Splits matter.

Whether you’re playing in DFS games or season long, that little extra advantage can be had in the split game so it’s vital that you make yourself aware of those players that tilt in the positive, or negative, in certain situations. This article deals with those splits.  

FIRST SECOND HALF SPLITS DON’T MATTER

Historical first and second half splits don’t really matter. The hell you say? Here’s why my statement should ring true.

First/second half splits are completely arbitrary data points to begin and end a discussion. What is different on July 5th from July 15th? The answer is nothing. This is the most frustrating thing I hear all the time. ‘This guy is a second half player...’ Is that true?

Let’s say a guy has an equal number of homers in the first and second half.

First half: 10, 8, 7, 10 = 35 total

Second half: 13, 4, 13, 5 = 35 total

In this instance he is the same performer, right? There are 35 homers in each half. However, which guy is more consistent? First half guy of course. Is he really the same half to half or not?

Another example. Assuming the exact same at-bat total, 250 for each half.

First half: .285, .295, .325, .295 = average of .300

Second half: .280, .375, .280, .280 = average of .304.

According to the overall numbers this guys is a “second half hitter.” In truth, every one of his first half efforts were better than all but one of his second half’s.

Simply, the splits here can be misleading. Do not buy into the first and second half thing at all.

HOME/AWAY

Some will suggest that home/road splits matter a little, others a lot. Of course, if you play your home games in Colorado or Arizona it matters a lot (make sure to check out our Ballpark Factors that talks about all the locations). However, not all home/away splits are equal. What if you faced Clayton Kershaw at home but then faced Brian Anderson on the road? That hitters road numbers would be better on the road, even if the home ballpark is a better place to hit merely because of the pitcher that batter is facing. Keep that in mind when you’re looking at the numbers below.

WHAT Is wOBA?

wOBA attempts to quantify the value of hits much the same way that OPS does. It "weights" the aspects of the offensive game in a way that is relative to the actual run value of the event (i.e. a homer is worth more than double the value of a single). In this respect wOBA is more accurate than OPS since OPS gives slightly more value for hitting for extra bases than it does for getting on base. 

wOBA is figured out on the same scale as regular on-base percentage. That means if you understand the value assigned to OBP you will understand how to read wOBA. Here is a table from Rotographs to explain.

Rating

wOBA

Excellent

0.400

Great

0.370

Above Average

0.340

Average

0.320

Below Average

0.310

Poor

0.300

Awful

0.290

HOME – HITTERS
(Minimum 200 plate appearances)

