Since we are not going to do the day game at Wrigley, our focus is going to be tonight's 14-game main slate that has a roster lock of 7:05 PM ET/4:05 PM PT.
Tonight’s two highest owned pitchers will likely be Max Scherzer and Felix Hernandez. Their price across the industry isn’t unreasonable, but again, I will be sure to highlight a good number of value plays for tonight’s slate.
We are also back at Coors Field tonight. While I do highlight a few of the Coors players, for the most part, any of the Coors bats are in play. That’s just how it works. If you guys ask me if it’s dumb to have Buster Posey in your lineups tonight even though I don’t have him as one of my plays, I would say, “No, it isn’t.” On the other hand, I’m not going to be okay with paying for a Tony Wolters who is almost a lock to be hitting at the bottom of the lineup. If we had less games and less players to work with, I’d be more okay with it.
Also, weather continues to be a bit of a pain. There are storms that should put the White Sox/Royals game in jeopardy, and there’s some storms that could cause delays in the Orioles/Indians, Dodgers/Mets, and possibly even the Pirates/Rangers games tonight. Weather is obviously very unpredictable, so before you submit your lineups, use your resources and make sure the game is a go.
If any of you guys have any questions, please feel free to let me know on Twitter @kle18, or drop a comment below. I get notified any time someone leaves a comment, so the turnaround time should be good.
CATCHER | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Player | Team | Bats | Opp | Opp Pitch | AB | H | HR | R | RBI | BB | SB | AVG | OPS | ISO | BABIP | wOBA | LD% | Hard% | Z-Cont% | FD | DK | Aces |
Victor Martinez | DET | S | OAK | Sean Manaea | 160 | 54 | 6 | 19 | 27 | 12 | 0 | .338 | .907 | .181 | .348 | .388 | 29.2% | 43.8% | 92.9% | $3,500 | $4,100 | $4,950 |
Salvador Perez | KC | R | CHW | Miguel Gonzalez | 159 | 45 | 7 | 19 | 25 | 8 | 0 | .283 | .825 | .226 | .325 | .351 | 22.6% | 32.3% | 92.0% | $3,400 | $3,200 | $4,700 |
Stephen Vogt | OAK | L | DET | Michael Fulmer | 147 | 37 | 4 | 15 | 12 | 6 | 0 | .252 | .679 | .136 | .284 | .295 | 21.8% | 24.2% | 93.5% | $2,500 | $3,000 | $4,200 |
Tyler Flowers | ATL | R | MIA | Adam Conley | 78 | 21 | 2 | 4 | 10 | 9 | 0 | .269 | .731 | .103 | .388 | .329 | 21.6% | 45.1% | 80.0% | $2,300 | $2,800 | $3,600 |
Victor Martinez has been extremely consistent throughout the season, but is pretty hot right now, going 7-for-16 (.438 AVG) with a homer and five RBIs over his last four games. Mix in the fact that he is batting .364/.399/.558 with five of his six home runs against lefties, I think he’s the CLEAR CUT number one option at catcher on FanDuel tonight. I even feel he’s a good enough play to throw out there on other sites where he may only be used as a first baseman or Utilityman.
Salvador Perez is the hottest catcher in baseball right now. He is in the middle of an 11-game hitting streak, where he has gone 18-for-44 (.409 AVG) with two homers, a triple, three doubles, and seven RBIs. He gets a meeting with Miguel Gonzalez who he has homered against in the past. His best value is on DK.
Stephen Vogt’s peripheral stats are looking top-notch, and he has been looking good at the plate lately. He is 8-for-25 (.320 AVG) with a homer, double, and five RBIs over his last eight games. I like his value throughout the industry tonight.
Tyler Flowers hit 15 home runs in 407 at-bats in 2014. Flowers has never been known for his bat, but he has some sneaky power, and has a high Hard Hit Rate that happens to be enough to make the Top 10 among catchers over the last three seasons. Best of all, his price throughout the industry can free up some salary to help you pay up at some other positions.
