DFS MLB Hitting Coach: May 20

We close out the week with a huge 15-game slate tonight. Some of the biggest tournaments in the industry are going on tonight, as well as some great cash game action.

For the third consecutive day, we won’t have any weather issues to worry about. The only thing that you should be aware of is that there are some big winds in the Bay Area with 20+ MPH winds.

Still getting some good feedback about the new tables that I’ve been using. If you guys have any suggests or questions about some of the statistics, feel free to let me know.

Again, all players are organized from highest to lowest salary using FanDuel pricing. 

Brian McCann gets a good matchup against a declining Sonny Gray, who currently has some of the worst ratios in his career. Some of the mind-boggling stuff includes a 34.5% Hard Hit Rate (previous worse was 28.2% his rookie year), 4.28 xFIP (previous worse was 2015 with 3.69), and 92.6% Z-Contact allowed (previous worse was 2014 at 90.8%). McCann has homered against Gray in the past, and I really like his price point combined with his high contact rate.

Salvador Perez has batted .378/.417/.644 with two homers, a triple, four doubles, and eight RBIs over the course of his career against Jose Quintana. Huge sample size of 48 plate appearances to consider as well. By the way, thanks to DK’s broken algorithm, and Quintana’s hot start, basically all of the Royals are underpriced tonight. 

J.T. Realmuto is batting 6-for-13 (.462 AVG) with a double and four RBIs in his previous meetings against Tanner Roark of the Nationals. He isn’t showing much power, but it’s just not often you’re going to be able to get this good of a hitter at the catcher position. 

Yasmani Grandal had a .382 OBP at Petco Park last season, and he gets a meeting with Christian Friedrich of the Padres, who he has homered against in the past. 

Miguel Montero should be getting the bulk of the starts now that he’s back from his stint on the DL. He has been one of the best OBP catchers in the league since he began his career close to 10 years ago in Arizona. He faces Jake Peavy who is getting ripped apart this season. His usual high Fly Ball Rate is now combined with a terrible 36.8% Hard Hit Rate. 

Anthony Rizzo gets a matchup that, on paper, he should be able to feast on. Jake Peavy is allowing a line of .375/.423/.667 with a .464 wOBA this season to left-handed hitters. Similarly, Rizzo is batting .293/.427/.646 with a .441 wOBA against right-handed pitchers.

David Ortiz may not be as highly owned tonight because his opposing pitcher is Corey Kluber, but that hasn’t hurt him in the past. Big Papi has gone 4-for-14 (.286 AVG) with two homers, a double, and four RBIs throughout his career against the Indians ace. 

Lucas Duda has only four hits over his last 23 at-bats, but things could change tonight with his matchup against Wily Peralta of the Brewers. Duda is a solid 3-for-9 (.333 AVG) with a couple doubles and three RBIs against Peralta in the past. Still, Peralta is somehow worse this year than what we’ve been seeing in recent years. His 5.04 xFIP, 36.9% Hard Hit Rate, and 94.6% Z-Contact Rate allowed is some of the worst numbers you’ll see. 

Carlos Santana went DOUBLE DONG last night and helped put the Optimal Lineups over the top. We could expect more of the same tonight with Santana’s matchup against Clay Buchholz. Santana is 3-for-7 (.429 AVG), lifetime, against the Red Sox right-hander, with a homer, double, walk, four RBIs, and no strikeouts. His price on FanDuel makes him close to a must play. Even though Duda has a better matchup, I think his recent play gets him the nod in cash. 

Kendrys Morales is batting .351/.405/.541 against left-handed pitching this season, and he has had some good success against Jose Quintana in their previous meetings. Most of Morales’s advanced stats suggests that his sub-Mendoza numbers will change for the better in the near future. 

Ben Zobrist is very expensive, but he is usually worth paying up for because of his extremely high floor that’s made possible because of his high OBP. Zobrist has reached base safely in 25 of his last 26 games. What?! I like his chances for production against Jake Peavy, who he has actually homered off of twice in his career.

Robinson Cano is batting .337/.385/.693 with nine of his 12 home runs this season away from Safeco Field. He gets a huge park boost at the Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati, and a decent matchup against Dan Straily of the Reds. 