Name

Team

PA

OBP

SLG

OPS

wOBA

DJ LeMahieu

Rockies

335

0.473

0.591

1.064

0.450

David Ortiz

Red Sox

330

0.427

0.681

1.108

0.449

Trevor Story

Rockies

202

0.393

0.693

1.086

0.445

J.D. Martinez

Tigers

248

0.407

0.634

1.041

0.434

Mike Trout

Angels

338

0.462

0.536

0.997

0.423

Nolan Arenado

Rockies

352

0.384

0.646

1.030

0.422

Josh Donaldson

Blue Jays

351

0.414

0.590

1.004

0.420

Yasmani Grandal

Dodgers

230

0.378

0.621

0.999

0.417

Daniel Murphy

Nationals

277

0.397

0.591

0.988

0.409

Cameron Maybin

Tigers

217

0.433

0.513

0.945

0.408

Joey Votto

Reds

337

0.430

0.536

0.967

0.408

Carlos Gonzalez

Rockies

317

0.375

0.591

0.966

0.407

Jose Ramirez

Indians

316

0.408

0.544

0.952

0.406

Miguel Cabrera

Tigers

324

0.389

0.587

0.976

0.405

Mike Napoli

Indians

329

0.392

0.566

0.958

0.402

Wil Myers

Padres

348

0.385

0.569

0.954

0.401

Charlie Blackmon

Rockies

313

0.399

0.540

0.939

0.398

Corey Seager

Dodgers

338

0.373

0.574

0.946

0.398

Hanley Ramirez

Red Sox

326

0.377

0.566

0.943

0.397

Mookie Betts

Red Sox

355

0.361

0.588

0.948

0.397

Robbie Grossman

Twins

206

0.417

0.494

0.912

0.396

Matt Carpenter

Cardinals

277

0.404

0.526

0.930

0.394

Brandon Drury

Diamondbacks

252

0.365

0.567

0.932

0.393

Ryan Braun

Brewers

269

0.379

0.564

0.943

0.393

Edwin Encarnacion

Blue Jays

338

0.373

0.570

0.943

0.392

It’s hardly a surprise to see a Rockie at the top of the lineup at home. Surprised to see it be a doubles hitter though in DJL who was joined in the top-6 by two teammates – Story and Arenado.

Grandal isn’t just a great defensive catcher. He also mashed at home.

How did Maybin end up on the list? Doesn’t matter. He’s always hurt anyway.

Grossman had a .396 wOBA last season at home. That’s better than luminaries like Paul Goldschmidt (.391), Kris Bryant (.383) and Francisco Lindor (.379).

Some disappointing players at home: Anthony Rendon (.345), Jose Bautista (.345), Bryce Harper (.339), Starling Marte (.338) and Christian Yelich (.337).

AWAY HITTERS
(Minimum 200 plate appearances)

Name

Team

PA

OBP

SLG

OPS

wOBA

Freddie Freeman

Braves

348

0.431

0.641

1.072

0.438

Jose Altuve

Astros

362

0.439

0.552

0.991

0.419

Joey Votto

Reds

340

0.438

0.564

1.002

0.418

Mike Trout

Angels

343

0.420

0.564

0.984

0.414

Nelson Cruz

Mariners

333

0.378

0.616

0.994

0.413

Kris Bryant

Cubs

361

0.393

0.587

0.980

0.409

Daniel Murphy

Nationals

305

0.384

0.599

0.982

0.408

Robinson Cano

Mariners

367

0.379

0.583

0.962

0.402

Danny Valencia

Athletics

244

0.377

0.557

0.934

0.396

Christian Yelich

Marlins

347

0.392

0.542

0.934

0.395

Dexter Fowler

Cubs

285

0.411

0.504

0.915

0.394

Miguel Cabrera

Tigers

355

0.397

0.540

0.938

0.393

Aledmys Diaz

Cardinals

221

0.386

0.552

0.938

0.392

Anthony Rizzo

Cubs

347

0.366

0.568

0.934

0.391

Ben Zobrist

Cubs

329

0.396

0.516

0.912

0.390

Charlie Blackmon

Rockies

328

0.363

0.563

0.926

0.390

David Ortiz

Red Sox

296

0.372

0.556

0.927

0.387

Josh Donaldson

Blue Jays

349

0.394

0.509

0.902

0.386

Victor Martinez

Tigers

305

0.387

0.531

0.918

0.386

J.T. Realmuto

Marlins

281

0.399

0.494

0.893

0.385

Justin Turner

Dodgers

319

0.351

0.551

0.902

0.379

Brian Dozier

Twins

344

0.354

0.544

0.897

0.376

Kole Calhoun

Angels

336

0.384

0.491

0.875

0.376

Paul Goldschmidt

Diamondbacks

353

0.416

0.453

0.869

0.372

Brandon Belt

Giants

330

0.388

0.476

0.864

0.372

There were 16 men with a wOBA over .400 at home.
There were only eight men on the road.

Freeman was an absolute monster performer on the road last season.

Valencia certainly likely hitting outside Oakland.

Yelich may have struggled at home but he was a star on the road.

Rizzo had a .392 mark at home and .391 on the road. Can’t get much better than that.

DJL was way down at .326 on the road which was, amazingly, one point better than Buster Posey and two points better than Albert Pujols and Jose Abreu.

HOME – PITCHERS

*Minimum 50 innings pitched.
 

