I’m back for another edition of the DFS MLB Hitting Coach! We’re headed towards the end of the week, but what a way to cap it off than another 14-game Friday slate. Not as many expensive options at pitcher tonight, outside of Chris Sale, so there should be plenty of ways for you to spend some dough on all the major sites.
But first, rain.
Yes, the dreaded rain. For White Sox/Yankees, it looks like there’s going to be over a 50% chance of rain in the Bronx at start time, but it may or may not clear up. We’ll see what happens to the forecasts, but it does look like it’ll be okay.
Another game that will have a ton of problems is Astros/Red Sox in Boston. There is an over 60% chance of rain at Fenway, but what makes it worse is that it doesn’t look like it’ll clear up until Midnight. Not a good situation there.
As for Braves/Royals in Kansas City, it appears to be similar to the White Sox/Yankees game in the sense that the rain should hit prior to the start, but has a good chance of clearing up. Definitely keep a close eye on this one.
By the way, today, I am debuting a new style of doing the charts. I’ve included a lot of the stats that I like to look at when it comes to hitters, and I hope you guys enjoy the extra bit of information when scrolling through all of the players. And if you’re working, “Z-Contact” is the percentage of swings making contact with pitches inside the strike zone.
Feel free to let me know if you have any questions.
| CATCHER | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Player | Team | Bats | Opp | Probable Pitcher | Throws | G | AB | H | HR | R | RBI | BB | SB | AVG | OBP | SLG | ISO | BABIP | LD% | wOBA | wRC | Z-Contact% | Hard% | FD | DK | Aces |
| Victor Martinez | DET | B | BAL | Chris Tillman | R | 34 | 116 | 42 | 5 | 17 | 20 | 10 | 0 | .362 | .422 | .578 | .216 | .370 | 26.70% | .426 | 26 | 94.90% | 42.90% | $3,300 | $4,100 | $5,150 |
| Wilson Ramos | WSH | R | MIA | Adam Conley | L | 24 | 88 | 32 | 3 | 8 | 13 | 6 | 0 | .364 | .404 | .545 | .182 | .397 | 21.10% | .410 | 18 | 89.60% | 31.60% | $3,000 | $3,500 | $4,650 |
| Christian Bethancourt | SD | R | MIL | Zach Davies | R | 12 | 33 | 8 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 0 | .242 | .257 | .576 | .333 | .200 | 11.10% | .344 | 5 | 85.40% | 25.90% | $2,300 | $3,200 | $3,450 |
| Rene Rivera | NYM | R | COL | Jon Gray | R | 4 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 0 | .091 | .333 | .364 | .273 | .000 | 14.30% | .324 | 2 | 79.00% | 28.60% | $2,200 | $2,700 | $3,900 |
Victor Martinez was the only Tigers hitter who didn’t strikeout against Max Scherzer on Wednesday, and it says a lot about how locked in he is. Over his last three games, he has gone 10-for-13 (.769 AVG) with a couple runs and a couple RBIs. On top of that, V-Mart is absolutely crushing the ball this year. His power numbers don’t show it, but his hard hit rate is at a whopping 42.6%. That’s good enough to be the 13th best in the Majors. Not bad at all for a 37-year-old Major League veteran.
Wilson Ramos gets a great matchup against the terribad Tom Koehler, who currently has a horrible 5.17 xFIP. Ramos has been phenomenal this season, and has been super hot in May, batting .452/.528/.645 with a homer.
Christian Bethancourt will likely get the start at catcher for the Padres, after Derek Norris sustained a hand injury last night after getting hit by a pitch by Jimmy Nelson. Bethancourt hasn’t gotten many starts, but he has been productive when he has. Over his last four starts, he has gone 5-for-10 (.500 AVG) with three homers, a double, and five RBIs.
Rene Rivera might be a must play on FanDuel if he gets the start. With the late game last night in Los Angeles, a Plawecki playing the entire game, I think there’s a reasonable chance he starts tonight in Coors.
