With another doubleheader scheduled today, we have another ginormous 16-game slate, with four early games (1:05 PM ET/10:05 AM PT roster lock) and 12 late games (7:05 PM ET/4:05 PM PT roster lock) to consider for our lineups.
Not the biggest fan of the early slate, mainly because with such few games available to choose from, there’s too much obvious chalk to really differentiate yourselves. In this type of situation, I usually like to play more GPPs in order to mix it up. Too many people are unwilling to take chances by going away from the chalkier options, even on shorter slates.
As for the late slate, there aren’t any premium options at pitcher, so we’re going to have some $$$ available to pay up whenever we want to.
The best thing about this entire slate is the fact that the weather should not be an issue. In fact, it doesn’t even look like the wind will be a factor in any ball park today.
Of course, I am staying the course with our new advanced statistics tables; however, I should point out that some of the statistics do not account for yesterday’s action. Apologize for the trouble, but it does take time for the stats provider to update some of those statistics. Still, there is plenty of data available to put all of this information into good use.
Once again, players will be separated by EARLY SLATE or LATE SLATE in the chart and the writeup, but other wise, will be organized by highest to lowest salary using FanDuel pricing.
| CATCHER | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Player | Team | Bats | Opp | Probable Pitcher | Throws | G | AB | H | HR | R | RBI | BB | SB | AVG | OBP | SLG | ISO | BABIP | LD% | Hard% | Z-Contact% | wOBA | wRC+ | FD | DK | Aces |
| Victor Martinez | DET | S | MIN | Ricky Nolasco | R | 38 | 133 | 45 | 5 | 17 | 21 | 11 | 0 | .338 | .397 | .534 | .195 | .348 | 26.7% | 43.3% | 94.8% | .398 | 156 | $3,200 | $3,600 | $5,050 |
| J.T. Realmuto | MIA | R | PHI | Jeremy Hellickson | R | 33 | 124 | 39 | 2 | 14 | 13 | 3 | 2 | .315 | .333 | .435 | .121 | .356 | 17.0% | 25.5% | 90.8% | .333 | 104 | $3,000 | $3,300 | $4,550 |
| Buster Posey | SF | R | SD | Drew Pomeranz | L | 35 | 128 | 35 | 4 | 17 | 14 | 12 | 1 | .273 | .331 | .430 | .156 | .282 | 17.5% | 36.0% | 94.2% | .327 | 107 | $3,400 | $3,800 | $5,000 |
| Brian McCann | NYY | L | ARI | Shelby Miller | R | 31 | 105 | 29 | 5 | 19 | 17 | 13 | 0 | .276 | .367 | .457 | .181 | .343 | 20.0% | 30.7% | 89.0% | .362 | 130 | $3,200 | $3,900 | $4,950 |
| Chris Herrmann | ARI | L | NYY | Nathan Eovaldi | R | 21 | 61 | 17 | 4 | 11 | 16 | 5 | 2 | .279 | .328 | .590 | .311 | .333 | 18.6% | 53.5% | 81.7% | .383 | 133 | $3,000 | $3,200 | $3,650 |
EARLY SLATE
Victor Martinez is the chalk of the chalk on FanDuel today at catcher. He is 7-for-14 (.500 AVG) throughout his career against Ricky Nolasco. Simply put, you get a ton of production from V-Mart for what you’re paying for, at a very weak position.
J.T. Realmuto is 11-for-32 (.344 AVG) with three homers, five RBIs, a stolen base, and a very long single thanks to Marcell Ozuna (never gonna let that one go) over his last 10 games.
LATE SLATE
Buster Posey has quite the history against Drew Pomeranz through all of those Bay Area meetings between the Giants and A’s. Posey is 5-for-8 (.625 AVG) with two home runs, lifetime, against Pomeranz.
Brian McCann matches up against Shelby Miller of the D-Backs, who has been as bad as anyone in the league this season. Miller has allowed a 5.92 xFIP and 2.06 HR/9. His absolute worse split? Lefties at home. Miller has allowed a line of .375/.492/.583 with a .459 wOBA at Chase Field. That pretty much has us leaning towards rostering a bunch of Yankees tonight, who have a very lefty-centric lineup.
