DFS MLB Hitting Coach: April 12

With only two games in the early slate, Tuesday’s DFS MLB Hitting Coach will focus on the 10-game “main” slate that starts at 7:05 PM ET. 

 

Since we are only focusing on one slate, I will simply be listing players from most expensive to least expensive according to FanDuel salaries. 

 

Oh, and before I forget, at the time of this writing, it appears that there should not be any weather issues that would affect tonight’s slate. Still, I’ve seen weirder things, so always keep an eye on any potential weather issues prior to roster lock. 

 

 

Buster Posey would probably be a perennial MVP if he played all of his games at Coors. He has batted .396/.458/.633 with nine homers in just 169 at-bats at Coors, and should be in consideration regardless of his salary. 

 

Chris Iannetta has smoked lefties throughout his career, going .255/.386/.482. He faces Derek Holland tonight, who he has gone 7-for-19 (.358 AVG) with a homer and three walks against, most of which, was from his time with the Angels. 

 

Josh Phegley is a guy who I could go on and on about given his great lefty splits, but I’ll just focus on his solid numbers against Hector Santiago. Phegley is 3-for-5 (.600 AVG) with a homer and double against throughout his career. 

 

 

Edwin Encarnacion may be a bit pricey, but he could be worth paying up for given his matchup with Masahiro Tanaka, who Edwin has smashed to the tune of 7-for-14 with a homer and two doubles. 

 

Chris Davis already has three home runs this season, including a big late inning shot yesterday off of Craig Kimbrel. It wouldn’t surprise me if he does it again tonight against Clay Buchholz, considering Davis is 8-for-24 (.333 AVG) with two homers and five walks against him throughout his career. 

 

Ben Paulsen has been benched in 2016 in favor of Mark Reynolds, but if he gets the start, he has to be in play tonight as a cheaper alternative to many of the other Coors Field bats. Pauline went 98-for-342 (.287 AVG) with 12 homers and a .333 OBP last season against right-handed pitching. His OBP jumped up to .362 at Coors Field. 

 

Ryan Zimmerman has been swinging a very hot bat. He was the industry’s premium BvP play last night against Bud Norris, and he has a pretty good matchup tonight against Jhoulys Chacin. Zimmerman has gone 5-for-13 (.385 AVG) with two homers and five RBIs against the former Rockies pitcher. 

 

Albert Pujols may be too much of a wild card to play in your cash games, but tonight may be the night he breaks out. He is 4-for-6 (.667 AVG) with a home run against Kendall Graveman. 

 

Darin Ruf is a Fantasy Alarm favorite, and you know what, he’s one of my favorites as well as long as he’s facing a left-handed pitcher. In the last three seasons, Ruf has produced ELITE numbers off of southpaws, going 67-for-227 (.295 AVG) with 14 home runs, a .390 OBP, and .529 SLG. 

 

 

Joe Panik is a high OBP player who had some elite numbers against righties last season, going .318/.379/.473 with seven homers. 

 

Daniel Murphy went yard last night in the first inning against Bud Norris, and it wouldn’t surprise me if he produced against against Jhoulys Chacin. I love playing the hot hand as long as the matchup is still good, and there isn’t a hotter second baseman in baseball than Murphy.

 

Dustin Pedroia has gone 9-for-24 (.375 AVG) with two doubles in his last five games. He also homered of of Mike Wright last season, and is a good price on FanDuel, but not so much on DraftKings. 

 

Cesar Hernandez is a switch hitter who hits much better from the right-side of the plate against lefties. Hernandez batted .314/.381/.388 against lefties in 2015, and could make a bit of an under-the-radar mini-stack with Darin Ruf. 

 

 

Manny Machado is going to be a very contrarian play tonight at his high price point, but I can definitely see him continuing his torrid run tonight against Clay Buchholz. I’d normally say, yeah, you have to avoid paying up for him in cash games, but if you’re going contrarian with a cheap pitcher, I can definitely see paying up for him in cash.  