FIRST BASE | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Player | Team | Bats | Opp | Opp Pitch | AB | H | HR | R | RBI | BB | SB | AVG | OPS | ISO | BABIP | wOBA | LD% | Hard% | Z-Cont% | FD | DK | Aces |
David Ortiz | BOS | L | TOR | Aaron Sanchez | 163 | 55 | 12 | 24 | 45 | 24 | 1 | .337 | 1.126 | .368 | .347 | .461 | 18.4% | 48.5% | 90.7% | $4,700 | $5,000 | $5,650 |
Miguel Cabrera | DET | R | OAK | Sean Manaea | 174 | 56 | 11 | 27 | 31 | 20 | 0 | .322 | .968 | .253 | .333 | .410 | 24.0% | 40.4% | 83.5% | $4,500 | $5,400 | $5,750 |
C.J. Cron | LAA | R | HOU | Mike Fiers | 140 | 35 | 3 | 16 | 18 | 12 | 1 | .250 | .680 | .114 | .283 | .299 | 14.7% | 31.9% | 88.0% | $2,900 | $3,100 | $4,050 |
Adrian Gonzalez | LAD | L | NYM | Jacob deGrom | 164 | 45 | 4 | 16 | 22 | 22 | 0 | .274 | .741 | .110 | .336 | .319 | 19.0% | 30.2% | 86.6% | $2,800 | $3,300 | $4,750 |
David Ortiz has been out of this world amazing over the last couple weeks. I don’t think much is going to change tonight with his matchup against Aaron Sanchez. Big Papi has a career .550 wOBA against the improving Sanchez. Outside of Fenway, Ortiz has hit more home runs at Rogers Centre (39) throughout his career than any other stadium in baseball.
Miguel Cabrera’s stats over his last 10 games are breathtaking. 18-for-39 (.462 AVG) with six homers, a triple, two doubles, 10 runs, and 13 RBIs. Ladies and gentleman, that’s sensational. He gets a good matchup against Sean Manaea who has struggled with his command throughout the season, and has given up a brutal .337/.389/.556 line with a .402 wOBA to right-handed hitters this season.
C.J. Cron is 3-for-6 (.500 AVG) with two homers and four RBIs against Mike Fiers in their previous meetings. Cron is coming off of a 16 HR season and has upside. While his 2016 hasn’t been the greatest, the majority of his peripheral stats are much improved.
Adrian Gonzalez has had a lot of success against Jacob deGrom, going 5-for-10 (.500 AVG) with two homers, a walk, and six RBIs. It is also criminal that his price is at only $2800 on FanDuel tonight.
SECOND BASE | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Player | Team | Bats | Opp | Opp Pitch | AB | H | HR | R | RBI | BB | SB | AVG | OPS | ISO | BABIP | wOBA | LD% | Hard% | Z-Cont% | FD | DK | Aces |
Dustin Pedroia | BOS | R | TOR | Aaron Sanchez | 183 | 56 | 6 | 34 | 20 | 19 | 2 | .306 | .841 | .164 | .336 | .366 | 21.9% | 27.6% | 95.2% | $3,900 | $3,600 | $5,000 |
Jonathan Schoop | BAL | R | CLE | Trevor Bauer | 162 | 43 | 8 | 17 | 26 | 5 | 0 | .265 | .765 | .210 | .299 | .327 | 16.8% | 32.0% | 81.4% | $3,200 | $3,900 | $4,300 |
Chase Utley | LAD | L | NYM | Jacob deGrom | 152 | 44 | 2 | 27 | 10 | 18 | 1 | .289 | .787 | .118 | .350 | .350 | 26.9% | 39.3% | 89.2% | $3,100 | $3,300 | $4,550 |
Neil Walker | NYM | S | LAD | Julio Urias | 160 | 43 | 11 | 20 | 21 | 12 | 1 | .269 | .807 | .219 | .299 | .342 | 22.2% | 33.9% | 85.6% | $2,800 | $2,800 | $4,750 |
Dustin Pedroia has reached base safely 18 times in 38 plate appearances over his last nine starts. That’s good enough for a very impressive .474 OBP. I like him more on sites that don’t undervalue the walk, like FanDuel, Aces, or Rosters.