Chris Herrmann will likely remain in the lineup against another right-handed pitcher in Nathan Eovaldi. His price point is so good throughout the industry, that he’s just impossible to ignore considering the production he has been able to put up. It also definitely doesn’t hurt that the Yankees/D-Backs game has the highest O/U tonight.
| FIRST BASE | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Player | Team | Bats | Opp | Probable Pitcher | Throws | G | AB | H | HR | R | RBI | BB | SB | AVG | OBP | SLG | ISO | BABIP | LD% | Hard% | Z-Contact% | wOBA | wRC+ | FD | DK | Aces |
| Justin Bour | MIA | L | PHI | Jeremy Hellickson | R | 33 | 106 | 28 | 7 | 12 | 19 | 12 | 0 | .264 | .333 | .509 | .245 | .276 | 20.5% | 37.4% | 82.0% | .353 | 117 | $3,400 | $3,500 | $4,300 |
| Joe Mauer | MIN | L | DET | Justin Verlander | R | 37 | 131 | 36 | 1 | 10 | 9 | 25 | 1 | .275 | .392 | .359 | .084 | .318 | 32.4% | 34.2% | 93.4% | .330 | 108 | $2,600 | $2,900 | $4,500 |
| Tommy Joseph | PHI | R | MIA | Tom Koehler | R | 2 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .167 | .286 | .167 | .000 | .333 | 33.3% | 33.3% | 77.8% | .225 | 32 | $2,000 | $2,000 | $3,000 |
| Chris Davis | BAL | L | SEA | Taijuan Walker | R | 36 | 131 | 33 | 9 | 28 | 25 | 22 | 0 | .252 | .368 | .504 | .252 | .312 | 22.4% | 38.4% | 76.7% | .376 | 139 | $4,100 | $4,900 | $5,550 |
| Albert Pujols | LAA | R | LAD | Mike Bolsinger | R | 38 | 146 | 31 | 8 | 15 | 26 | 15 | 1 | .212 | .284 | .390 | .178 | .192 | 17.2% | 38.3% | 95.2% | .290 | 86 | $3,500 | $4,000 | $4,700 |
| Carlos Santana | CLE | S | CIN | Brandon Finnegan | L | 34 | 126 | 28 | 5 | 16 | 15 | 20 | 2 | .222 | .329 | .413 | .190 | .223 | 13.9% | 33.3% | 88.0% | .325 | 106 | $3,000 | $3,700 | $4,850 |
EARLY SLATE
Justin Bour is one bad man. 6’4”. 279 lbs. We know what we’re getting with him. POWER. With Jeremy Hellickson being a fly ball pitcher, it definitely suits Bour’s game, making him a very good GPP play.
Joe Mauer homered last night off of Mike Pelfrey, and is showing signs that he is becoming more comfortable as the Twins leadoff hitter. He gets a meeting with Justin Verlander, who he has gone 24-for-68 (.353 AVG), lifetime, with three homers, five doubles, 12 walks, and 10 RBIs. That’s good enough for a .450 OBP and .559 SLG.
Tommy Joseph definitely looks like the real deal, and if he gets the start today, rostering him may free up enough salary to roster anyone else in your lineup. His big 3-for-4 outing with a homer last night, made a huge impact on the optimals, which is awesome because he will certainly be on most people’s radars moving forward.
LATE SLATE
Chris Davis is 12-for-23 (.522 AVG) with a homer, five doubles, five walks, six runs, and six RBIs over his last seven games. He is about as close to a lock as it gets to getting on base multiple times per game. I don’t think that changes tonight against Taijuan Walker. Walker has been allowing much more contact this season, but has seemingly pitched around Davis a lot throughout his career, walking him three times out of five previous plate appearances.
Albert Pujols’s Z-Contact rate continues to give me a lot of hope that his season is going to turn around in the very near future. On top of that, he gets to face Mike Bolsinger of the Dodgers, who is going to be making his first start of the season. In 2015, Bolsinger was a contact pitcher, allowing a Z-Contact rate of 91.5%. I have to think that if Albert gets a hold of one, that the ball has a good chance of landing in the left-field pavilion.