 

Matt Duffy is similar to Justin Turner in that he actually performed better against right-handed pitching last season. While pricey, he should still be given a look considering he is going up against a weak pitcher in Tyler Chatwood at Coors Field. 

 

Yunel Escobar continues to get on base. He is one of the very few bright spots on the Angels this season, and tends to be in play every night because of his plate discipline combined with his reasonable price tag. 

 

Luis Valbuena is a huge boom or bust player, but I don’t mind rostering him in cash games when he’s only $2300 on FanDuel. The matchup against Kris Medlen is definitely a good one, and he could help provide some very cheap exposure to the Astros, while packing in some pretty huge upside. 

 

 

Trevor Story has become the talk of the town in fantasy baseball. Trade him? Keep him? It doesn’t matter because we’re all about DFS! His price tag has taken a huge jump, but the upside is still massive for a guy who has seven home runs through his first six games in the Majors. 

 

Brandon Crawford showed off his big time power last season, so he becomes a pretty interesting target tonight at Coors against Tyler Chatwood. One of Crawford’s drawbacks is his high K/rate, but he has gone 5-for-14 (.357 AVG) with two walks and no strikeouts against Chatwood throughout his career. 

 

Francisco Lindor may not pack a lot of power, but he does a good job getting on-base, and especially against southpaws. Linder went .321/.368/.521 against lefties in 2015, and he’ll look to continue that pace in 2016 against Matt Moore. 

 

J.J. Hardy has hits in three of his last four games, and faces Clay Buchholz of the Red Sox. Hardy is 7-for-22 (.318) with two homers against Buchholz, and could provide some salary relief at shortstop. 

 

 

Carlos Gonzalez may not have a good history against Jeff Samardzija, but his domination this season is something that can’t be ignored. He is also coming off a huge game where he homered twice against the Padres. 

 

Mike Trout hit a bomb last night against Sonny Gray, helping the Halos defeat the A’s. Trout hit home runs in bunches last season, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he goes deep tonight against Kendall Graveman. He may be too risky to use in cash, solely because of his high salary. 

 

Nelson Cruz’s lefty splits aren’t something I’m going to bore you guys with by reiterating. Instead, I’ll mention that he’ll be facing Derek Holland, who he gone 3-for-8 (.375 AVG) with a homer and two walks against. 

 

Lorenzo Cain’s high price tag isn’t as appealing as some of the other Royals outfielders, but his advanced statistics (pitch values) suggests that he matches up extremely well against Mike Fiers of the Astros. Plus, small sample size, yes, but Cain has a triple and a walk in three plate appearances against Fiers. He’s definitely more of a GPP play tonight. 

 

Gerardo Parra will consistently be underowned until he actually does something productive at Coors Field. Tonight may be the night, because he faces Jeff Samardzija, who he has gone 6-for-15 (.400) against with a homer, double, and two walks. 

 

Carlos Beltran only has three plate appearances against Aaron Sanchez, but he has two hits, including a big pinch-hit three-run homer last season in Toronto. He is also coming off of a big game against the Tigers, where he went 2-for-4 with a homer. 

 

Jon Jay done a solid job as the Padres new leadoff man, and has hits in every game this season. He faces Charlie Morton who he has hit well against throughout his career, going 9-for-22 (.409 AVG). I don’t know if I’d use him in cash at his price, but it’s not out of the question. 

 

Kevin Pillar still isn’t getting much ownership even though his situation is pretty amazing as the Jays leadoff man. His superb patience at the plate could go a long way tonight, especially considering Tanaka relies so heavily on his splitter as his main knockout pitch. 

 

Rajai Davis’s value is largely centered on his elite speed. Yes, it’s important to note that Davis is 5-for-15 (.333 AVG) against Matt Moore, but it’s even more important to note that he has four stolen bases in four attempts. 

 

Joey Rickard has established himself as the Orioles everyday leadoff man, and may have cemented a permanent spot in the lineup through his great play this season. He currently has hits in all six games this season, and has reached base multiple times in four of his six games.