't get a win he's merely a placeholder.
Yovani Gallardo held the Cardinals to three runs over six innings in their last matchup. That's a massive success. Yes it's a terrible 4.50 ERA, but when you've made 18 starts against a club and have allowed 22 homers and posted a 6.34 ERA, it's a great effort. Don't expect greatness Friday.
Joe Kelly returns from a hamstring injury to make his first start since April 16th. I fail to understand the fascination with him. A 2.92 ERA over 246.1 innings is fine, but a 1.36 WHIP, 5.96 K/9 and 1.94 K/BB ratio are all well worse than league average. He faces the Brewers on the road.
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