Carlos Santana continues to get on base at a high rate. He has reached base safely in each of his last nine games. His patience at the plate is uncanny, and it really shows with his seven walks over his last nine games.
| SECOND BASE | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Player | Team | Bats | Opp | Probable Pitcher | Throws | G | AB | H | HR | R | RBI | BB | SB | AVG | OBP | SLG | ISO | BABIP | LD% | Hard% | Z-Contact% | wOBA | wRC+ | FD | DK | Aces |
| Ian Kinsler | DET | R | MIN | Ricky Nolasco | R | 37 | 158 | 49 | 8 | 34 | 20 | 10 | 3 | .310 | .357 | .519 | .209 | .328 | 23.3% | 32.3% | 92.7% | .376 | 141 | $4,100 | $5,000 | $5,100 |
| Derek Dietrich | MIA | L | PHI | Jeremy Hellickson | R | 33 | 86 | 25 | 2 | 8 | 15 | 10 | 0 | .291 | .398 | .512 | .221 | .348 | 22.1% | 36.8% | 91.7% | .389 | 141 | $3,300 | $3,400 | $4,300 |
| Robinson Cano | SEA | L | BAL | Chris Tillman | R | 37 | 155 | 45 | 12 | 23 | 34 | 10 | 0 | .290 | .337 | .574 | .284 | .277 | 17.6% | 32.8% | 92.5% | .388 | 154 | $4,000 | $5,000 | $5,400 |
| Jean Segura | ARI | R | NYY | Nathan Eovaldi | R | 38 | 168 | 56 | 5 | 19 | 22 | 4 | 5 | .333 | .360 | .512 | .179 | .364 | 17.5% | 26.2% | 92.9% | .375 | 128 | $3,500 | $4,300 | $4,900 |
| Howie Kendrick | LAD | R | LAA | Nick Tropeano | R | 30 | 98 | 21 | 0 | 12 | 5 | 4 | 1 | .214 | .243 | .224 | .010 | .263 | 18.8% | 28.8% | 87.6% | .211 | 27 | $2,400 | $3,500 | $4,100 |
EARLY SLATE
Ian Kinsler’s advanced statistics really suggests that you should stop ignoring his name when you’re looking at second basemen to roster. While he is rarely mentioned along the likes of Jose Altuve and Robinson Cano, he has put forth one of the best starts to a season in his career. Not to mention, he has homered in three consecutive games. If I’m playing cash games with the early slate, there’s no way I’m choosing a second baseman not named Kinsler
Derek Dietrich is my alternate choice at second base for the early slate. He has been racking up the points in multiple ways without Dee Gordon in the lineup, and has found a home as the Marlins temporary leadoff hitter against righties. He has reached base safely in each of his 12 consecutive starts, and I’d say, the odds are slim for that streak to end today against Jeremy Hellickson.
LATE SLATE
Robinson Cano is going to be in a ton of my lineups. He has produced away from Safeco all season long, and he has a great history against Chris Tillman of the Orioles, batting .452/.500/.677 with two homers and eight RBIs in 34 plate appearances against the right-hander.
Jean Segura should be able to set the table for a hot D-Backs squad behind him. He has gone 15-for-47 (.319 AVG) with a home run, triple, four doubles, and seven RBIs over his last 10 games, and is a career 3-for-7 (.429 AVG) against Nathan Eovaldi.
Howie Kendrick is continuing his nice run. At one point this season, he was getting benched against righties, but with Adrian Gonzalez likely out again tonight, Howie is likely to get another start. Over his last four games, he has gone 7-for-17 (.412 AVG) with three runs and two RBIs. There is also a good chance that he’ll be batting cleanup tonight, just like in last night’s game against Jered Weaver.
| THIRD BASE | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Player | Team | Bats | Opp | Probable Pitcher | Throws | G | AB | H | HR | R | RBI | BB | SB | AVG | OBP | SLG | ISO | BABIP | LD% | Hard% | Z-Contact% | wOBA | wRC+ | FD | DK | Aces |
| Nick Castellanos | DET | R | MIN | Ricky Nolasco | R | 36 | 132 | 46 | 8 | 17 | 30 | 8 | 1 | .348 | .378 | .606 | .258 | .400 | 28.2% | 36.9% | 84.0% | .414 | 167 | $3,500 | $3,700 | $4,950 |
| Danny Valencia | OAK | R | TEX | Martin Perez | L | 21 | 75 | 25 | 5 | 11 | 10 | 5 | 0 | .333 | .375 | .573 | .240 | .364 | 21.7% | 45.0% | 89.4% | .406 | 166 | $2,900 | $3,700 | $4,700 |
| Travis Shaw | BOS | R | KC | Edinson Volquez | R | 38 | 139 | 44 | 5 | 22 | 26 | 14 | 3 | .317 | .391 | .547 | .230 | .398 | 20.4% | 31.1% | 84.5% | .401 | 154 | $3,500 | $4,600 | $4,900 |
| Jake Lamb | ARI | L | NYY | Nathan Eovaldi | R | 39 | 131 | 36 | 5 | 17 | 21 | 18 | 2 | .275 | .364 | .519 | .244 | .316 | 21.4% | 40.8% | 86.6% | .376 | 128 | $3,400 | $3,900 | $4,650 |
| Eric Campbell | NYM | R | WSH | Gio Gonzalez | L | 17 | 26 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 1 | .231 | .375 | .269 | .038 | .375 | 25.0% | 31.3% | 80.5% | .308 | 92 | $2,300 | $2,900 | $3,600 |
EARLY SLATE
Nick Castellanos has homered two times in just 11 at-bats against Ricky Nolasco throughout his career. He has been sensational this season, and it has helped him move to the prime 5th spot in a loaded Tigers lineup.
