*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$ |
Francisco Cervelli | PIT | R | CWS | Carlos Rodon | L | .874 | .765 | .395 | .347 | 0.543 | 4200 | 3300 | 2800 |
Wilin Rosario | COL | R | HOU | Dallas Keuchel | L | .918 | .702 | .407 | .305 | 0.222 | 5250 | 3300 | 2800 |
Yasmani Grandal | LA | B | TEX | Yovani Gallardo | R | .519 | .895 | .242 | .394 | 0.750 | 5000 | 4100 | 3000 |
Michael McKenry | COL | R | HOU | Dallas Keuchel | L | 1.534 | .780 | .617 | .340 | 0.750 | 4650 | 3200 | 2800 |
Cervelli is batting .407 over 27 at-bats against lefties. Since the start of May he’s batting .352 with a .440 OBP.
Grandal versus righties comes in with a .895 OPS.
McKenry has a tough match matchup with a lefty who doesn’t allow fly balls. He’s also batting .333 with a 1.178 OPS in June and he’s gone 5-for-11 against lefties this season.
Rosario has a tough matchup with a lefty who doesn’t allow fly balls. Still, he’s at .918 in the OPS column this year and for his career the mark is 1.001.
FIRST BASE
Probable | vL | vR | vL | vR | Last 7 | ||||||||
Player | Tm | Bat | Opp | Pitcher | Hand | OPS | OPS | wOBA | wOBA | OPS | Aces$ | DK$ | FD$ |
Miguel Cabrera | DET | R | CIN | Jon Moscot | R | 1.143 | 1.009 | .502 | .445 | 1.276 | 5700 | 5600 | 4800 |
Chris Davis | BAL | L | PHI | Aaron Harang | R | .872 | .764 | .379 | .341 | 0.800 | 4700 | 4200 | 3000 |
Mark Teixeira | NYY | B | MIA | Tom Koehler | R | .848 | .976 | .384 | .423 | 0.854 | 5600 | 4700 | 3700 |
Mark Canha | OAK | R | SD | Tyson Ross | R | .365 | .955 | .181 | .417 | 1.000 | 4350 | 3100 | 2900 |
Just do it. Play the man, whatever the cost. Cabrera is at his Cabreraness best the last week hitting .588 with a wOBA that is approaching .700.
Canha has an impressive wOBA against righties and his .955 OPS ain’t awful either.
Davis is only batting .204 against righties but 17 of his 32 hits, including 10 big flies, makes him a solid bet to go deep against the suddenly hittable Harang.
Teixeira is continuing to excel and the last week his wOBA was over .500. Might be cause he hit .471 with a .591 OBP.
SECOND BASE
Probable | vL | vR | vL | vR | Last 7 | ||||||||
Player | Tm | Bat | Opp | Pitcher | Hand | OPS | OPS | wOBA | wOBA | OPS | Aces$ | DK$ | FD$ |
Jason Kipnis | CLE | L | CHI | Jake Arrieta | R | .720 | 1.049 | .322 | .463 | 0.821 | 5850 | 4700 | 4500 |
Jace Peterson | ATL | L | BOS | Rick Porcello | R | .637 | .756 | .287 | .339 | 1.042 | 4250 | 3500 | 2800 |
Scooter Gennett | MIL | L | KC | Edinson Volquez | R | .077 | .581 | .059 | .256 | 0.933 | 3750 | 3300 | 2200 |
Johnny Giavotella | LAA | R | ARI | Robbie Ray | L | .870 | .647 | .390 | .291 | 0.481 | 3600 | 2900 | 2300 |
Gennett is back, he hit well in the minors (.307/.342/.507), and faces Volquez who he is 6-for-13 against.
Giavotella is batting .294 with a .429 OBP against lefties. He’s also hitting .286 at homer and is a moderate play.
Lackey has allowed four homers his last four outings. He was also hammered for 10 runs (eight earned) last time out. Dozier has a .512 SLG against righties with nine homers in 162 at-bats.
Peterson is a rocking the past weeks with seven runs, a homer, a steal, five RBIs and a .419 average in seven games.
THIRD BASE
Probable | vL | vR | vL | vR | Last 7 | ||||||||
Player | Tm | Bat | Opp | Pitcher | Hand | OPS | OPS | wOBA | wOBA | OPS | Aces$ | DK$ | FD$ |
Evan Longoria | TB | R | WSH | Gio Gonzalez | L | .864 | .712 | .392 | .319 | 0.556 | 5000 | 3500 | 3000 |
Manny Machado | BAL | R | PHI | Aaron Harang | R | .839 | .820 | .369 | .360 | 1.125 | 5100 | 4200 | 3400 |
Justin Turner | LA | R | TEX | Yovani Gallardo | R | .416 | 1.003 | .212 | .438 | 1.000 | 4800 | 3700 | 2800 |
Aramis Ramirez | MIL | R | KC | Edinson Volquez | R | .545 | .670 | .243 | .294 | 0.909 | 4550 | 3500 | 2200 |
Ramirez has 12 hits in 28 at-bats when Liriano is on the bump. That’s a .429 batting average.
