DFS MLB Hitting Coach: April 20

Be sure to keep an eye on the Fantasy Alarm Daily Lineups page to confirm that these players are in their team’s lineups. 

 

Nonetheless, I’d be extremely, extremely, extremely careful playing the early slate. There is definitely rain in the forecast for both the Cubs/Cardinals and the Angels/White Sox games. I’m no weatherman, but just looking at these forecasts tells me that there’s certainly a chance that those two games can get rained out. The rain in St. Louis is forecasted to start an hour before their game starts while the rain in Chicago is forecasted to start right around game time. I guess we’ll have to see how this changes as we get closer to 12:35 PM ET.

 

As for the late games, somehow, someway, the weather seems  to be fine for all 11 games. There’s definitely rain forecasted in the Milwaukee area, but thankfully Miller Park has a roof. 

 

I will be giving you some hitters to consider for the early slate, but a bulk of my picks will be centered on the late slate.

 

 

 

Miguel Montero just continues to get on base at will. He has reached base safely two or more times in five of his last six starts. He did play last night, so make sure he’s in the lineup before you insert him in your lineups.

 

Devin Mesoraco only has five hits in 31 at-bats in 2016, but currently has a 3-game hitting streak, and looks a lot better at the plate. The options are so limited in this early slate that I have to give him some consideration. 

 

 

Brian McCann went 3-for-3 with a homer against Kendall Graveman last season. McCann has cooled off since his extremely hot start, but I’m probably going to take my chances with him tonight considering what happened the last time they met. 

 

Jarrod Saltalamacchia tends to be overlooked because of Victor Martinez’s eligibility at catcher on FanDuel, but he has definitely caught my attention. He has three consecutive multi-hit games, and three consecutive games with a home run. He also have five homers in his last eight games. He isn’t going to keep this up throughout the season, but we might as well ride him while he’s hot. 

 

Yasmani Grandal is 3-for-7 with two doubles and a walk against Julio Teheran of the Braves. He’s still way too underpriced considering what he’s capable of doing at the plate.

 

Evan Gattis is the second player from last night’s Hitting Coach that makes his way back to today’s article. Like most righties, Gattis prefers hitting against southpaws, and it shows with his career numbers of 4-for-13 (.308 AVG) with two home runs against Cole Hamels. 

 

 

 

Jose Abreu is 4-for-6 (.667 AVG) with a homer, double, and four RBIs against Garrett Richards throughout his career. Hopefully last night’s home run off of Matt Shoemaker is a sign of things to come. 

 

Ben Paulsen may be sitting against against a right-handed pitcher, but if he does play, he’s a great value at first. He has gone 8-for-18 (.444 AVG) with a homer and two doubles in his last five starts. 

 

 

David Ortiz has a tough matchup against Chris Archer of the Rays, but Big Papi has still been Big Papi against the young righty throughout his career. He is 9-for-26 (.346 AVG) with two homers, three walks, and 11 RBIs against Archer.

 

Adrian Gonzalez is 4-for-12 (.333 AVG) with a homer, double, and two walks against Julio Teheran. Considering active Dodgers bats have hit .338/.405/.507 against Teheran, it may be wise to get a few of the boys in blue in your lineup. 

 

Prince Fielder may have broken out of his slump with a big game last night against the Astros. He’ll face Doug Fister, who he has gone 2-for-2 with a homer and a double in his only other appearance against the Astros right-hander.

 

Byung Ho Park has homered in three of his last four games, and definitely looks locked in at the plate (he barely missed a home run in the one game where he didn’t hit one out). He’s quite the bargain throughout the industry, and could provide some salary relief. 

 

 

 

Brandon Phillips faces Chad Bettis of the Rockies in an early afternoon game at the GAB. Bettis has struggled throughout his career against right-handed batters, allowing a line of .308/.360/.510, and 14 homers in 406 at bats. 

 

Brett Lawrie has been able to hold his own against Garrett Richards throughout his career. The former Jay and A’s infielder is 5-for-14 (.357 AVG) with a pair of doubles against Richards. 

 

 

Jose Altuve has the best batting average against lefties out of everyone in MLB the last three seasons. He is 4-for-8 (.500 AVG) with a homer against Hamels throughout his career. 

 

Ian Kinsler is 5-for-7 (.714 AVG) with three doubles against Ian Kennedy of the Royals. Kinsler is also 11-for-30 (.367 AVG) with three homers in his last seven games.

 

Neil Walker has been a perfectly acceptable replacement for Daniel Murphy. Actually, the way he has been hitting reminds me of Murphy in the playoffs. Walker will be looking for his fifth homer in just six days tonight against Jeremy Hellickson of the Phillies. 

 

 

 

Nolan Arenado is going to be your best option in GPPs today with everyone gravitating to Carpenter. He went 0-for-4 last night, but probably has the biggest upside of all infielders in the early slate. He has gone “double dong” two times in his last seven games. 