Danny Valencia is phenomenal against lefties. I honestly don’t know if there’s much more to say beyond that, but I suppose you also have to consider his amazing price throughout the industry, and the fact he has six homers in his last five games.
LATE SLATE
Travis Shaw seems to be playing out of his mind right now. Over his last eight games, he has gone 14-for-31 (.452 AVG) with three homers, five doubles, five walks, 11 runs, and 12 RBIs. That right there is AMAZING.
Jake Lamb has gone deep in both games in this interleague series against the Yankees. Over his last six games, he has gone 7-for-23 (.304 AVG) with two homers, three doubles, three walks, three runs, and six RBIs.
Eric Campbell is a compelling option if you’re looking for a cheap punt at third base tonight. He gets to face a lefty in Gio Gonzalez, and lefties happen to be his specialty. In 2013, 2014, and 2015 at AAA Las Vegas, he batted .339, .469, and .500 (!!) against left-handed pitching. HIs BvP against Gonzalez isn’t the greatest, but at just $2300, you can’t be too picky.
| SHORTSTOP | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Player | Team | Bats | Opp | Probable Pitcher | Throws | G | AB | H | HR | R | RBI | BB | SB | AVG | OBP | SLG | ISO | BABIP | LD% | Hard% | Z-Contact% | wOBA | wRC+ | FD | DK | Aces |
| Xander Bogaerts | BOS | R | KC | Ian Kennedy | R | 37 | 157 | 53 | 4 | 31 | 22 | 13 | 6 | .338 | .390 | .503 | .166 | .389 | 20.2% | 31.5% | 90.2% | .386 | 144 | $4,600 | $5,300 | $5,150 |
| Marcus Semien | OAK | R | TEX | Martin Perez | L | 39 | 123 | 27 | 10 | 16 | 18 | 16 | 2 | .220 | .307 | .472 | .252 | .207 | 8.7% | 29.4% | 79.5% | .335 | 116 | $2,700 | $3,900 | $4,450 |
| Corey Seager | LAD | L | LAA | Nick Tropeano | R | 38 | 147 | 43 | 6 | 23 | 20 | 13 | 1 | .293 | .348 | .497 | .204 | .319 | 22.1% | 37.7% | 89.5% | .361 | 126 | $4,100 | $4,400 | $4,850 |
| Alexei Ramirez | SD | R | SF | Johnny Cueto | R | 39 | 139 | 35 | 0 | 10 | 13 | 5 | 4 | .252 | .279 | .309 | .058 | .289 | 23.1% | 24.8% | 90.9% | .259 | 59 | $2,700 | $2,500 | $4,600 |
| Didi Gregorius | NYY | L | ARI | Shelby Miller | R | 34 | 114 | 27 | 3 | 9 | 15 | 3 | 1 | .237 | .261 | .368 | .132 | .253 | 17.5% | 16.0% | 89.8% | .272 | 67 | $2,300 | $3,100 | $4,300 |
EARLY SLATE
Xander Bogaerts is, by far, the best play at the shortstop position in the early slate. Over his last 15 games, he has batted .388/.408/.597 with three homers and 12 RBIs.
Marcus Semien is a must add in the playbook considering I was already talking about liking to play more GPPs with the shorter slates. A pretty underrated split that I have highlighted is his numbers at home against lefties. While his batting average may always hover around .200, he happens to hit .357/.400/.786 with two homers against lefties at the Coliseum.