Name

Team

AVG

OBP

SLG

wOBA

Clayton Kershaw

Dodgers

0.151

0.171

0.195

0.161

Kyle Hendricks

Cubs

0.199

0.244

0.272

0.228

Jose Fernandez

Marlins

0.189

0.256

0.272

0.234

Jon Lester

Cubs

0.181

0.240

0.297

0.237

Christopher Devenski

Astros

0.223

0.260

0.283

0.240

Madison Bumgarner

Giants

0.193

0.251

0.293

0.241

Bud Norris

ATL/LAD

0.189

0.269

0.285

0.246

Max Scherzer

Nationals

0.190

0.248

0.329

0.250

Jake Arrieta

Cubs

0.185

0.280

0.278

0.253

Jason Hammel

Cubs

0.190

0.268

0.310

0.257

Jacob deGrom

Mets

0.198

0.268

0.313

0.258

Junior Guerra

Brewers

0.208

0.277

0.321

0.263

John Lackey

Cubs

0.201

0.268

0.341

0.265

Johnny Cueto

Giants

0.245

0.285

0.322

0.265

Justin Verlander

Tigers

0.193

0.245

0.380

0.267

Jhoulys Chacin

ATL/LAA

0.233

0.289

0.324

0.268

Noah Syndergaard

Mets

0.243

0.283

0.343

0.271

Chris Archer

Rays

0.213

0.282

0.335

0.272

Jose Quintana

White Sox

0.221

0.257

0.386

0.275

Jameson Taillon

Pirates

0.224

0.267

0.373

0.276

Rick Porcello

Red Sox

0.239

0.277

0.364

0.278

Tanner Roark

Nationals

0.226

0.315

0.307

0.280

Matt Moore

TB/SF

0.225

0.289

0.349

0.281

Vince Velasquez

Phillies

0.197

0.270

0.387

0.282

Matt Andriese

Rays

0.238

0.282

0.370

0.282

How good was Kershaw last year at home? Insane.

What the hell is Bud Norris doing on this list? I don’t know either.

The Cubs had four pitchers in the top-10 and five in the top-13. That’s impossible.

Guerra surely liked the home cooking last year.

Velasquez cannot be trusted to throw innings but he was extremely successful at home.

Drew Smyly posted a mark of .287. That was one point better than Corey Kluber.

I have to admit that the .290 mark that Jon Gray posted in Coors is flippin’ awesome. Could he actually establish himself as a legitimate fantasy option in 2017?

Felix Hernandez wasn’t good last year. Still, his .303 mark at home was two points better than Chris Sale and three points better than Danny Salazar.

AWAY – PITCHERS

wOBA is weighted on-base average, and it measures a hitters/pitchers overall offensive/pitching value.

*Minimum 50 innings pitched.
 

Name

Team

AVG

OBP

SLG

wOBA

Rich Hill

OAK/LAD

0.177

0.244

0.243

0.221

Clayton Kershaw

Dodgers

0.213

0.235

0.338

0.244

Christopher Devenski

Astros

0.184

0.240

0.320

0.244

Steven Wright

Red Sox

0.198

0.272

0.284

0.248

Tyler Chatwood

Rockies

0.189

0.286

0.272

0.253

Colby Lewis

Rangers

0.198

0.247

0.342

0.256

Carlos Carrasco

Indians

0.207

0.250

0.355

0.259

Corey Kluber

Indians

0.206

0.268

0.324

0.260

Aaron Sanchez

Blue Jays

0.213

0.276

0.313

0.261

Marco Estrada

Blue Jays

0.192

0.259

0.335

0.261

Chris Sale

White Sox

0.220

0.279

0.315

0.262

Masahiro Tanaka

Yankees

0.232

0.269

0.342

0.265

Julio Teheran

Braves

0.203

0.252

0.359

0.265

Drew Pomeranz

SD/BOS

0.196

0.278

0.334

0.267

Jake Arrieta

Cubs

0.202

0.275

0.333

0.269

Stephen Strasburg

Nationals

0.219

0.285

0.324

0.270

Rick Porcello

Red Sox

0.219

0.260

0.369

0.272

Cole Hamels

Rangers

0.216

0.288

0.328

0.274

Carlos Martinez

Cardinals

0.217

0.315

0.294

0.277

Kyle Hendricks

Cubs

0.211

0.278

0.365

0.278

Justin Verlander

Tigers

0.219

0.285

0.352

0.278

Kenta Maeda

Dodgers

0.225

0.287

0.353

0.278

Max Scherzer

Nationals

0.202

0.258

0.394

0.279

Eduardo Rodriguez

Red Sox

0.217

0.283

0.355

0.279

Clay Buchholz

Red Sox

0.218

0.306

0.331

0.283

Hill was great on the road, no matter what team he pitched for.