Jonathan Schoop has that double dong upside that you want throughout your lineup. Schoop has hit 40 home runs in his short Major League career, and 35 of them have come against right-handed pitching.
Chase Utley just continues to produce and he’ll continue to have very minimal ownership at that. At this stage of his career, Utley just doesn’t have the power upside, but honestly, that really doesn’t matter if you’re looking for production in your cash games. He is batting .320/.416/.453 with a .384 wOBA against right-handed pitching this season.
Neil Walker is a value play that I feel has considerable upside considering the strong likelihood that Julio Urias will not get past the 6th inning. Why? Well, in eight starts in AAA Oklahoma City, Urias hasn’t gotten past the 6th inning, and he hasn’t thrown more than 82 pitches in any of those games. Walker has the ability to do damage against Urias or without, and he has been looking much more comfortable at the plate in recent games.
THIRD BASE | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Player | Team | Bats | Opp | Opp Pitch | AB | H | HR | R | RBI | BB | SB | AVG | OPS | ISO | BABIP | wOBA | LD% | Hard% | Z-Cont% | FD | DK | Aces |
Josh Donaldson | TOR | R | BOS | Joe Kelly | 182 | 44 | 11 | 37 | 24 | 26 | 3 | .242 | .837 | .253 | .256 | .360 | 22.1% | 42.6% | 83.0% | $3,600 | $4,300 | $5,500 |
Adrian Beltre | TEX | R | PIT | Jon Niese | 178 | 47 | 7 | 21 | 31 | 12 | 0 | .264 | .757 | .180 | .256 | .322 | 17.8% | 33.7% | 86.5% | $3,400 | $4,600 | $4,900 |
Jose Ramirez | CLE | S | BAL | Mike Wright | 129 | 37 | 3 | 20 | 18 | 11 | 3 | .287 | .776 | .140 | .301 | .340 | 20.9% | 21.4% | 86.8% | $3,200 | $3,500 | $4,250 |
Martin Prado | MIA | R | ATL | Williams Perez | 171 | 58 | 0 | 14 | 15 | 11 | 0 | .339 | .782 | .064 | .369 | .340 | 22.3% | 26.1% | 98.5% | $2,900 | $3,400 | $4,500 |
Josh Donaldson is 9-for-17 (.529 AVG) with a homer and six RBIs throughout his career against Joe Kelly of the Red Sox. Even though he hasn’t been dominating like he was last season, it evens out when you consider that his price has dropped significantly across the industry.
Adrian Beltre obviously crushes lefties, sure. But get this he is batting .435/.519/.522 against lefties in Arlington. He gets a weak lefty tonight in Jon Niese who he has actually homered against in the past.
Jose Ramirez is in play for me as long as he is hitting in one of the top five slots in the lineup, something that he has done in each of his last five games. You may be surprised to know that Ramirez is batting a rock solid .295/.370/.432 over his last 30 games. He also homered twice in his last series against the White Sox, and should be coming in with a lot of confidence. Plus, in limited action against Mike Wright in the International league, he is 4-for-4 stealing bases.
Martin Prado is a player who will often be overlooked because of his lack of power. You’re doing yourself a disservice by ignoring him in your cash games because he usually reasonably priced, and has a higher ceiling than the majority of players because of his high contact rate. It’s usually even better if his teammates get a good matchup because he’s more likely to accumulate points from the runs and RBIs. I can see that happening tonight with Williams Perez taking the hill for the Braves.
