*Players are listed in the table in order of preference for the day of action. The write-ups are listed in alphabetical order for ease of reading.
CATCHER
| Probable | vL | vR | vL | vR | Last 7 | ||||||||
| Player | Tm | Bat | Opp | Pitcher | Hand | OPS | OPS | wOBA | wOBA | OPS | Aces$ | DK$ | FD$ |
| Buster Posey | SF | R | MIA | Dan Haren | R | .714 | .905 | .316 | .400 | 1.194 | 5550 | 4600 | 4400 |
| Evan Gattis | HOU | R | KC | Edinson Volquez | R | .672 | .745 | .294 | .322 | 0.933 | 5150 | 3900 | 3300 |
| Matt Wieters | BAL | B | TEX | Nick Martinez | R | .500 | .959 | .214 | .415 | 0.769 | 5000 | 4400 | 3300 |
| Miguel Montero | CHI | L | NYM | Bartolo Colon | R | .764 | .759 | .364 | .341 | 0.435 | 4850 | 2700 | 2200 |
Gattis the past week: .364/.417/.591.
Montero has a .349 OBP and .758 OPS against righties this season and he has a hit in 6-of-7 games. Colon can’t get lefties out (.316/.330/.461).
It’s so cliché to list Posey but how can I not? The last six games Posey has been at his scintillating best batting .450 with a .500 OBP and .875 SLG. Kinda nice to see two homers, 13 RBIs and eight runs scored too.
Wieters is batting .310 with a .619 SLG against righties this season.
FIRST BASE
| Probable | vL | vR | vL | vR | Last 7 | ||||||||
| Player | Tm | Bat | Opp | Pitcher | Hand | OPS | OPS | wOBA | wOBA | OPS | Aces$ | DK$ | FD$ |
| Paul Goldschmidt | ARI | R | LA | Brett Anderson | L | 1.159 | 1.093 | .503 | .487 | 0.838 | 6000 | 5900 | 5400 |
| Anthony Rizzo | CHI | L | NYM | Bartolo Colon | R | .933 | .978 | .422 | .428 | 0.552 | 5850 | 4600 | 4100 |
| Ryan Howard | PHI | L | MIL | Kyle Lohse | R | .461 | .796 | .207 | .346 | 0.500 | 4250 | 3600 | 2500 |
| Lucas Duda | NYM | L | CHI | Jon Lester | L | 1.032 | .743 | .447 | .339 | 0.428 | 4800 | 3700 | 2800 |
Duda faces Lester who is being blown up by lefties (.319/.365/.459). Duda is hitting .354 with four homers against lefties this season.
Goldschmidt has two homers and a .636 batting average in 11 at-bats against Anderson. He’s currently working on a 10-game hitting streak. His OPS at home is 1.116 and at night it’s 1.103.
Howard has 11 hits in 29 at-bats. That’s a .379 average with two homers and eight RBIs when Kyle Lohse is on the hill. Lohse is 1-5 the last seven times on the hill and he’s allowed nine homers his last seven outings.
Rizzo has a .395 OBP and .583 SLG versus righties. Colon can’t get lefties out (.316/.330/.461). Rizzo also has a 1.010 OPS on the road.
SECOND BASE
| Probable | vL | vR | vL | vR | Last 7 | ||||||||
| Player | Tm | Bat | Opp | Pitcher | Hand | OPS | OPS | wOBA | wOBA | OPS | Aces$ | DK$ | FD$ |
| Howie Kendrick | LA | R | ARI | Robbie Ray | L | .755 | .784 | .334 | .346 | 1.214 | 4950 | 4400 | 2800 |
| Jose Altuve | HOU | R | KC | Edinson Volquez | R | .842 | .703 | .380 | .310 | 0.979 | 5400 | 4600 | 4400 |
| Kolten Wong | STL | L | CWS | Jose Quintana | L | .673 | .855 | .299 | .376 | 0.967 | 4850 | 4000 | 3300 |
| Wei-Yin Chen | L | .657 | .683 | .306 | .310 | 0.844 | 4350 | 3900 | 2700 |
Altuve the last week has hit two homers, stolen four bases, scored seven times and posted a 1.046 OPS.
Kendrick is killing it of late with 12 hits his last five games (he’s hitting .520 the past six). He’s hitting .304 at night and his slash line is solid against lefties (.286/.344/.411).
Wong is hitting .287 at home with a .340 OBP. He also has two hits in four of his last six games during which times he’s driven in six runs (.409 average). He’s batting .276 with 14 RBIs in 76 at-bats against lefties.
THIRD BASE
| Probable | vL | vR | vL | vR | Last 7 | ||||||||
| Player | Tm | Bat | Opp | Pitcher | Hand | OPS | OPS | wOBA | wOBA | OPS | Aces$ | DK$ | FD$ |
| Matt Duffy | SF | R | MIA | Dan Haren | R | .631 | .894 | .278 | .391 | 1.214 | 4500 | 3800 | 3700 |
| Cesar Hernandez | PHI | B | MIL | Kyle Lohse | R | .964 | .641 | .431 | .295 | 1.017 | 3850 | 2900 | 2700 |
| Aramis Ramirez | MIL | R | PHI | Aaron Harang | R | .584 | .691 | .258 | .301 | 0.900 | 4750 | 3500 | 3200 |
| Nick Castellanos | DET | R | PIT | A.J. Burnett | R | .760 | .595 | .344 | .264 | 0.958 | 3450 | 3300 | 2200 |
Castellanos has been brutal this season. Still, over his last 19 at-bats he has six singles, a double and a triple leading to a .421 batting average.
