DFS MLB Hitting Coach: April 18

We are back at it tonight with a 7-game slate of MLB action. Looking forward to another good week of DFS MLB. Last week wasn't as good as my first week, but I still finished above .500. Playbook PRO subscribers can take a look at how I did in my cash games last week by looking at my Week 2 Lineup Breakdown by clicking here.

 

But nonetheless, the thing that stands about tonight's slate, especially on FanDuel, is that the pricing is just a lot tighter. There are not as many high quality punt plays across the board compared to the first week or two of the season. So, if you are going to pay up for Noah Syndergaard tonight, you will need to look to add some value throughout your lineup. I've included at least one value option at each position if you're looking to save for Thor. 

 

Weather wise, the only game that even has a possibility of rain in the forecast is the Brewers/Twins game in Minneapolis. There should be some scattered showers towards the latter part of the game, so it likely won’t be an issue for the hitters. 

 

As always, players are listed from most expensive to least expensive, using FanDuel salaries. 

 

 

Miguel Montero has had a couple days off, and will be ready tonight against Mike Leake of the Cardinals. He has reached base at least two times in three of his last four starts. Still very underpriced for how good he is at getting on base.

 

Welington Castillo has been rather cold lately, but he did hit his first home run of the season on Friday against the Padres. His price remains pretty low, and is a good value with some power upside at a thin position. 

 

Geovany Soto will likely catch for Hector Santiago tonight in his return to the south side to face the White Sox. He has batted .282/.371/.484 with 33 homers in 692 at bats against left-handed pitching throughout his career. He is my choice punt play at catcher tonight. 

 

 

Joey Votto is the best BvP play of the night. He is 7-for-11 (.636 AVG) with two homers, two doubles, and four walks against Jordan Lyles of the Rockies. That’s good for a .733 OBP/1.364 SLG/2.097 OPS!

 

Brandon Moss has four homers in his last seven games, including two pinch hit homer runs. You have to love his power upside, and with a locked and loaded Cardinals lineup in front of him, I really like his situation. On top of that, he’s 4-for-8 (.500 AVG) against Lackey throughout his career. 

 

Ryan Zimmerman gets a tough matchup against Jose Fernandez, but he’s only $2700 on FanDuel, and has a decent history against the Marlins Ace (3-for-8 with a double, walk, and zero strikeouts).

 

 

DJ LeMahieu had a disappointing Sunday against Jon Lester, but he’s in a great situation as the Rockies leadoff hitter until Charlie Blackmon comes back from the Disabled List. Alfredo Simon has been dreadful this season, and LeMahieu has reached base three out of six previous plate appearances against the Reds right-hander. 

 

Ben Zobrist matches up well against Mike Leake when it comes to the PITCHf/x  numbers, and has dropped down to a reasonable $3000 on FanDuel. Leake isn’t as bad as his early season numbers suggest, but there’s a few spots that can be totally exploited. 

 

Brett Lawrie has four multi-hit games in his last six, and has gone 10-for-24 (.417 AVG) with a homer and three doubles in that six game span. This is as hot as he’s been throughout his career. He has homered off of Santiago before, and with Santiago’s 5.00 xFIP and 53.6 fly ball percentage being the worst in the league in 2015, there could be some long balls tonight in the south side.  

 

 

Todd Frazier is ICE COLD right now, but I think he’s in play as a GPP option tonight against the biggest fly ball pitcher in baseball in Hector Santiago. His .242 ISO in 2015 was the 14th best in the Majors. 

 

Yunel Escobar continues to be a player you want to roster because of his consistency. Prior to his 0-for-4 day against Kyle Gibson of the Twins on Sunday, he had seven consecutive games where he accumulated at least nine FanDuel points, and had reached base at least two times in six of his last seven games. 

 

Martin Prado is 6-for-12 (.500 AVG) with a homer, four RBIs, a walk, and zero strikeouts against Tanner Roark. 

 

 

Zack Cozart is back from his minor tweak in the opening game of the Cubs series, and he still looks locked in. He is 7-for-12 (.583 AVG) with three doubles, two RBIs, and four runs scored in his last three games, and has an 8-game hitting streak. It also helps that he’s 6-for-11 (.545 AVG) with a homer and two doubles against Jordan Lyles in his career. With Votto’s BvP play behind him, I’ll be doing quite a few Cozart/Votto mini-stacks tonight. 

 

Asdrubal Cabrera has reached base safely at least two times in each of his last four games. Not exactly much power upside here with Cabrera, but on a night where the shortstop position is relatively thin, he’s a pretty safe play. 

 

Eduardo Nunez is going to be getting some more starts given the way he’s been playing, and because Trevor Plouffe may be out for a while. Nunez started every game in the last series against the Angels, and went 6-for-12 (.500 AVG) with a triple, double, three runs scored, and a stolen base.

 

 

Giancarlo Stanton hasn’t exactly been worth his price lately, but that could make him an interesting GPP play tonight against Tanner Roark, who he has homered against in the past. I won't be rostering him in any cash games though.

 

Carlos Gonzalez tends to be forgotten whenever he’s away from Coors Field. For the most part, that’s going to be a mistake, because regardless of the stadium, CarGo is one of the best hitters in baseball. I like his matchup tonight against Alfredo Simon, who has allowed nine runs, and a line of .364/.463/.636 in just 6.2 innings pitched this season. 

 

Hunter Pence gets a good matchup against Archie Bradley, who allowed a line of .371/.420/.565 against right-handed hitters in limited action in 2015. Pence is showing some opposite splits himself early on in 2016, but generally does perform better against lefties. 

 

Curtis Granderson had a horrific first week of the season, but he has definitely turned it on the last five games, going 6-for-21 (.286 AVG) with a homer, triple, two doubles, three walks, and five runs scored. Keep in mind, he had a .388 OBP against right-handed pitching last season compared to .273 against southpaws. 

 

Miguel Sano is going to snap out of this funk eventually, and it could definitely happen tonight against Chase Anderson, who has demonstrated some reverse splits throughout his career. Anderson allows line of .288/.328/.458 to righties compared to .244/.317/.408 to lefties. His two hit outing on Sunday can be a sign of things to come. 

 

Yasmany Tomas had an outstanding series against the Padres, where he went 7-for-14 (.500 AVG) with two homers, two doubles, three RBIs, and six runs scored. On top of that, Jake Peavy had some heavy reverse splits last season, allowing a .271 AVG to righties compared to .207 to lefties. 

 

Michael Conforto was 5-for-12 (.417 AVG) with three doubles, three RBIs, and four runs scored in the weekend series against the Indians. He brings this good run to Philly where he’ll meet with Jerad Eickhoff. Confront is 5-for-10 (.500 AVG) with a homer and two doubles against Eickhoff in his career. 

 

Adam Duvall has been quite productive this season, and is at a very reasonable price across the industry. He has a 7-game hitting streak,where he has gone 8-for-26 (.308 AVG) with five doubles. It’s tough to say if he’ll get another start tonight, but he has definitely outperformed Scott Schebler in the left-field platoon.