| FIRST BASE | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Player | Team | Bats | Opp | Probable Pitcher | Throws | G | AB | H | HR | R | RBI | BB | SB | AVG | OBP | SLG | ISO | BABIP | LD% | wOBA | wRC | Z-Contact% | Hard% | FD | DK | Aces |
| Jose Abreu | CWS | R | NYY | Luis Severino | R | 35 | 135 | 34 | 5 | 14 | 22 | 14 | 0 | .252 | .338 | .415 | .163 | .284 | 19.60% | .323 | 19 | 89.70% | 31.80% | $3,900 | $4,400 | $4,900 |
| Lucas Duda | NYM | L | COL | Jon Gray | R | 34 | 111 | 26 | 7 | 14 | 18 | 11 | 0 | .234 | .304 | .459 | .225 | .229 | 18.90% | .325 | 15 | 87.80% | 35.60% | $3,900 | $4,600 | $5,500 |
| Albert Pujols | LAA | R | SEA | Nate Karns | R | 34 | 129 | 25 | 7 | 14 | 20 | 13 | 1 | .194 | .266 | .372 | .178 | .170 | 15.90% | .277 | 12 | 95.20% | 38.10% | $3,100 | $3,400 | $4,700 |
| Prince Fielder | TEX | L | TOR | R.A. Dickey | R | 35 | 131 | 26 | 2 | 8 | 20 | 12 | 0 | .198 | .260 | .298 | .099 | .226 | 22.40% | .245 | 8 | 87.60% | 25.20% | $2,800 | $3,900 | $4,600 |
Jose Abreu is 12-for-39 (.308 AVG) with two homers, a triple, a double, five walks, and nine RBIs over his last ten games. He gets the Yankee Stadium park boost and a date with Luis Severino who has a terrible 1.95 HR/9 this season.
Lucas Duda has batted a ridiculous .375/.487/.500 throughout his career in Coors Field. He hasn’t been very good lately, but Coors Field tends to be the ultimate cure for these type of slumps. And besides, Duda is one of the many Mets lefties who have the ability to hit multiple home runs on any given game.
Albert Pujols has been hitting the ball hard lately, but hasn’t really been rewarded for most of it. He did hit a home run last night in the 9th inning of a game that was already out of hand, so there are things to be encouraged about. He’ll face Nathan Karns of the Mariners tonight, who he has gone 3-for-6 (.500 AVG) against with a home run.
Prince Fielder is coming off of a solid game where he went 2-for-3 with a pair of doubles against Mat Latos and the White Sox. Mat Latos doesn’t throw very hard, and neither does tonight’s opponent, R.A. Dickey. According to PITCHf/x values, Fielder has been a plus player against the knuckleball throughout his career, and his discounted price on FanDuel happens to be quite appealing, especially with the multitude of prime expensive options tonight.
| SECOND BASE | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Player | Team | Bats | Opp | Probable Pitcher | Throws | G | AB | H | HR | R | RBI | BB | SB | AVG | OBP | SLG | ISO | BABIP | LD% | wOBA | wRC | Z-Contact% | Hard% | FD | DK | Aces |
| Robinson Cano | SEA | L | LAA | Nick Tropeano | R | 34 | 142 | 43 | 12 | 22 | 33 | 9 | 0 | .303 | .349 | .606 | .303 | .284 | 18.20% | .406 | 28 | 92.40% | 31.40% | $4,100 | $5,100 | $5,650 |
| Daniel Murphy | WSH | L | MIA | Tom Koehler | R | 33 | 127 | 52 | 5 | 22 | 22 | 8 | 1 | .409 | .449 | .661 | .252 | .439 | 31.30% | .472 | 32 | 96.30% | 42.00% | $4,100 | $5,000 | $5,200 |
| Jason Kipnis | CLE | L | MIN | Ricky Nolasco | R | 31 | 125 | 36 | 3 | 18 | 15 | 10 | 3 | .288 | .333 | .424 | .136 | .375 | 31.90% | .328 | 17 | 84.70% | 37.40% | $3,400 | $4,500 | $4,800 |
| Brandon Phillips | CIN | R | PHI | Jeremy Hellickson | R | 30 | 112 | 32 | 6 | 17 | 17 | 3 | 3 | .286 | .317 | .518 | .232 | .280 | 19.20% | .351 | 17 | 87.40% | 36.90% | $2,900 | $3,800 | $4,500 |
Robinson Cano has been amazing this season, but has been extremely good int he month of May where he has batted .449 with four homers, four doubles, and nine RBIs. On top of that, Nick Tropeano gives ups a 37.8% hard hit rate and 48.9% fly ball rate.
Daniel Murphy is still rocking a .409 AVG after 127 at-bats this season. While the odds are against him maintaining .400, there’s no denying the fact that he’s been unreal, combining for 20 extra-base hits throughout the season, and going a ridiculous 21-for-42 (.500 AVG) with three homers and five RBIs over his last 10 games.
