We got a nice 12-game slate on this fine Friday! The only thing that could bring it down is all of the little rainy weather icons next to a couple of these contests! You’ll definitely want to keep an eye out for this, especially games in the northeast. Fingers crossed we get no postponements, as some of those potential wash outs have some great value. Regardless, without further ado, let’s head into the Value Vault for today’s main slate!
Both Sites
Ty France , 2B SEA ($2,000 FD/$2,800 DK) - If there’s any pitcher to sell the farm against tonight, it’s Jordan Lyles . He has a 5.94 ERA on the year and a mammoth 1.80 HR/9 across 50 innings of work. Righties have posted an .869 OPS against him, whereas lefties have posted an .817 OPS against Lyles. Since returning from injury, Lyles has hit safely in four straight, going 6-for-15 (.400 AVG) in the process. He’s minimum price on FanDuel, and incredibly cheap on DraftKings in a tasty matchup.
Garrett Cooper , 1B/OF MIA ($2,400 FD/$3,700 DK) - Cooper is white hot, hitting safely in 10 straight, logging four multi-hit efforts in his past 10 contests. A southpaw is on the bump for the opposing Red Sox, and Cooper has a .302 average and .883 OPS against southpaws in 2021. Perez has been more susceptible to right-handers this season, and his home ERA (4.13) is far worse than his road mark (2.91). I don’t know if I’m comfortable in a full Miami stack, but I do like Cooper a heck of a lot.
DraftKings
Andrew Benintendi , OF KC ($3,400) - Benintendi hasn’t seen much of Dobnak, but his two official at-bats have both gone for home runs, so that’s good! Benintendi has hit safely in five of his last six, homering once and driving in four runs in that span. He has a .313 average and .827 OPS against righties this year, while Minnesota’s Randy Dobnak has surrendered a .962 OPS to left-handed hitters.
Willy Adames , SS MIL ($3,200) - Adames is 5-for-9 in his last two games, and he’s hit safely in seven of his last 10. Since coming to Milwaukee (six games), he’s hitting .350 with one home run and six RBI. Washington’s Jon Lester has allowed opposing right-handers to hit .306 this year, and post a .384 wOBA. I love the price point for Adames today, and the higher he hits in the order the better. UPDATE: this game is PPD.
FanDuel
Paul Goldschmidt , 1B STL ($3,100) - Goldy has a .289 average and .773 OPS on the road this year and a .258 average against lefties in particular. Sure, neither of those numbers really pop off the page, but here’s something to consider. In 69 career at-bats against Madison Bumgarner , Goldschmidt has 24 hits, three home runs and 13 RBI, good for a .348 average and .456 woBA! Trust the BvP data here with the veteran first baseman, and if you want a piece of this offense, but a bit more contrarian, have some Tyler O’Neill ownership in GPPs.
Cedric Mullins , OF BAL ($2,700) - Chicago’s Dallas Keuchel has served up a .313 batting average to left-handed hitters, and it just so happens that Mullins has enjoyed substantial success against southpaws as a lefty himself. He’s sporting a .299 average with two home runs and a .356 wOBA against lefties in 2021. Also, for what it is worth, Mullins’ home road/splits are nearly identical, and quite impressive. On the road this season, he has a .297 average and .806 OPS.
Player News
Max Meyer allowed five hits and three earned runs with two walks and eight strikeouts over six innings in a loss to the Diamondbacks on Wednesday.
Meyer was excellent until faltering a bit the third time around the Diamondbacks’ lineup. He’d forced 10 swings-and-misses with strikeouts over the first three innings and looked unstoppable. His slider command was perfect as it darted just below the strike zone time and time again to leave his opponents spinning. He may have leaned on that pitch a bit too much though, throwing it more than twice as much as any other pitch in his arsenal. Arizona jumped ahead after Meyer threw Corbin Carroll two straight sliders in the bottom of the zone. The first he fouled off before lacing a single on the next one. Pavin Smith homered in the next inning when similarly Meyer threw him consecutive changeups with the second getting too much of the plate. Nevertheless, it was a solid start overall for Meyer who continues to grow as a pitcher. He’s lined up for a juicy two-start week against the Reds and Mariners next week.
Marlins optioned 3B Graham Pauley to Triple-A Jacksonville.
Pauley has been shipped back to the minors following Wednesday’s game against the Diamondbacks to make room for Connor Norby (oblique) to be activated from the injured list ahead of Thursday’s series finale at loanDepot park.
Tyler O’Neill is day-to-day with neck soreness.
Orioles manager Brandon Hyde didn’t seem too concerned regarding the issue after O’Neill was scratched from Wednesday’s lineup. The 29-year-old slugging corner outfielder could wind up missing Thursday’s series finale against Cleveland, but he doesn’t appear to be in jeopardy of missing a too much time.
Jackson Holliday went 1-for-4 with a home run, four RBI, and a run scored in a 9-1 win over the Guardians on Wednesday.
This one had to feel good for Holliday who was mired in an 0-for-17 slump entering play today. He smacked a back-door sweeper from Gavin Williams that sat right in the middle of the zone and sent it into the Orioles’ bullpen. He’s remained a starter – albeit in a strict lefty, righty platoon – since Gunnar Henderson returned from the injured list and towering, opposite field blasts like this one are a good reminder as to how high his ceiling is at the plate.
Dean Kremer allowed four hits and one earned run with one walk and two strikeouts over 5 1/3 innings in a win over the Guardians on Wednesday.
This was as classic a Dean Kremer start as can be. He mixed his five pitches relatively evenly, stayed around the edges of the zone, and while he didn’t miss many bats, he barely gave up any hard contact either. His splitter was his primary pitch, but it wasn’t very effective as he practically never threw it in the zone and the Guardians rarely chased it either. So, he wound up in many deep counts without much damage being done against him. He’s lined up for a two-start week coming up against the Nationals and Tigers.
Gabriel Arias went 1-for-3 with a solo home run and a walk on Wednesday against the Orioles.
That makes it three homers in five games for Arias who has cemented himself as an every day player for the Guardians in the early going this season. He’s also 8-for-17 over that same five-game span with and doing well to access his tremendous raw power despite ample swing-and-miss in his game. His long ball in this one was tattooed at 108.9 mph and traveled an estimated 424 feet. He’s been a fun player to track so far.