SHORTSTOP | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Player | Team | Bats | Opp | Opp Pitch | AB | H | HR | R | RBI | BB | SB | AVG | OPS | ISO | BABIP | wOBA | LD% | Hard% | Z-Cont% | FD | DK | Aces |
Manny Machado | BAL | R | CLE | Trevor Bauer | 181 | 56 | 13 | 35 | 28 | 22 | 0 | .309 | 1.006 | .309 | .326 | .418 | 24.1% | 37.2% | 85.6% | $4,100 | $4,800 | $5,700 |
Brandon Crawford | SF | L | COL | Tyler Chatwood | 164 | 43 | 6 | 19 | 27 | 19 | 3 | .262 | .776 | .177 | .298 | .323 | 19.7% | 33.3% | 84.1% | $3,800 | $5,400 | $4,850 |
Elvis Andrus | TEX | R | PIT | Jon Niese | 152 | 45 | 1 | 19 | 17 | 12 | 4 | .296 | .755 | .112 | .328 | .327 | 24.4% | 21.3% | 89.8% | $3,500 | $3,800 | $4,200 |
Didi Gregorius | NYY | L | TB | Chris Archer | 145 | 40 | 4 | 14 | 17 | 4 | 1 | .276 | .698 | .124 | .290 | .303 | 19.0% | 13.9% | 90.4% | $2,600 | $2,800 | $4,300 |
Manny Machado has two hits in five at-bats in his career against Trevor Bauer, but both of those hits went out of the park. HIs value definitely increases being shortstop eligible, and it allows you to add a bat at third base that is likely to be a better all-around play than what you’d be able to add at shortstop.
Brandon Crawford is swinging a hot bat, which is perfect, because he gets a nice 3-game series in Coors Field. Over his last 10 games, he has gone 11-for-35 (.314 AVG) with two homers, a triple, a double, and 12 RBIs. He is also batting .412/.450/.412 throughout his career against Tyler Chatwood.
Elvis Andrus is batting .308/.400/.404 with a homer and three stolen bases over his last 15 games. His line of .353/.389/.500 against southpaws are a nice little incentive to play someone like Andrus, who doesn’t necessarily have the power upside that everyone craves. Oh, and for any of you guys playing on Rosters, I can tell you that I am locking him in as my shortstop tonight at a near minimum priced $5100.
Didi Gregorius continues to be a great punt at the shortstop position because of his ability to accumulate points in a variety of ways. Over his last five games, he has gone 10-for-19 (.526 AVG) with a homer, walk, and four runs scored. I also like his matchup against Chris Archer, whose 36.7% Hard Hit Rate and 52.9% First Pitch Strike Rate in 2016 is the worst of his career.
OUTFIELD | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Player | Team | Bats | Opp | Opp Pitch | AB | H | HR | R | RBI | BB | SB | AVG | OPS | ISO | BABIP | wOBA | LD% | Hard% | Z-Cont% | FD | DK | Aces |
Nelson Cruz | SEA | R | MIN | Pat Dean | 164 | 48 | 10 | 25 | 32 | 23 | 0 | .293 | .917 | .232 | .339 | .391 | 19.7% | 32.0% | 83.9% | $4,500 | $4,800 | $5,450 |
Charlie Blackmon | COL | L | SF | Matt Cain | 129 | 39 | 3 | 19 | 17 | 11 | 3 | .302 | .820 | .163 | .333 | .354 | 29.4% | 33.0% | 90.5% | $4,500 | $4,900 | $5,550 |
Yoenis Cespedes | NYM | R | LAD | Julio Urias | 153 | 46 | 15 | 30 | 36 | 17 | 1 | .301 | 1.038 | .359 | .301 | .434 | 24.6% | 37.3% | 87.9% | $4,300 | $4,300 | $5,650 |