Duffy leads all of baseball with 10 runs scored the past week (six games). He’s also hitting .360 with a 1.225 OPS.
Hernandez the last eight games – batting .469 with a .528 OBP, nine runs scored and six steals.
Ramirez has a looooong history of success against Harang. In 66 at-bats he’s hit five homers, driven in 11 runners, hit .333 with a .963 OPS. Ramirez also has seven RBIs his last six games.
SHORTSTOP
| Probable | vL | vR | vL | vR | Last 7 | ||||||||
| Player | Tm | Bat | Opp | Pitcher | Hand | OPS | OPS | wOBA | wOBA | OPS | Aces$ | DK$ | FD$ |
| Nick Ahmed | ARI | R | LA | Brett Anderson | L | .918 | .583 | .411 | .260 | 0.818 | 4000 | 2800 | 2900 |
| Elvis Andrus | TEX | R | BAL | Wei-Yin Chen | L | .735 | .578 | .328 | .264 | 0.679 | 4700 | 3700 | 2600 |
| Jordy Mercer | PIT | R | DET | Alfredo Simon | R | .624 | .603 | .280 | .268 | 0.882 | 3950 | 3300 | 2600 |
| J.J. Hardy | BAL | R | TEX | Nick Martinez | R | .484 | .667 | .215 | .298 | 0.750 | 4650 | 3300 | 2400 |
Ahmed in 57 plate appearances against lefties has hit .333 with two homers, a .439 OBP and .479 SLG.
Andrus has six hits in 11 at-bats. Andrus is batting .283 with a .349 OBP against lefties.
Hardy is finally starting to hit raising his average from .236 to .250 the last nine games. He’s still searching for the power stroke though. Martinez gets in trouble against righties (.311/.385/.431).
Mercer has at least two hits in four of his last five games. He’s driven in a run in every one of those outings as well.
OUTFIELD
| Probable | vL | vR | vL | vR | Last 7 | ||||||||
| Player | Tm | Bat | Opp | Pitcher | Hand | OPS | OPS | wOBA | wOBA | OPS | Aces$ | DK$ | FD$ |
| Jason Heyward | STL | L | CWS | Jose Quintana | L | .853 | .726 | .382 | .318 | 0.785 | 4900 | 4400 | 3600 |
| A.J. Pollock | ARI | R | LA | Brett Anderson | L | .870 | .769 | .381 | .341 | 0.379 | 5300 | 4800 | 3800 |
| Scott Van Slyke | LA | R | ARI | Robbie Ray | L | 1.014 | .663 | .449 | .292 | 0.846 | 4650 | 3900 | 3100 |
| Chris Parmelee | BAL | L | TEX | Nick Martinez | R | .929 | 1.033 | .419 | .437 | 0.750 | 4500 | 3400 | 2500 |
| Rajai Davis | DET | R | PIT | A.J. Burnett | R | .909 | .724 | .391 | .323 | 0.850 | 4800 | 3700 | 3000 |
| Chris Coghlan | CHI | L | NYM | Bartolo Colon | R | .470 | .827 | .235 | .364 | 0.917 | 4600 | 3100 | 2900 |
| Melky Cabrera | CWS | B | STL | John Lackey | R | .498 | .634 | .226 | .288 | 0.800 | 4550 | 3500 | 2600 |
| Nick Markakis | ATL | L | WSH | Doug Fister | R | .598 | .800 | .270 | .364 | 0.793 | 4800 | 3400 | 2400 |
Cabrera is batting .303 over 33 at-bats against Lackey. Over his last eight games he’s also rapped out 12 hits to boost his average from .236 to .252 on the year.
Coughlan has a .357 OBP and .470 SLG versus righties. Colon can’t get lefties out (.316/.330/.461).
Davis has six hits in 13 at-bats against Burnett. He’s also has a hit in 8-straight games and is batting .337 with a .878 OPS at home.
Heyward has a hit in 9-of-10 games (15 hits). He’s gone deep three times with eight RBIs and eight runs. He’s hitting .344 with a .871 OPS against lefties.
Markakis is batting .346 with a .433 OBP versus Fister over 28 plate appearances. He also has a homer, two doubles and eight RBIs.
Parmalee has 43 plate appearances against righties. In that time he’s posted a .707 SLG and 1.033 OPS. Meanwhile, Martinez has allowed six homers his last seven starts and was battered for nine runs last time out.
Pollock is 4-for-12 against Anderson, is batting .306 in 41 games against the Dodgers, and has been successful against lefties this season (.328/.386/.484).
Van Slyke is batting .300/.447/.567 in 36 plate appearances against lefties this season. For his career he has a .535 SLG against lefties and 15 homers in 228 at-bats.
Ray Flowers can be heard Monday through Friday at 7 PM EDT on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio (Sirius 210, XM 87). You can also hear Ray Sunday nights at 7 PM on the channel talking fantasy sports. Follow Ray’s work at Fantasy Alarm and on Twitter (@baseballguys).