Chatwood was torched at home but he was stellar on the road.

Noah Syndergaard (.284) and Johnny Cueto (.287) finished just off the list. Jon Lester wasn’t too far behind either at .291.

David Price and Zack Greinke each had marks of .301, two points better than Danny Duffy & Danny Salazar.

Jose Quintana was at .314, one point better than Marcus Stroman and Robbie Ray.

Chris Archer was trending downward at .335. That mark was still better than the .342 mark of Jacob deGrom.

HITTERS VS. LEFTIES

  • Minimum 100 plate appearances.

Name

Team

OBP

SLG

OPS

wOBA

Yasmany Tomas

Diamondbacks

0.423

0.690

1.112

0.460

Wilmer Flores

Mets

0.383

0.710

1.093

0.455

Hanley Ramirez

Red Sox

0.420

0.677

1.097

0.453

Martin Prado

Marlins

0.500

0.568

1.068

0.452

Paul Goldschmidt

Diamondbacks

0.494

0.576

1.070

0.449

Yoenis Cespedes

Mets

0.457

0.624

1.081

0.441

Kris Bryant

Cubs

0.419

0.641

1.060

0.438

Brandon Guyer

TB /CLE

0.461

0.553

1.013

0.437

Jayson Werth

Nationals

0.411

0.620

1.031

0.432

Robbie Grossman

Twins

0.418

0.576

0.994

0.423

Neil Walker

Mets

0.391

0.610

1.001

0.420

Nelson Cruz

Mariners

0.376

0.644

1.020

0.419

Adrian Beltre

Rangers

0.403

0.602

1.004

0.418

Lorenzo Cain

Royals

0.420

0.596

1.016

0.418

Ryan Braun

Brewers

0.411

0.598

1.010

0.417

Mike Trout

Angels

0.437

0.550

0.987

0.416

Wilson Ramos

Nationals

0.377

0.631

1.008

0.414

Trevor Story

Rockies

0.385

0.590

0.975

0.409

Carlos Beltran

NYY/TEX

0.380

0.589

0.970

0.407

David Freese

Pirates

0.419

0.543

0.963

0.407

Stephen Piscotty

Cardinals

0.400

0.552

0.952

0.406

George Springer

Astros

0.385

0.560

0.945

0.400

Brian Dozier

Twins

0.352

0.613

0.965

0.397

DJ LeMahieu

Rockies

0.415

0.517

0.931

0.397

Josh Donaldson

Blue Jays

0.413

0.519

0.932

0.396

Look at the top-2. Not a person reading this article guesses those two at the top. No you didn’t. Put your hand down. Same could be said about Prado in 4th and Guyer in the 9th spot. Hell, Werth and Grossman in the top-10 are equally insane. #CrazyTime  

Freese in the 20th spot is surprising as well.

Nick Hundley was at .384, one point better than Daniel Murphy.

Xander Bogaerts had the same mark as Jose Altuve (.378).

Anthony Rizzo was only two points better than Melky Cabrera (.362 to .360).

Victor Martinez and Mike Napoli posted identical marks of .352. That was one point better than Matt Carpenter and two points better than Hunter Pence.

Mookie Betts was at .341. That was one point less than Cesar Hernandez.

Carlos Gonzalez was down at .331, a point better than Robinson Cano and Jean Segura.

Bryce Harper vanished last year with a .322 mark, one point less than Andrelton Simmons. Seriously. It was still better than the .319 mark of Carlos Correa.

Kyle Seager kinda stunk against lefties with a .313 rate. That was one point better than Christian Yelich and five points better than Evan Longoria.

Justin Turner wasn’t usable in fantasy against lefties with a .283 mark which was three points better than Eric Hosmer and seven points better than sure out Jake Lamb.