 

Matt Carpenter was a must play on the Thursday early slate, and is probably a must play today against Kyle Hendricks. Carpenter is 6-for-10 (.600 AVG) with a homer, two walks, and zero strikeouts against the Cubs right-hander.

 

 

Manny Machado hit another home run last night off of Marcus Stroman of the Blue Jays. He probably should be priced right where Josh Donaldson is priced, but he is currently a few notches below him. I suppose we can take advantage of this while we can. 

 

David Wright has been smoking the ball the last two nights in Philly, and he’ll have a chance to continue that trend tonight against Jeremy Hellickson and his 40.5% career fly ball rate. 

 

Travis Shaw has a good amount of upside for a third baseman, yet tends to be overlooked due to the multitude of options available at the position. He has hits in six of his last seven games, and his PITCHf/x numbers definitely matchup well against Chris Archer. Archer hasn’t been able to find command of his usually deadly slider this season, and if that trend continues, I can see Shaw with at least a couple of hits tonight. 

 

 

 

Zack Cozart’s season long hitting streak has reached 10 games, and he’ll continue to have a good chance to extend it as long as he remains in the leadoff spot. If you want the upside, you can easily go up to Trevor Story, but I don’t mind sticking with Cozart for the reliability. 

 

Javier Baez remains a bargain at the shortstop position. With only four games in play in the early slate, you definitely should give him some consideration. 

 

 

Marcus Semien’s fantasy value is much higher when he bats from the 2-hole. Sadly, he’s been getting a lot of starts at the bottom of the A’s lineup. We’ll see what happens tonight, but I like his matchup against Nathan Eovaldi regardless of where he hits tonight. 

 

Elvis Andrus has been a bit of an on-base machine lately. He is making good contact with the ball, and is always a tough out. He has reached base safely at least two times in five of his last six games, and has also driven in runs and scored a run in five of those six games.

 

Brad Miller has flirted with the Mendoza line at various points of his career, but that probably wouldn’t be the case if he saw more of Rick Porcello. Miller is 2-for-2 with two homers off of Porcello in his career. For those scoring at home, that’s a 4.000 slugging percentage.

 

 

 

Dexter Fowler is a player I generally try to roster only when he’s batting from the right-side of the plate against southpaws, but he’s been so hot so far, I have to consider him in any situation. He is 4-for-12 (.333 AVG) with a double and two walks against Carlos Martinez in his career. 

 

Randal Grichuk has batted .280/.345/.551 with 13 homers in just 282 at bats in Busch Stadium throughout his career. On top of that, he has definitely preferred hit against righties, considering he has an OBP that is .61 points higher against RHPs. 

 

Matt Holliday is 6-for-12 (.500 AVG) with a couple homers against Kyle Hendricks in his career. 

 

Adam Duvall may get the start today for the Reds, which would make sense because he has outplayed Scott Schebler. He has never faced Bettis in the big leagues, but homered once in three at bats against Bettis in the minors.

 

 

Yoenis Cespedes continues to crush right-handed pitching and continues to be dog crap against lefties. The matchup can’t get much better than Cespedes vs. Jeremy Hellickson. Yoenis is 4-for-9 (.444 AVG) with a homer, walk, and two RBIs against Hellickson in his career.

 

Matt Kemp is 4-for-7 (.571 AVG) with a double, walk, and zero strikeouts against Jeff Locke. Kemp bats .327/.387/.552 against lefties throughout his career.

 

Yasiel Puig has gone 4-for-6 (.667 AVG) with a homer, double, and two walks against Julio Teheran throughout his career. 

 

Justin Upton was teammates with Ian Kennedy in San Diego in 2015, but they’re back to being enemies tonight. Upton has had the upper hand in their previous meetings, going 3-for-8 (.375) with a home run and three walks. 

 

Miguel Sano homered on Monday against the righty, Chase Anderson, and I think he has a shot to do it again tonight against Jimmy Nelson. He has definitely preferred to face righties throughout his career, and Nelson is currently maintaining a 4.69 xFIP against right-handed batters.

 

Nomar Mazara has been unreal this season. He has reached safely in every single game he has played this season, and has been everything that the Rangers have been looking for at the 2-hole in the lineup. 

 

Jayson Werth has batted .308/.403/.545 with 18 home runs in just 308 at-bats against lefties over his last three seasons. 

 

Michael Saunders has been a better option for the Blue Jays in the leadoff spot than the Kevin Pillar experiment. He has a decent history against Ubaldo Jimenez, going 4-for-11 (.364 AVG) with a homer. 

 

Michael Conforto needs to stay on your radar. I’ve talked enough about Jeremy Hellickson’s fly ball tendencies, and that could bode well for Conforto, who has hit both of his home runs on the Mets current road trip.