Marcell Ozuna | MIA | R | ATL | Williams Perez | 177 | 59 | 9 | 31 | 25 | 13 | 0 | .333 | .961 | .249 | .394 | .410 | 19.1% | 36.0% | 85.6% | $4,200 | $4,400 | $4,500 |
Ryan Braun | MIL | R | CIN | John Lamb | 147 | 53 | 9 | 23 | 30 | 17 | 3 | .361 | 1.025 | .238 | .383 | .433 | 20.2% | 34.7% | 89.5% | $4,100 | $5,100 | $5,300 |
Lorenzo Cain | KC | R | CHW | Miguel Gonzalez | 172 | 50 | 6 | 22 | 25 | 14 | 6 | .291 | .770 | .134 | .358 | .337 | 24.8% | 26.4% | 86.5% | $3,900 | $4,400 | $5,250 |
Jacoby Ellsbury | NYY | L | TB | Chris Archer | 141 | 39 | 2 | 19 | 15 | 12 | 9 | .277 | .775 | .156 | .319 | .337 | 17.8% | 24.4% | 92.6% | $3,600 | $4,000 | $4,750 |
Brandon Guyer | TB | R | NYY | Masahiro Tanaka | 111 | 35 | 6 | 20 | 14 | 6 | 1 | .315 | .971 | .243 | .349 | .416 | 25.0% | 33.7% | 85.1% | $3,600 | $3,300 | $4,400 |
Nomar Mazara | TEX | L | PIT | Jon Niese | 150 | 48 | 8 | 21 | 21 | 12 | 0 | .320 | .865 | .180 | .345 | .371 | 27.4% | 27.4% | 90.9% | $3,500 | $4,200 | $4,800 |
Gerardo Parra | COL | L | SF | Matt Cain | 182 | 51 | 3 | 24 | 22 | 2 | 5 | .280 | .722 | .154 | .320 | .307 | 15.5% | 27.2% | 89.7% | $3,400 | $4,100 | $4,750 |
Cameron Maybin | DET | R | OAK | Sean Manaea | 33 | 18 | 1 | 9 | 6 | 3 | 4 | .545 | 1.220 | .091 | .607 | .531 | 25.0% | 26.7% | 97.6% | $3,400 | $3,600 | $4,200 |
Gregor Blanco | SF | L | COL | Tyler Chatwood | 86 | 21 | 0 | 12 | 7 | 9 | 2 | .244 | .676 | .116 | .292 | .290 | 20.0% | 22.2% | 90.3% | $3,000 | $4,200 | $4,300 |
Matt Kemp | SD | R | ARI | Robbie Ray | 189 | 42 | 10 | 20 | 30 | 4 | 0 | .222 | .667 | .212 | .229 | .277 | 19.3% | 32.7% | 83.9% | $2,500 | $4,100 | $4,900 |
Rickie Weeks Jr. | ARI | R | SD | Christian Friedrich | 47 | 12 | 2 | 9 | 7 | 3 | 1 | .255 | .783 | .234 | .294 | .331 | 11.1% | 44.4% | 78.1% | $2,400 | $4,000 | $3,600 |
Franklin Gutierrez | SEA | R | MIN | Pat Dean | 60 | 13 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 0 | .217 | .681 | .150 | .282 | .303 | 22.0% | 41.5% | 74.4% | $2,300 | $2,700 | $4,000 |
Nelson Cruz has a good chance of crushing Pat Dean tonight. We all know he completely dominates left-handed pitchers with his career .391 wOBA against southpaws, but Dean is a 27-year-old minor league veteran who is a CONTACT pitcher. I don’t like his chances of containing Cruz.
Charlie Blackmon, unsurprisingly, kills it at home in Coors Field. Over the course of his career, he has batted .333/.385/.501 at Coors compared to a lousy .246/.289/.378 on the road. He has done well against Matt Cain throughout his career, yet, I am quite certain he’s going to have less ownership than both Gerardo Parra and Carlos Gonzalez (the price doesn’t help).
Yoenis Cespedes, prior to his donut against the Nationals on Wednesday, had gone 11-for-25 (.440 AVG) with three homers, two doubles, eight runs, and four RBIs over his seven previous games. Same thinking with what I was talking about with Urias. I like the way the Mets matchup against the Dodgers bullpen, and feel they’re a very compelling GPP play.