HITTERS VS. RIGHTIES

  • Minimum 200 plate appearances.

Name

Team

OBP

SLG

OPS

wOBA

David Ortiz

Red Sox

0.407

0.665

1.072

0.435

Joey Votto

Reds

0.448

0.584

1.033

0.429

Daniel Murphy

Nationals

0.396

0.614

1.010

0.419

Mike Trout

Angels

0.442

0.550

0.992

0.419

Trea Turner

Nationals

0.378

0.607

0.985

0.413

Freddie Freeman

Braves

0.405

0.596

1.001

0.410

Charlie Blackmon

Rockies

0.376

0.596

0.972

0.405

Josh Donaldson

Blue Jays

0.401

0.558

0.960

0.405

Anthony Rizzo

Cubs

0.393

0.577

0.970

0.404

Miguel Cabrera

Tigers

0.388

0.578

0.966

0.403

Corey Seager

Dodgers

0.391

0.557

0.948

0.400

Robinson Cano

Mariners

0.370

0.584

0.955

0.396

Nolan Arenado

Rockies

0.358

0.593

0.951

0.395

Jose Altuve

Astros

0.398

0.544

0.942

0.395

Aledmys Diaz

Cardinals

0.387

0.554

0.941

0.393

Mark Trumbo

Orioles

0.347

0.584

0.932

0.391

Kyle Seager

Mariners

0.394

0.538

0.932

0.390

J.D. Martinez

Tigers

0.382

0.543

0.925

0.390

DJ LeMahieu

Rockies

0.417

0.486

0.903

0.390

Mookie Betts

Red Sox

0.377

0.540

0.917

0.388

Carlos Santana

Indians

0.374

0.541

0.915

0.388

Joc Pederson

Dodgers

0.371

0.547

0.918

0.386

Matt Carpenter

Cardinals

0.388

0.532

0.920

0.386

Christian Yelich

Marlins

0.392

0.516

0.908

0.386

Justin Turner

Dodgers

0.356

0.563

0.919

0.385

Turner and Seager had excellent rookie seasons (duh).

Santana was at .388 the same as Betts.

Kris Bryant was just off the list at .382.

Ryan Schimpf pounded righties with a .377 mark.

Josh Reddick and Jonathan Lucroy had marks of .371, one point better than Brandon Belt and Edwin Encarnacion.

Paul Goldschmidt was at .362, the same mark as three batters: Brian Dozier, Evan Longoria and Willson Contreras.

Some other notable bats: Manny Machado (.359), Starling Marte (.358), Yoenis Cespedes (.352), Bruce Harper (Yoenis Cespedes (.352), Bruce Harper (.352).

Wil Myers was down at .339. That’s three points better than George Springer who was one point better than Max Kepler.

Justin Upton (.332) had the same mark as Adam Duvall and Gregory Polanco. They were all one point better than Giancarlo Stanton and two points better than Miguel Sano.

Buster Posey disappointed at .324, one point better than Todd Frazier and five points better than Matt Kemp.

Yasmany Tomas, who led against lefties, sucked eggs with the 196th best mark against righties at .306.

PITCHERS VS. LEFTIES
*Minimum 50 innings pitched.

