DFS MLB Hitting Coach: August 24

Our focus will be on tonight’s 10-game DFS MLB slate that has a roster lock of 7:05 PM ET. 

The two late games that you’ll want to keep an eye on for weather are the Phillies/White Sox and Mets/Cardinals games. Chicago looks much worse right now, but as you all know by now, the weather can change at the blink of an eye. 

Not much else to mention tonight, so let’s get things rolling. 

Russell Martin is batting .467/.500/1.033 with five homers over his last seven games. If his name was Gary Sanchez, you would lock him in right now. 

Victor Martinez is 4-for-9 (.444 AVG) with two doubles, lifetime, against Tyler Duffey of the Twins.

Buster Posey and the rest of the Giants are “supposedly” facing Rich Hill and his blister filled left arm. We know Rich Hill delivers with his curveball, but we’ll see what he can do against Posey, who is the best curveball hitter on the Giants roster. 

Sandy Leon has reached base safely in 15 consecutive starts. His price tag is generally reasonable and he tends to have low ownership on a nightly basis. 

David Ortiz now has a 10-game hitting streak where he has gone 15-for-33 (.455 AVG) with three homers, three doubles, five walks, seven runs, and eight RBIs. 

Joey Votto is 9-for-15 (.600 AVG) with a whopping 11 RBIs over his last four starts. 

Jose Abreu pulled it off again last night, going 2-for-3 with a homer. He has now homered in three consecutive games, and has a decent shot at four against Jerad Eickhoff of the Phillies. 

Ryan Zimmerman is batting .625/.727/1.250 throughout his career against Wade Miley. Best of all, he has yet to strikeout over 11 career plate appearances against the southpaw. 

Jean Segura is 5-for-15 (.333 AVG) with a homer and zero strikeouts throughout his career against Julio Teheran. He’s also smokin’ hot, batting .500/.529/.750 over his last seven games.

Jonathan Schoop has had some success against Tanner Roark in limited action, going 2-for-3 (.667 AVG) with two homers and three RBIs. 

Cesar Hernandez got the night off last night but should be back in business tonight against James Shields. Hernandez has been swinging a hot bat. Prior to his 0-for-4 performance on Sunday, he had gone 13-for-28 (.464 AVG) with two homers, a triple, double, four walks, seven runs, three RBIs, and two stolen bases over his last eight starts. 

Jose Peraza is super fast and is a name you have to keep your eye on every single night. Yu Darvish is absolutely horrible at holding runners on, allowing nine stolen bases in just 59 innings pitched this season. If Peraza gets on, just lock in the stolen base as long as the pitcher isn’t in front of him.

Josh Donaldson generally excels against any pitch that isn’t considered a breaking ball. He’ll face Matt Shoemaker who throws breaking balls less than 10 percent of the time. 

Anthony Rendon has only faced lefties in about 1/5th of his at-bats, but has an outstanding .402 OBP against southpaws this season. He is also a solid 6-for-9 (.667 AVG) against Wade Miley in their previous meetings. Definitely a better idea to use him on FanDuel rather than DraftKings.

Justin Turner is 10-for-29 (.345 AVG) with two homers and six RBIs over his last seven games. 

Jake Lamb has been ice cold lately, but last night’s 2-for-4 outing with two doubles may have triggered something. His peripheral numbers are outstanding and he’s a great value tonight against Julio Teheran, who he has gone 3-for-5 (.600 AVG) with three doubles. 

Brad Miller has three hits in 11 at-bats against Rick Porcello (.273 AVG) and all three of those hits have gone out of the ballpark. 

Troy Tulowitzki is working on a 7-game hitting streak where he has gone 12-for-27 (.444 AVG) with two homers, two doubles, three walks, five runs, and six RBIs.

Jhonny Peralta has a 5-game hitting streak where he has gone 9-for-23 (.391 AVG) with two doubles and five runs scored. 

Andrelton Simmons is 5-for-8 (.625 AVG) over his last two games and is 4-for-7 (.571 AVG) with a triple and two walks throughout his career against Marco Estrada.

Yoenis Cespedes has gone 7-for-17 (.412 AVG) with three homers since coming off of the Disabled List on 8/19. He gets a good matchup against Carlos Martinez, who he has gone 3-for-5 (.600 AVG) with a homer against in the past. 

Adam Jones loves hitting at Nationals Park. He has batted .370/.407/.605 with five homers, four doubles, and 17 RBIs over 81 career at-bats in our nation’s capitol.

Matt Kemp has an 8-game hitting streak where he has gone 11-for-32 (.344 AVG) with a homer, four doubles, and six RBIs. 

Melky Cabrera will be your “boring but productive” pick of the night. He reached base safely in all four of his at-bats last night and matches up quite well against Jerad Eickhoff.

Lorenzo Cain is a little pricey on FanDuel considering his matchup against Jose Fernandez, but he’s much more reasonable on DraftKings. After another two-hit night, he now has a 9-game hitting streak where he has gone 18-for-34 (.529 AVG) at the plate while driving in nine runs. 

Billy Hamilton is basically in the same situation that I outlined with Jose Peraza. Against Yu Darvish, if Billy gets on, he’s stealing a base as long as the pitcher isn’t in front of him. 

Michael Bourn’s value may be from his speed tonight. It’s likely that Anthony Recker will be behind the plate, and he has been struggling to throw out base stealers, allowing 17 stolen bases in 23 attempts. 

Justin Upton now has three consecutive two-hit games, and looks like he’s putting together another big run. In fact, he faces Tyler Duffey, who he homered against earlier this season. 

Angel Pagan returned to the lineup after a few days off and delivered with another 2-for-5 outing, which helped extend his hitting streak to 19 games. He matches up well against Rich Hill and is a good value. 

Andrew Benintendi had another two-hit game last night which brought his batting average to a solid .323. He is significantly better against righties, batting .354/.404/.563 throughout the season. 

Peter Bourjos has quietly put together a 6-game hitting streak. Unfortunately, those hits don’t mean much if there’s no one on base for him to drive in. He is actually 5-for-10 (.500 AVG) with a homer, lifetime, against James Shields of the White Sox.

Andrew Toles and Rob Segedin have homered in back-to-back games for the Dodgers. With Segedin likely out due to the birth of his first child, Toles might be the value you want in your lineup.

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!