LATE SLATE
Corey Seager is 1-for-2 with a double in the majors and 2-for-2 with a double in the minors in his previous meetings against Nick Tropeano of the Angels. Add the fact that he has been neck-and-neck with Trayce Thompson as the hottest Dodgers bat, I think you have to give him some strong consideration.
Alexei Ramirez fits the mold of what I really want to see when I’m looking at BvP numbers. Over his career against Johnny Cueto, Ramirez has gone 9-for-14 (.643 AVG) with a home run, two doubles, and ZERO strikeouts. That’s really good, especially when you consider that Cueto has a career 20 percent K/rate.
Didi Gregorius may end up being the cheapest way to get exposure to the Yankees tonight. And as I mentioned yesterday, he is in the middle of his first career series against his former team.
| OUTFIELD | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Player | Team | Bats | Opp | Probable Pitcher | Throws | G | AB | H | HR | R | RBI | BB | SB | AVG | OBP | SLG | ISO | BABIP | LD% | Hard% | Z-Contact% | wOBA | wRC+ | FD | DK | Aces |
| Odubel Herrera | PHI | L | MIA | Tom Koehler | R | 39 | 140 | 48 | 4 | 25 | 13 | 29 | 6 | .343 | .453 | .471 | .129 | .400 | 20.5% | 29.8% | 84.9% | .404 | 150 | $4,000 | $4,300 | $4,500 |
| J.D. Martinez | DET | R | MIN | Ricky Nolasco | R | 37 | 143 | 36 | 7 | 21 | 18 | 17 | 0 | .252 | .335 | .448 | .196 | .290 | 18.7% | 36.5% | 82.6% | .340 | 115 | $3,800 | $4,200 | $5,150 |
| Marcell Ozuna | MIA | R | PHI | Jeremy Hellickson | R | 37 | 143 | 44 | 7 | 23 | 20 | 10 | 0 | .308 | .353 | .524 | .217 | .370 | 18.7% | 34.6% | 85.0% | .376 | 132 | $3,700 | $4,100 | $4,200 |
| Miguel Sano | MIN | R | DET | Justin Verlander | R | 37 | 136 | 32 | 6 | 16 | 17 | 20 | 1 | .235 | .331 | .412 | .176 | .338 | 28.9% | 41.0% | 75.8% | .327 | 106 | $3,500 | $3,600 | $4,700 |
| Coco Crisp | OAK | S | TEX | Martin Perez | L | 29 | 102 | 24 | 3 | 16 | 12 | 12 | 4 | .235 | .313 | .402 | .167 | .253 | 23.8% | 20.7% | 88.7% | .306 | 95 | $2,700 | $2,800 | $4,250 |
| Cameron Maybin | DET | R | MIN | Ricky Nolasco | R | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1.000 | 1.000 | 1.000 | .000 | 1.000 | 50.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | .819 | 456 | $2,300 | $3,400 | $4,100 |
| Mike Trout | LAA | R | LAD | Mike Bolsinger | R | 38 | 142 | 45 | 8 | 23 | 27 | 22 | 3 | .317 | .406 | .556 | .239 | .370 | 25.9% | 38.9% | 87.9% | .407 | 169 | $4,800 | $5,300 | $5,700 |
| Hunter Pence | SF | R | SD | Drew Pomeranz | L | 39 | 143 | 41 | 6 | 21 | 29 | 23 | 0 | .287 | .382 | .476 | .189 | .327 | 18.6% | 34.5% | 84.3% | .372 | 136 | $3,900 | $3,900 | $5,100 |
| Nelson Cruz | SEA | R | BAL | Chris Tillman | R | 36 | 132 | 35 | 7 | 17 | 21 | 16 | 0 | .265 | .363 | .477 | .212 | .295 | 18.6% | 29.4% | 83.8% | .362 | 135 | $3,700 | $4,300 | $5,000 |
| Gregory Polanco | PIT | L | ATL | Julio Teheran | R | 37 | 132 | 39 | 4 | 26 | 19 | 25 | 5 | .295 | .403 | .492 | .197 | .340 | 26.2% | 34.3% | 92.0% | .379 | 138 | $3,700 | $4,200 | $4,650 |
| Adam Duvall | CIN | R | CLE | Mike Clevinger | R | 33 | 109 | 31 | 7 | 16 | 15 | 6 | 1 | .284 | .328 | .587 | .303 | .364 | 23.3% | 37.0% | 84.5% | .387 | 137 | $3,700 | $3,800 | $4,050 |
| Lorenzo Cain | KC | R | BOS | David Price | L | 35 | 135 | 37 | 5 | 19 | 18 | 12 | 5 | .274 | .338 | .393 | .119 | .344 | 24.5% | 25.5% | 86.9% | .324 | 104 | $3,400 | $3,800 | $5,250 |