Righties are hitting .287 with a .368 OBP against Gio. Meanwhile, Longoria is hitting lefties well (.321/.418/.446).
Machado has a .906 OPS at home this season. His last eight games his average has shot up from .259 to .286. He has eight homers against righties this season and three homers in his last eight games overall.
Turner is batting .361 with a .420 OBP and a better wOBA than Todd Frazier when a righty is on the bump.
SHORTSTOP
Probable | vL | vR | vL | vR | Last 7 | ||||||||
Player | Tm | Bat | Opp | Pitcher | Hand | OPS | OPS | wOBA | wOBA | OPS | Aces$ | DK$ | FD$ |
Xander Bogaerts | BOS | R | ATL | Williams Perez | R | .798 | .695 | .355 | .308 | 0.567 | 4550 | 3800 | 2500 |
Wilmer Flores | NYM | R | TOR | Mark Buehrle | L | .956 | .668 | .414 | .294 | 0.857 | 4500 | 3800 | 2400 |
Jose Reyes | TOR | B | NYM | Noah Syndergaard | R | .445 | .817 | .207 | .359 | 0.848 | 5150 | 4500 | 4100 |
Jake Elmore | TB | R | WSH | Gio Gonzalez | L | .773 | .669 | .342 | .297 | 0.652 | 3250 | 2000 | 2200 |
Bogaerts is batting .340 with a .365 OBP and two steals the last 13 times he’s been on the field.
Elmore isn’t a bit bat, but he’s been on a bit of a role hitting over .300 his last 60 at-bats. He’s also batting .324 against lefties and has a .885 OPS in home game action.
Flores has five RBIs his last five games and he’s also sporting 10 homers. When a lefty is on the bump he’s excelling (.294/.368/.588).
Reyes is batting over .335 his last 18 games. He’s also ripping up righties with a .327 average and in 18 road games the mark is .338.
OUTFIELD
Probable | vL | vR | vL | vR | Last 7 | ||||||||
Player | Tm | Bat | Opp | Pitcher | Hand | OPS | OPS | wOBA | wOBA | OPS | Aces$ | DK$ | FD$ |
Giancarlo Stanton | MIA | R | NYY | Masahiro Tanaka | R | 1.196 | .902 | .510 | .392 | 1.675 | 6000 | 5200 | 5400 |
Starling Marte | PIT | R | CWS | Carlos Rodon | L | 1.196 | .733 | .509 | .326 | 0.906 | 4950 | 5000 | 3800 |
Yoenis Cespedes | DET | R | CIN | Jon Moscot | R | .695 | .884 | .307 | .385 | 1.138 | 4850 | 4900 | 3800 |
Josh Reddick | OAK | L | SD | Tyson Ross | R | .445 | 1.069 | .205 | .459 | 1.107 | 5000 | 4000 | 3400 |
Michael Cuddyer | NYM | R | TOR | Mark Buehrle | L | .708 | .728 | .326 | .319 | 0.538 | 4700 | 3700 | 2600 |
Joey Butler | TB | R | WSH | Gio Gonzalez | L | .931 | .855 | .404 | .377 | 0.897 | 4000 | 3600 | 3100 |
Denard Span | WSH | L | TB | Erasmo Ramirez | R | .454 | .914 | .208 | .400 | 0.828 | 4750 | 3900 | 3100 |
Andre Ethier | LA | L | TEX | Yovani Gallardo | R | .532 | .954 | .238 | .414 | 1.000 | 4850 | 3700 | 2900 |
Butler hits them lefties well with his .347/.360/.571 slash line. That wOBA is pretty good too.
Cespedes is batting .330 with a .524 SLG against righties.
Just because I had to list it… Cuddyer has 110 at-bats against MB in his career. He’s batting .318 with a .350 OBP and .500 SLG. That’s a large enough sample size to matter, right?
Ethier .298/.391/.563 against righties. He’s hitting .381 with a homer in 21 at-bats against Gallardo. He’s also the owner of a solid .849 OPS on the road.
Marte has an .811 SLG and 1.195 OPS against lefties this season and that effort includes five homers in 37 at-bats.
Reddick’s wOBA against righties is the second best in baseball behind only Bryce Harper.
Span is hitting .356 with a .996 OPS on the road. Over his last five games he’s produced eight hits. He’s also had little issue with righties this season hitting .343 with a .913 OPS.
Stanton is too hot not to list. Over the last week: .520/.586/1.280, five homers and 12 RBIs.
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).