Marcell Ozuna will likely be batting in one of the top four slots in the Marlins lineup thanks to the injuries to Christian Yelich and Giancarlo Stanton. You remember all those times we raked in the $$$ from rostering him in the beginning of his run, but he’s still doing it, even going 13-for-24 (.542 AVG) with a homer, triple, four doubles, and six runs over his last six games. Everything from a PITCHf/x standpoint calls for Ozuna feasting on Williams Perez tonight. Perez only has three pitches: a fastball, curveball, and changeup, and those are Ozuna’s three best pitches to hit against.
Ryan Braun has two homers over his last three games and gets a dream matchup with John Lamb tonight, who he crushed last season, going 4-for-6 (.667 AVG) with two homers and even snagging two stolen bases. I’m more than likely to do what I need to do in order to fit him into my lineups.
Lorenzo Cain has been one of the hottest hitters in baseball. Over the last week, he has gone 11-for-25 (.440 AVG) with a homer, three doubles, two walks, and four RBIs.
Jacoby Ellsbury is the epitome of great BvP plays tonight thanks to his matchup against Chris Archer. Ellsbury is 16-for-24 (.667 AVG) with a .714 OBP, .and .833 SLG throughout his career against Archer. I would also say that it’s probably a good thing that Ellsbury is starting to look better at the plate while Archer has been inconsistent throughout the season.
Brandon Guyer never gets much attention against right-handed pitching considering he has been viewed as more of a lefty platoon specialist throughout his short career. Nonetheless, he has been on fire, and has been able to produce against all pitchers this season. Over his last 10 games, he has gone 13-for-44 (.295 AVG) with four homers, four doubles, three walks, nine runs, and eight RBIs. Pretty damn good.
Nomar Mazara was my main GPP call on Wednesday in a lefty-versus-lefty matchup against Hector Santiago, and he responded with a 491-foot bomb. Niese isn’t as much of a fly ball pitcher as Santiago, but he has given up his fair share of homers this season. In fact, his 1.87 HR/9 this season would be the worst of his career.
Gerardo Parra has been dominant at Coors this season, and he gets a great matchup against Matt Cain who he has gone 20-for-63 (.317 AVG) against throughout his career.
Cameron Maybin has been getting opportunities in the leadoff spot with Ian Kinsler dealing with a bad illness. Regardless if he bats leadoff or not (if he does, it’s a plus), he remains in play based on his sensational hitting. In nine starts this season, he has reached base safely at least two times in EACH OF THOSE GAMES. With the Tigers matching up EXTREMELY well against Sean Manaea, I’d be very surprised if he doesn’t continue the trend tonight in Oakland.
Gregor Blanco will likely get the start with the absence of Angel Pagan. He has started the last two games and went 4-for-9 (.444 AVG) with a triple and two runs.
Matt Kemp’s price has dwindled over the course of his slump. It is to the point now where his price is at a rough $2500 on FanDuel. If he’s going to do anything, it makes sense for it to be tonight. He gets the park boost from Chase Field and he gets a great matchup against Robbie Ray, who he has gone 3-for-8 (.375 AVG) with a homer in their previous meetings.
Rickie Weeks Jr. has gone 4-for-7 (.571 AVG) with a homer, triple, double, and two RBIs throughout his career. It’s bizarre with Weeks because he can go an entire week without a start, and then all of a sudden gets the nod as the cleanup hitter. He has homered in each of his last two starts, so I love his upside tonight for the price.
Franklin Gutierrez hasn’t be as productive as a lefty masher this season, but his last few at-bats have been much more promising. Plus, when you add the fact that Pat Dean is a contact pitcher, a fly ball pitcher, and has been giving up a 36.4% Hard Hit Rate, I think you have to give Gutierrez some consideration.
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!