| Jacoby Ellsbury | NYY | L | ARI | Shelby Miller | R | 30 | 108 | 28 | 1 | 13 | 9 | 8 | 9 | .259 | .316 | .389 | .130 | .307 | 18.0% | 25.8% | 91.1% | .309 | 93 | $3,100 | $4,400 | $4,750 |
| Steven Souza Jr. | TB | R | TOR | R.A. Dickey | R | 33 | 122 | 33 | 8 | 17 | 17 | 10 | 1 | .270 | .326 | .525 | .254 | .368 | 23.7% | 34.2% | 70.2% | .364 | 137 | $3,100 | $3,800 | $4,550 |
| Carlos Beltran | NYY | S | ARI | Shelby Miller | R | 37 | 134 | 33 | 8 | 19 | 18 | 7 | 0 | .246 | .278 | .478 | .231 | .255 | 17.9% | 31.1% | 91.8% | .319 | 100 | $2,900 | $4,000 | $4,750 |
| Rajai Davis | CLE | R | CIN | Brandon Finnegan | L | 31 | 104 | 23 | 2 | 12 | 12 | 7 | 8 | .221 | .270 | .337 | .115 | .288 | 21.6% | 30.7% | 85.4% | .267 | 65 | $2,900 | $3,500 | $4,300 |
| Matt Joyce | PIT | L | ATL | Julio Teheran | R | 33 | 43 | 16 | 5 | 11 | 15 | 11 | 0 | .372 | .500 | .767 | .395 | .379 | 17.6% | 32.4% | 74.3% | .525 | 234 | $2,800 | $3,100 | $4,650 |
| Matt Holliday | STL | R | COL | Chris Rusin | L | 37 | 129 | 33 | 6 | 16 | 19 | 12 | 0 | .256 | .329 | .496 | .240 | .265 | 12.0% | 37.0% | 93.0% | .352 | 118 | $2,600 | $4,000 | $4,800 |
| Paulo Orlando | KC | R | BOS | David Price | L | 17 | 47 | 14 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .298 | .313 | .340 | .043 | .412 | 18.2% | 23.5% | 86.6% | .288 | 78 | $2,100 | $2,200 | $3,400 |
EARLY SLATE
Odubel Herrera gets a nice matchup against Tom Koehler of the Marlins today. The main problem with Odubel is the fact that his salary is extremely inflated for a guy who lacks big upside because of his lack of power (yes, I know he has four homers, but he really technically doesn’t have that much power). He has gotten the job in more ways than one, and has really showed all the naysayers that last season was not a fluke.
J.D. Martinez has homered in back-to-back-to-back games, and is going on another one of his patented power streaks. Not sure when he’ll go on another three week cold spell, but it’s obvious that he’s as locked in as ever right now.
Marcell Ozuna has been highlighted in my articles the entire week. It definitely doesn’t change today given his matchup against Jeremy Hellickson. Ozuna has gone 3-for-7 (.429 AVG) with a homer, double, and three RBIs in their previous meetings.
Miguel Sano is a player I will continue to adore against right-handed pitching. He has hit 25 home runs in his short MLB career, and 20 of them have come against righties. Even better, he faces Justin Verlander, who has been a fly ball pitcher throughout his career, but he has also been allowing a Hard Hit Rate that’s over 30%.
Coco Crisp has gone 6-for-16 (.375 AVG), lifetime, against Martin Perez of the Rangers. I know most of you would be tempted to roster Khris Davis after he went TRIPLE DONG last night, but his batting average against lefties is well below the Mendoza line this season, and he isn’t exactly the cheapest today. Feel free to stack him along with Crisp, Valencia, and maybe even Josh Reddick in your GPPs though.
Cameron Maybin is still way too cheap for what he can do for your lineups. It’s clear that he won’t be shy about stealing second base at any point in the game, and is a threat for double digits on any given night. He is 4-for-5 (.800 AVG) in his career against Ricky Nolasco, with two stolen bases in two attempts.