Jason Kipnis is coming off of a huge 5-for-7 game against the Astros on Wednesday, and gets a nice matchup against Ricky Nolasco of the Twins. Kipnis is 4-for-12 (.333 AVG) with a homer, two doubles, and five RBIs in his career against Nolasco.
Brandon Phillips is closing in on a week since his last home run, but he has still looked very comfortable at the plate, and is still rocking a 1.002 OPS in the month of May.
| THIRD BASE | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Player | Team | Bats | Opp | Probable Pitcher | Throws | G | AB | H | HR | R | RBI | BB | SB | AVG | OBP | SLG | ISO | BABIP | LD% | wOBA | wRC | Z-Contact% | Hard% | FD | DK | Aces |
| Josh Donaldson | TOR | R | TEX | Martin Perez | L | 36 | 137 | 39 | 9 | 33 | 21 | 22 | 3 | .285 | .391 | .562 | .277 | .316 | 24.00% | .407 | 30 | 83.20% | 44.20% | $4,300 | $5,400 | $5,650 |
| Kyle Seager | SEA | L | LAA | Nick Tropeano | R | 33 | 127 | 29 | 7 | 19 | 21 | 11 | 0 | .228 | .298 | .480 | .252 | .220 | 18.90% | .333 | 18 | 85.50% | 38.30% | $3,800 | $4,200 | $5,050 |
| Matt Carpenter | STL | L | LA | Ross Stripling | R | 35 | 128 | 34 | 7 | 23 | 25 | 22 | 0 | .266 | .381 | .523 | .258 | .287 | 26.00% | .385 | 26 | 89.90% | 41.70% | $3,700 | $4,500 | $5,350 |
| Trevor Plouffe | MIN | R | CLE | Josh Tomlin | R | 19 | 70 | 19 | 3 | 5 | 9 | 2 | 0 | .271 | .288 | .486 | .214 | .286 | 19.00% | .328 | 9 | 88.70% | 33.90% | $2,400 | $3,700 | $4,500 |
Josh Donaldson is coming off of a nice game in San Francisco where he went 4-for-6 with a double and a stolen base, and gets rewarded with a big park boost in Arlington against a pitcher who he has crushed in Martin Perez. Donaldson is 6-for-15 (.400 AVG) with a homer and three doubles in his career against Perez.
Kyle Seager has gone 15-for-41 (.366 AVG) with two homers, two triples, three doubles, six runs, and eight RBIs over his last 10 games.
Matt Carpenter: Five multi-hit games in his last seven. Four home runs in his last five. Eight runs scored in his last five. Faces Ross Stripling who is giving up a 90.8% Z-Contact rate (14th worst in baseball).
Trevor Plouffe is dirt cheap and gets a meeting with Josh Tomlin, who he has homered against in the past. Over his last four games, Plouffe has gone a respectable 6-for-15 (.400 AVG) wth a homer, two doubles, and three RBIs. I love the matchup tonight, and I love the Twins as a sneaky stack.
| SHORTSTOP | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Player | Team | Bats | Opp | Probable Pitcher | Throws | G | AB | H | HR | R | RBI | BB | SB | AVG | OBP | SLG | ISO | BABIP | LD% | wOBA | wRC | Z-Contact% | Hard% | FD | DK | Aces |
| Corey Seager | LA | L | STL | Michael Wacha | R | 34 | 129 | 35 | 3 | 20 | 16 | 13 | 1 | .271 | .336 | .434 | .163 | .308 | 23.40% | .332 | 18 | 90.10% | 35.50% | $3,800 | $3,600 | $5,000 |
| Ketel Marte | SEA | B | LAA | Nick Tropeano | R | 32 | 126 | 37 | 1 | 18 | 10 | 5 | 3 | .294 | .323 | .389 | .095 | .360 | 31.60% | .311 | 15 | 86.70% | 20.60% | $3,100 | $3,800 | $3,500 |
| Troy Tulowitzki | TOR | R | TEX | Martin Perez | L | 34 | 122 | 21 | 6 | 11 | 16 | 16 | 0 | .172 | .275 | .336 | .164 | .190 | 7.10% | .271 | 11 | 76.90% | 30.60% | $2,800 | $4,200 | $4,750 |
| Danny Espinosa | WSH | B | MIA | Tom Koehler | R | 34 | 105 | 22 | 3 | 8 | 14 | 11 | 1 | .210 | .320 | .314 | .105 | .250 | 18.90% | .278 | 10 | 83.30% | 27.20% | $2,600 | $2,800 | $3,800 |
Corey Seager has really turned his season around in May. Over his last nine games, he has gone 11-for-30 (.367 AVG) with a homer, four doubles, four walks, six runs, and four RBIs.
