DFS MLB Hitting Coach: April 29

As I suspected, weather was a huge issue with the early slate, and Coors Field getting the rainout less than an hour after lock was not exactly a surprise. 

 

Weather will remain an issue tonight, with rain possibly being a factor for the Indians/Phillies, White Sox/Orioles, and Giants/Mets games. But the worst forecast is easily the Angels/Rangers game, which has Thunderstorms forecasted on top of the rain. I’d be surprised if that one gets in.

 

 

Victor Martinez had a rough day Thursday, but you can’t deny how hot he has been hitting for a catcher eligible player on FanDuel. He is 7-for-18 (.389 AVG) with two home runs, two doubles, and six RBIs over his last four games. 

 

Jonathan Lucroy provides some good value for someone who has hit .294/.350/.443 against left-handed pitching the last three seasons. 

 

Yan Gomes always pounds on lefties, and he has been relatively hot, hitting homers in two of his last four games. Best of all, he’ll face Adam Morgan of the Phillies, who allowed a .281 AVG and 12 homers to right-handed batters in 2015, in just 256 at bats. 

 

J.T. Realmuto is breaking out. He is 10-for-19 (.527 AVG) with two homers in his last five games. This includes a big home run off of Japanese sensation Kenta Maeda last night to help the Marlins sweep the Dodgers. On top of that, he’s a bargain at just $2400 on FanDuel. 

 

 

Miguel Cabrera will be the representative for #TeamBvP tonight. He is 17-for-38 (.447) lifetime against Phil Hughes of the Twins, with five homers, five doubles, and 13 RBIs.

 

Wil Myers is currently in the middle of an 12-game hitting streak, where he has gone 19-for-51 (.373 AVG) with three homers, three doubles, and nine RBIs. On top of that, he is batting much better against lefties this season, rocking out a line of .357/.379/.571. 

 

Mark Reynolds comes at a bit of a discount because of the lack of Coors Field in play, but I still like his matchup against Robbie Ray. Hitting at Coors in half his games hasn’t helped his contact rate, but he is putting the ball into opposite field significantly more than he has throughout his career (pulled the ball roughly 47% of his balls in play prior, and now only pulls the ball 27.8% of the time). This change in mindset could potentially propel him to his best batting average in his career (yes, he could easily be the 2016 version of Mike Moustakas). 

 

Adam Lind remains quite the bargain at first base. He had a very bad start to his Mariners career, but he’s coming around, going 10-for-29 (.345 AVG) with a home run over his last eight games. 

 

 

Neil Walker continues to be CASH MONEY night in and night out. He has homered six times in his last eight games, and has even homered against Jake Peavy in the past. 

 

Dustin Pedroia continues to kill it at Fenway and gets a solid matchup against Masahiro Tanaka, who he has gone 5-for-13 (.385 AVG) against with two doubles in their previous meetings. 

 

Chase Utley is batting .318/.464/.500 over his last seven games. I am loving him in the leadoff spot, and it really maximizes his potential to rack up points in a number of ways. 

 

Jed Lowrie gets a crack at his former mates tonight at the Coliseum, and do so when he is hitting at his very best. He has gone 17-for-37 (.459 AVG) with three doubles and five RBIs over his last 10 games. Definitely a good source of salary relief and a great value tonight. 

 

 

Josh Donaldson is 6-for-11 (.545 AVG) with two homers, two doubles, three RBIs, and five runs scored against Drew Smyly throughout his career. 

 

Manny Machado got right back on track in his return home to Camden Yards after a rough six game road trip. Machado went 2-for-4 with a home run, double, five RBIs, and three runs scored against John Danks and the White Sox. He gets a decent matchup against Carlos Rodon. 

 

Alex Rodriguez finally appears to be DFS relevant, after going 4-for-5 with a homer and two doubles in his last two games. He will face Henry Owens of the Red Sox, who he was a solid 2-for-4 with a double against in 2015. 

 

Brandon Drury continues to be a diamond in the rough for the D-Backs, to the point where he’s actually getting starts against righties. While I’m more likely to pay up at third base tonight, I think Drury will be an under-the-radar source of salary relief. 

 

 

Francisco Lindor gets that juicy matchup against Adam Morgan, and that’s good news because he hasn’t been very good against right-handers this season. He is batting .406/.457/.563 against southpaws and .195/.292/.244 against righties. 

 

Jean Segura is having one heck of a homestand. Over seven games, Segura has gone 13-for-36 (.361 AVG) with a homer, triple, two doubles, a stolen base, and seven RBIs. 

 

Ketel Marte may be the hottest shortstop in baseball over the last week. He has gone 12-for-25 (.480 AVG) with three doubles, two RBIs, six runs, and a stolen base over his last six games. 

 

Brad Miller has been getting starts from the 2-hole in the lineup. He provides a great value for someone whose bat is seemingly coming to life. He is 4-for-14 (.286 AVG) with three doubles and a stolen base over his last four games. 

 

 

Bryce Harper is going to face Mike Leake and his atrocious 5.3% swinging strike percentage (lowest of his career). Bryce is obviously in a class of his own, and with some interesting value options available at pitcher, and some good value hitters, it may actually give us a chance to roster Bryce in our lineups. 

 

Mike Trout’s worst enemy tonight is the weather. If that game in Arlington goes through, I’d say Trout probably has the best matchup of the day. He is 12-for-30 (.400 AVG) with four homers, two triples, and a double against Colby Lewis throughout his career. 

 

Ryan Braun went 4-for-5 (.800 AVG) with a double against Adam Conley in 2015. He is swinging an ultra-hot bat, and even though his price has increased, it would probably behoove you to give him a close look tonight.

 

Curtis Granderson is doing what he normally does against right-handed pitching, and he has been extremely hot lately. He is 12-for-29 (.414 AVG) with three homers, two triples, and two doubles over his last seven starts. 

 

Miguel Sano is the Twins player I want to roster tonight, especially considering the fact that the Twins have the second highest expected run total tonight. Over his last 10 games, he has gone 12-for-38 (.316 AVG) with three home runs and eight RBIs. He’ll be facing a righty making his MLB debut, in Michael Fulmer. 

 

Matt Kemp has had some success against Alex Wood of the Dodgers. Kemp is 4-for-6 (.667 AVG) with a homer in his career against Wood. His bat has also been hot, with Kemp going 8-for-22 (.364 AVG) with a home run, five doubles, and four runs scored over his last five games. 

 

Christian Yelich gets a nice little matchup against Kyle Davies, who is currently sporting an awful 5.36 xFIP. Yelich has been an on-base machine, and that shouldn’t change tonight in Milwaukee. 

 

Joey Rickard’s price hasn’t seemed to increase to where it should. And tonight, we get the two best combinations of splits to work with. He is batting .381/.409/.667 against lefties and .472/.462/.611 in Camden Yards. 

 

Domingo Santana is 7-for-23 (.304 AVG) with a homer, two doubles, and four runs scored over his last six games. He is batting .391/.481/.609 against left-handed pitchers, and gets a matchup against Adam Conley who he homered against in his only at bat against the Marlins southpaw.

 

Eddie Rosario had some flashes of brilliance last season, and has finally put together some good games recently. He has homered three times over his last eight games, and is a great value tonight. 

 

Adam Jones will be very chalky tonight on FanDuel. While there was a reason to avoid him with his bad BvP last night against John Danks, at just $2500 on FanDuel, he’s close to a must play tonight against Carlos Rodon.