LATE SLATE
Mike Trout’s 5-game hitting streak ended last night at the hands of Clayton Kershaw, but it doesn’t change the fact that he has been on quite the run lately. Over his previous eight games, Trout has gone 12-for-34 (.353 AG) with a home run, two doubles, six walks, seven runs, four RBIs, and a stolen base. I mentioned before that Mike Bolsinger is a big drop off from what you’re normally seeing out of the Dodgers starting rotation. If you’re paying up, I think Trout is the guy you want to roster in the outfield.
Hunter Pence has three hits in 11 career at-bats against Drew Pomeranz of the Padres. All three of those hits went out of the ballpark. Pence has been rock solid this season and has hits in six of his last seven games.
Nelson Cruz absolutely destroys his former teammates in Baltimore virtually every time he visits them. Last season, he went 5-for-10 (.500 AVG) with a homer, double, three walks, three RBIs, and a .615 OBP at Camden Yards.
Gregory Polanco gets a juicy matchup against Julio Teheran of the Braves. Teheran has surprisingly pitched decent away from Turner Field, but the problem is that he’s terrible against lefties. Teheran is currently allowing a 1.89 HR/9 and 6.58 xFIP against left-handed hitters. That, my friends, is unbelievably terrible. Polanco is also swinging a hot bat this series, going 6-for-10 (.600 AVG) at the plate, with three doubles and a stolen base.
Adam Duvall has been nothing short of sensational this season, and has gone 12-for-34 (.353 AVG) with two homers, five doubles, and seven RBIs over his last 10 games. Not a good value on FanDuel, but a wonderful value elsewhere.
Jason Heyward has apparently snapped out of his funk. After being out homered by Bartolo Colon over his first 33 games of the season, he finally hit a 9th inning shot last night off of Chase Anderson. He is currently in the middle of an 8-game hitting streak, and has a solid history against Jimmy Nelson, going 3-for-8 (.375 AVG) with a double.
Lorenzo Cain is batting .339/.379/.516 with three homers, 10 RBIs, and three stolen bases over his last 15 games. He has had some success against David Price of the Red Sox, going 4-for-11 (.364 AVG) with a solo home run. I’ve mentioned this before, but I’ll say it again, I know a lot of people are still high on David Price, but I’m a little more skeptical. The stat that really catches my eye is the 39.1% Hard Hit Rate that he is allowing, which is currently the 2nd worst in all of MLB. Yes, his K/rate is still high, but if players are crushing the ball to that degree, there’s obviously something wrong.
Jacoby Ellsbury has reached base safely in each of his three career plate appearances against Shelby Miller, and has stolen two bases against him as well. Again, I’m loving the matchup tonight against Miller. There’s a good chance of runs being scored in bunches, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Ellsbury is involved in most of those runs.
Steven Souza Jr. continues to get it done at the plate, and according to PITCHf/x, he has been a plus player throughout his career against the knuckleball. He is 3-for-8 (.375 AVG) with a home run in his previous meetings against R.A. Dickey.
Carlos Beltran is just an ageless wonder who is still productive at the plate. He has four home runs over his last eight games, and gets that juicy matchup against Shelby Miller, who is allowing a 7.17 xFIP against lefties this season.
Rajai Davis has quietly gone 5-for-7 (.714 AVG) with a double, four walks, six runs, and four RBIs over the first two games of the series against the Reds. He will likely be leading off tonight in an interleague game at the GAB.
Matt Joyce should continue to get starts in the outfield as Starling Marte continues to take time off for his lamaze classes. Over his last two starts, he has gone 5-for-8 (.625 AVG) with a home run, walk, two runs, and three RBIs.
Matt Holliday is still only $2600 on FanDuel, and he has a better matchup tonight against Chris Rusin of the Rockies. Over his last three seasons, Holliday has batted .289/.419/.467 with 11 homers in 315 at-bats against southpaws.
Paulo Orlando is swinging an extremely hot bat, and he has been rewarded with more starts in the outfield, replacing Jarrod Dyson. Over his last three games, he has gone 6-for-12 (.500 AVG) with a home run, triple, double, and four RBIs.
Be sure to keep an eye on the Fantasy Alarm Daily Lineups page to confirm that your players are starting.
If you guys have any questions, you can always reach me on Twitter @kle18. Good luck!