Ketel Marte has batted 5-for-11 (.455 AVG) against Nick Tropeano between the Majors and Minors throughout his career. Most importantly, he has been a solid .319/.347/.511 with a homer, triple, a four doubles in the month of May.
Troy Tulowitzki isn’t highlighted in my articles again because of orders from Jeff Mans. I agree with everything he says about the Long Beach State Hall-of-Famer. He is coming off of a good series against the Giants, and he gets a matchup against Martin Perez who he has homered against in the past.
Danny Espinosa has gone 7-for-20 (.350 AVG) with a home run, double, and three RBIs over his last five games. Not in play in cash games because of his rough BvP vs. Koehler and because Tulo is just a few bucks more, but I think he could be an interesting piece in a Nationals stack tonight.
| OUTFIELD | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Player | Team | Bats | Opp | Probable Pitcher | Throws | G | AB | H | HR | R | RBI | BB | SB | AVG | OBP | SLG | ISO | BABIP | LD% | wOBA | wRC | Z-Contact% | Hard% | FD | DK | Aces |
| Yoenis Cespedes | NYM | R | COL | Jon Gray | R | 30 | 111 | 32 | 11 | 20 | 31 | 13 | 1 | .288 | .368 | .649 | .360 | .288 | 22.60% | .426 | 25 | 85.20% | 36.90% | $5,000 | $5,600 | $6,000 |
| Bryce Harper | WSH | L | MIA | Tom Koehler | R | 34 | 106 | 28 | 10 | 22 | 27 | 35 | 5 | .264 | .441 | .604 | .340 | .257 | 15.20% | .420 | 28 | 88.60% | 37.50% | $4,300 | $5,100 | $5,900 |
| Gerardo Parra | COL | L | NYM | Matt Harvey | R | 33 | 139 | 43 | 3 | 19 | 19 | 2 | 5 | .309 | .319 | .475 | .165 | .345 | 14.70% | .339 | 18 | 90.60% | 27.60% | $4,300 | $4,100 | $5,400 |
| Mookie Betts | BOS | R | HOU | Lance McCullers | R | 35 | 158 | 40 | 6 | 29 | 24 | 9 | 7 | .253 | .293 | .430 | .177 | .272 | 20.00% | .313 | 18 | 92.20% | 30.50% | $4,200 | $4,500 | $5,400 |
| Michael Conforto | NYM | L | COL | Jon Gray | R | 31 | 112 | 32 | 5 | 17 | 19 | 12 | 1 | .286 | .362 | .518 | .232 | .346 | 18.10% | .375 | 20 | 87.60% | 45.80% | $4,000 | $4,200 | $5,350 |
| Miguel Sano | MIN | R | CLE | Josh Tomlin | R | 33 | 119 | 27 | 4 | 14 | 13 | 18 | 0 | .227 | .326 | .378 | .151 | .324 | 30.70% | .313 | 15 | 74.90% | 40.00% | $3,100 | $4,000 | $4,700 |
| Alex Gordon | KC | L | ATL | Julio Teheran | R | 34 | 113 | 27 | 4 | 17 | 10 | 15 | 3 | .239 | .351 | .381 | .142 | .333 | 26.00% | .326 | 16 | 77.50% | 30.10% | $2,800 | $3,300 | $4,450 |
| Steve Pearce | TB | R | OAK | Rich Hill | L | 20 | 65 | 20 | 5 | 8 | 11 | 8 | 0 | .308 | .392 | .569 | .262 | .288 | 17.50% | .413 | 14 | 87.40% | 24.60% | $2,800 | $3,000 | $4,400 |
| Adam Jones | BAL | R | DET | Justin Verlander | R | 29 | 110 | 26 | 3 | 14 | 15 | 8 | 0 | .236 | .294 | .355 | .118 | .274 | 12.80% | .288 | 11 | 83.90% | 35.60% | $2,600 | $4,000 | $4,950 |
| Ben Revere | WSH | L | MIA | Tom Koehler | R | 7 | 29 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | .103 | .156 | .207 | .103 | .115 | 15.40% | .160 | 0 | 84.00% | 34.60% | $2,600 | $3,800 | $4,300 |
| Melvin Upton | SD | R | MIL | Junior Guerra | R | 36 | 116 | 31 | 4 | 15 | 14 | 16 | 6 | .267 | .353 | .422 | .155 | .342 | 21.00% | .338 | 17 | 76.50% | 35.40% | $2,500 | $4,000 | $4,200 |
| Matt Holliday | STL | R | LA | Ross Stripling | R | 34 | 116 | 31 | 6 | 16 | 19 | 12 | 0 | .267 | .346 | .534 | .267 | .275 | 12.40% | .374 | 21 | 93.10% | 38.10% | $2,400 | $3,400 | $4,600 |
| Ryan Rua | TEX | R | TOR | R.A. Dickey | R | 16 | 52 | 16 | 2 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | .308 | .333 | .442 | .135 | .424 | 22.90% | .338 | 7 | 79.00% | 31.40% | $2,200 | $2,500 | $3,300 |
Yoenis Cespedes gave Jon Gray his first “Welcome to the big leagues” moment last season when Cespedes hit a Grand Slam in Gray’s first career start. I’ve mentioned before how Cespedes is unbelievably good about righties, and hits for a lot of power against righties. Well, with Coors in play, nothing really changes here except the higher likelihood for production and his big price tag.