Name

Team

AVG

OBP

SLG

wOBA

Jake Odorizzi

Rays

0.189

0.252

0.325

0.254

Rick Porcello

Red Sox

0.224

0.260

0.339

0.261

Justin Verlander

Tigers

0.184

0.253

0.350

0.261

Marco Estrada

Blue Jays

0.189

0.270

0.332

0.266

Kyle Hendricks

Cubs

0.217

0.277

0.339

0.269

Stephen Strasburg

Nationals

0.199

0.268

0.347

0.269

Junior Guerra

Brewers

0.190

0.283

0.335

0.271

Steven Wright

Red Sox

0.208

0.286

0.321

0.271

Jacob deGrom

Mets

0.237

0.288

0.336

0.273

Danny Salazar

Indians

0.199

0.279

0.349

0.273

Michael Fulmer

Tigers

0.220

0.297

0.325

0.276

Christopher Devenski

Astros

0.226

0.277

0.362

0.277

Jake Arrieta

Cubs

0.193

0.308

0.304

0.278

Masahiro Tanaka

Yankees

0.234

0.263

0.392

0.280

Tanner Roark

Nationals

0.212

0.315

0.302

0.281

Corey Kluber

Indians

0.225

0.289

0.359

0.284

Kevin Gausman

Orioles

0.231

0.272

0.387

0.284

Josh Tomlin

Indians

0.227

0.247

0.438

0.287

Chase Anderson

Brewers

0.201

0.278

0.386

0.289

Dan Straily

Reds

0.189

0.306

0.339

0.290

Johnny Cueto

Giants

0.252

0.300

0.370

0.291

Aaron Sanchez

Blue Jays

0.216

0.306

0.352

0.292

Ervin Santana

Twins

0.246

0.310

0.357

0.293

Colby Lewis

Rangers

0.227

0.293

0.385

0.295

Miguel Gonzalez

White Sox

0.233

0.308

0.366

0.296

Odorizzi led the way in another surprise. Is that more surprising than Junior Guerra posting a mark that was .027 points better than Jose Fernandez? Guerra’s teammate, Anderson, also had a lot of success against lefties.

Devenski was on a lot of these lists, wasn’t he?

Noah Syndergaard at .309 was four points better than Carlos Carrasco, who was one point better than Jameson Taillon who was six points better than David Price (.320).

Dylan Bundy .323 had an impressive season given expectations from last March. He was slightly better than Julio Teheran (.325).

Adam Wainwright (.361) was better than Gerrit Cole (.371). Both righties disappointed.

PITCHERS VS. RIGHTIES

Name

Team

AVG

OBP

SLG

wOBA

Max Scherzer

Nationals

0.154

0.189

0.288

0.206

Clayton Kershaw

Dodgers

0.199

0.223

0.307

0.227

Julio Teheran

Braves

0.211

0.241

0.322

0.243

Kyle Hendricks

Cubs

0.196

0.251

0.305

0.243

Jake Arrieta

Cubs

0.194

0.250

0.307

0.246

Noah Syndergaard

Mets

0.226

0.258

0.322

0.252

Johnny Cueto

Giants

0.221

0.269

0.332

0.263

John Lackey

Cubs

0.198

0.251

0.359

0.264

Corey Kluber

Indians

0.203

0.261

0.354

0.266

Jon Lester

Cubs

0.211

0.276

0.345

0.272

Jeff Samardzija

Giants

0.222

0.276

0.364

0.276

Masahiro Tanaka

Yankees

0.233

0.281

0.354

0.277

Madison Bumgarner

Giants

0.218

0.275

0.367

0.279

Justin Verlander

Tigers

0.223

0.272

0.385

0.283

Tanner Roark

Nationals

0.236

0.299

0.349

0.283

Jeremy Hellickson

Phillies

0.226

0.261

0.411

0.285

Chris Sale

White Sox

0.230

0.286

0.376

0.287

Drew Pomeranz

SD/BOS

0.208

0.281

0.381

0.287

Rick Porcello

Red Sox

0.233

0.276

0.396

0.289

J.A. Happ

Blue Jays

0.227

0.292

0.377

0.292

Steven Matz

Mets

0.249

0.302

0.384

0.296

Jose Quintana

White Sox

0.245

0.298

0.400

0.302

Marcus Stroman

Blue Jays

0.259

0.301

0.397

0.302

James Paxton

Mariners

0.275

0.305

0.409

0.303

David Price

Red Sox

0.249

0.300

0.411

0.305

While Teheran struggled a bit against lefties he dominated righties.

Samardzija never seems to live up to expectations. Still, he was better than MadBum but three points.

Jeremy Hellickson better than Chris Sale? Yep, that happened.

Paxton finished three points ahead of Chris Archer and .013 points better than Cole Hamels. Yep, that happened too.

Sean Manaea had a solid rookie season at .322, the same mark as Dan Straily. Both men were substantially better than Robbie Ray (.343).