DFS DIAMONDS

*The follow list of players are guys that Ray recommends as daily plays. He will try to avoid the obvious, so you will rarely see the elites of the world listed.

CATCHER: Jonathan Lucroy has a hit in each of his seven games played including three Wednesday night. He’s 10-for-34 against Jaime Garcia in his career, a .294 average, slightly below his .305 career batting average against lefties (.305-21-100 in 600 ABs against lefties).

FIRST BASE: Eric Hosmer has a .348/.423/.565 line over 26 plate appearances against Doug Fister. In 2015 he tore up righties batting .310/.384/.501.

SECOND BASE: Jason Kipnis has a .285/.366/.445 line versus righties in his career. Those numbers were even higher last season (.334/.412/.496). He faces Chris Archer who has allowed 15 hits in 10 innings this season.

THIRD BASE: Matt Carpenter crushes Wily Peralta (many do). Over 33 at-bats Carpenter is batting .455 with three homers, 10 runs and five RBI leading to a 1.332 OPS. He has a ,391 OBP and .856 OPS against righties in his career.

SHORTSTOP: Andrus has two runs, two RBI and five hits his last two games. He’s also produced 10 hits his last seven games. In six games at night this season he’s gone 10-for-22 and he’s hit .385 with a .529 OBP against Chris Tillman (18 PAs).

OUTFIELD: Matt Holliday lights up Peralta (see above). He’s been to the plate 26 times producing 10 hits (.385), two homers, seven RBI and a 1.082 OPS. Holliday has produced a hit in 3-straight games and owns a .938 OPS against the Brewers (127 games).

OUTFIELD: Hunter Pence has scored three times and driven in five runs his last three games. He’s also hitting .318 with two homers and seven RBI against Jorge De La Rosa (7-for-22). In 50 games in Colorado Pence has hit .293 with a .876 OPS with 10 homers and 16 doubles in 50 games.

OUTFIELD: Sorry, try not to do this, but I have to suggest Bryce Harper. He’s racked up 30 plate appearances against Julio Teheran and produced a .440/.533/1.040 slash line including four homers. He’s “struggled” to this point with a .250 average though who is complaining about his 1.044 OPS?

APRIL 13th, 2016 – PITCHING LINES

Adam Conley (0 ER, 1 BB, 9 K in 6 IP)

Conley has made 17 big league appearances and has looked pretty solid in that time going 4-1 with a 3.77 ERA and 1.28 WHIP. The K-rate is solid too, a bit better than that actually with 70 punchouts in 74 innings, though his 2.92 BB/9 rate is league average. A former second round draft pick, Conley is starting to generate a lot of buzz in the fantasy game. Some things to consider. (1) He has a poor 0.94 GB/FB ratio thanks to a high 41.2 percent fly ball rate. His home run park helps him keep the ball in the yard, but that fly ball rate is trending toward a bad spot. (2) Let’s talk innings. In 2013 he tossed 138.2. In 2014 he tossed 65.1. Last year the mark was 167. Would seem that he could push 180+ innings this season if he stays healthy. (3) He dusted the competition last year at Triple-A with a 9-3 record, 2.52 ERA and 1.17 WHIP. A talent worth adding if on waivers.

Jerad Eickhoff (0 ER, 0 BB, 9 K in 7 IP)

Last season he threw three pitches (fastball, slider, curve ball). This season he’s only thrown his fastball and curveball (the slider is being tossed out there just 8.3 percent of the time). It’s a bit early to see if he can live on two pitches long-term, but the results in the short run are impressive. In 63 career innings he’s struck out 61 batters while walking a mere 15 leading to a 4.07 K/BB ratio. The ratios sparkle (2.43 ERA, 1.02 WHIP) and he keeps the ball in the yard (0.71 HR/9). He threw 154.1 innings in 2014 but last year that number fell to 133.1. Still has a bad offense behind him in Philly, and that’s not a great place to pitch either.

Shane Greene (2 ER, 3 BB, 7 K in 6 IP)

Maybe I was just a year too early. Last year I said that Greene would break out. He didn’t and was awful (4-8, 6.88 ERA). Turns out his arm was jacked up and he couldn’t feel his fingers. That’s a problem. Through two starts this season he’s looked like the guy we saw last April, the one that excited so much. It’s two outings, can’t draw anything meaningful from that, but Greene once again passes the eye test, and his velocity is back as well (he lost 2.5 mph on his 4-seamer in 2015 according to PITCHf/x compared to what he’s tossing out there right now). Sounds like if he keeps pitching well that Daniel Norris isn’t going to just return from his back injury as a starter.

Tanner Roark (0 ER, 3 BB, 4 K in 7 IP)

Roark won 15 games with a 2.85 ERA in 2014. Last season he was sent to the bullpen, he made only 12 starts, and struggled (4.38 ERA, 1.31 WHIP). This season he’s back to starting and… it seems like he is having success. Two outings aren’t enough, yet again, but a 1.73 WHIP, 5.73 K/9 and 1.17 K/BB ratio through two starts are horrible. Still, in 49 career starts he has a 3.22 ERA, 1.15 WHIP and a 3.30 K/BB ratio. Those are solid numbers, but before you get too far ahead of yourself note that Wei-Yin Chen had a 3.34 ERA, 1.22 WHIP and 3.73 K/BB ratio last season and it’s not like you were falling all over yourself to add him to your roster this season. Roark is still a spot starter in mixed leagues for me – just not enough strikeouts and Lucas Giolito is waiting in the wings if Roark slips up.

Matt Shoemaker (0 ER, 3 BB, 5 K, 1 H in 6 IP)

Wednesday I wrote about Nick Tropeano (Player Profile) and noted how there is a race for the starting rotation with the Angels. It’s about to get crowded once Tyler Skaggs, Andrew Heaney and C.J. Wilson get up to full strength. Already 29 years old, Shoemaker seems likely to head to the bullpen at some point soon despite a 1.17 WHIP and 3.76 K/BB ratio over 285.1 big league innings. Stream – OK. Depend on – oh, hell no.

Drew Smyly (2 ER, 1 BB, 11 K in 7 IP)

Smyly is really good. Injuries are there, he’s got a ton to prove, but the skills you cannot argue with. Since he joined the Rays he’s made 21 starts. In those outings he’s posted a 2.74 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, 9.6 K/9 and a 4.15 K/BB ratio. Last season Madison Bumgarner posted a 2.93 ERA, 1.01 WHIP, 9.7 K/9 and a 6.00 K/BB ratio. That’s pretty damn close, is it not? All Smyly needs is innings – though that’s far from a small thing.

Alex Wood (1 ER, 3 BB, 3 K in 7 IP)

Ross Stripling isn’t the answer for a beat up Dodgers’ rotation. Wood could be. The herky-jerky lefty has made 14 starts for the Dodgers with a poor 4.37 ERA and 1.30 WHIP, not to mention a 6.0 K/9 ratio. Those simply aren’t good numbers. Wood does own a 3.33 ERA and 1.27 WHIP for his career, with 7.8 strikeouts per nine innings. Those are solid numbers. So which guy is Wood? Maybe somewhere in the middle? He doesn’t own elite stuff, he gets by a lot with deception, but he’s still a young/talented lefty who pitches in a good home ballpark. Once the rotation gets healthy it’s possible he could be a casualty and lose his starting spot.