Bryce Harper has batted a cool .321/.387/1.000 (yes, 1.000 slugging percentage) with six homers and 11 RBIs against To Koehler. AND, his price has dropped a bit over the last few weeks. Enough said.
Gerardo Parra is starting to feel much more comfortable at Coors, but besides that, he has been tearing it up over his last seven starts, going 13-for-32 (.406 AVG) with five doubles, five runs, and five RBIs.
Mookie Betts has been outstanding at home in Fenway this season. He has gone .279/.321/.426 at home with five of his six homers and a whopping 20 RBIs. He has gone 2-for-4 (.500 AVG) with a couple doubles and a couple walks against Lance McCullers throughout his career.
Michael Conforto’s 47% fly ball rate and 45.8% hard hit rate this season definitely meshes well with Coors Field in play. He has struggled a bit after an insane April, but I don’t think it really matters tonight in Coors.
Miguel Sano’s shot a couple days ago against Tyler Wilson and the Orioles was something I sensed and highlighted here in the Hitting Coach, and I think he’ll repeat it tonight against Josh Tomlin and the Indians. When opponents make contact with the ball against Tomlin, they are crushing it at a rate of 40%, which doesn’t exactly mesh well with his 40% fly ball rate. Plus, I’ve mentioned before how Sano has had slightly more success in his career against righties.
Alex Gordon has gone 10-for-30 (.333 AVG) with two homers, four walks, five runs, and five RBIs over his last nine games. He faces Julio Teheran who has given up a .369 wOBA to lefties this season.
Steve Pearce is, somehow, still at a reasonable price after going double dong against Wade Miley and the Mariners a few games ago. Tonight, he’ll face a unique southpaw in Rich Hill, who throws a lot of curveballs. Pearce is batting .400/.455/.867 with four homers against southpaws this season, and according to PITCHf/x, he happens to have good numbers against the curveball since 2013.
Adam Jones is still oddly affordable even though he has been able to produce. He faces the Jekyll and Hyde of pitchers, Justin Verlander, who he has had gone a rough .229/.243/.429 against, but does have two homers in 35 at-bats.
Ben Revere has struggled a bit since coming back from his injury, but you can’t deny the fact that he’s in a good situation batting leadoff in front of a potent Nationals offense. He is 10-for-22 (.455 AVG) with six runs, five stolen bases, and zero strikeouts throughout his career against Tom Koehler.
Melvin Upton Jr. has gone a solid 11-for-31 (.355 AVG) with two homers, a double, four walks, four runs, and three RBIs over his last 10 games. And as a weekly reminder, Junior Guerra is a 31-year-old career minor leaguer who is giving up a 42.4% fly ball rate.
Matt Holliday is the “WTF is FanDuel thinking?” play of the day because of his $2400 salary. Yes, no one could have predicted that he’d go double dong last night against Jered Weaver, but it’s not like Tuesday was so long ago that we’re unable to comprehend him going 3-for-5 with a homer and two doubles. He’ll face Ross Stripling, who for whatever reason, has been worse at home, allowing a .303 AVG to his opponents.
Ryan Rua may not be in the lineup tonight, but considering he got the nod against the righty Mat Latos on Wednesday, I think he might have an edge over Delino Deshields right now. He is batting .308 for the season, and has gone 5-for-8 (.625 AVG) with a homer and four RBIs over his last two starts.
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!