Starlin Castro gets a matchup against a Sonny Gray that’s allowing a .428 wOBA to righties. I like his price point throughout the industry if you’re looking for additional exposure to the Yankees. 

Neil Walker for $2700 on FanDuel against Willy “The Gas Can” Peralta? Sign me up. Walker has gone 4-for-14 (.286 AVG) with a homer, four runs, and four RBIs in his previous meetings against Peralta. 

Chase d'Arnaud is getting a lot of playing time thanks to the demotion of Jace Peterson to AAA Gwinnett. What I like most about d’Arnaud is that he isn’t afraid to use his speed when he’s on base. He has started four of the last five games, and has gone 6-for-14 (.429 AVG) with a triple, two doubles, a two stolen bases. 

Travis Shaw has had a lot of success against Corey Kluber so far in his MLB career. He is 4-for-8 (.500 AVG) with a homer against the Indians ace, and is back to Fenway Park, where he has batted .363/.440/.663 this season. 

Danny Valencia gets to face yet another southpaw in CC Sabathia tonight. I’ve mentioned many times before that Valencia is a lefty masher, and just to reinforce that, you should know that his career batting numbers against southpaws is .325/.373/.509 with a .381 wOBA.

Martin Prado is batting 9-for-18 (.500 AVG) with a home run, walk, three runs, and five RBIs throughout his career against Tanner Roark. Not much power upside with Prado, but what you get is pure consistency. 

Maikel Franco is rarely ever going to be a cash game play because of his horrible OBP; however, his price and upside may convince us otherwise tonight against Matt Wisler. Franco is 4-for-6 (.667 AVG) with a homer and double in his previous meetings against Wisler. 

Colin Moran batted .288/.331/.416 with three homers in AAA Fresno. He is a highly touted prospect who was actually the Marlins #1 pick, 6th overall in the 2013 Amateur Draft. Obviously the reason you’d want to roster him is his cheap price tag, and decent matchup against Colby Lewis. Beyond that, I wouldn’t go out of my way to roster him. 

Carlos Correa has torn apart Colby Lewis in their previous meetings. The young shortstop has gone 4-for-9 (.444 AVG) with two homers, a double, two runs, and three RBIs throughout his career against Lewis. 

Manny Machado gets a bit of a boost as a shortstop eligible bat, and gets a nice matchup against Hector Santiago, who he has gone 3-for-7 (.429 AVG) against in their previous meetings. Santiago will be without his personal catcher, Geovany Soto, due to an injury, and I wouldn’t be surprised if that throws off his game. 

Aledmys Diaz may or may not be hitting towards the top of the Cardinals lineup, but I love his matchup against Patrick Corbin regardless. He homered off of Corbin in their last meeting in Arizona, but most importantly, Corbin has be awful this season, allowing a Major League worst 40.2% Hard Hit Rate. 

Troy Tulowitzki continues to be put to the test by FanDuel with his latest salary right at just $3000. Tulo has been struggling to make much contact with the ball, but he gets a decent matchup against Tyler Duffey who gives up a little more than the league average as far as contact is concerned. 

Didi Gregorius is going to be the primary punt play again at shortstop. He is nothing flashy, but he has the upside to put up some numbers on any given night. He has reached base safely in each of his last seven games, and has a favorable matchup against Sonny Gray.

Mike Trout has been featured in the Hitting Coach the last two days, and he has delivered the last two days, going 5-for-7 (.714 AVG) with two homers, two walks, five runs, four RBIs, and a stolen base. He has also put up a line of .351/.448/.632 with four homers over his last 15 games.

Ian Desmond seems to be playing up to the $100M+ contract that he was seeking from the Nationals. Too bad he was a season late on that. Still, he batting .333/.394/.596 with six homers and 25 RBIs over his last 30 games. He gets a nice park shift from Oakland to Minute Maid Park, and a reasonable matchup against Lance McCullers who has had some reverse splits where he struggles against righties through his brief MLB career. 

Gregory Polanco will continue to be one of my targets until he cools off. He clobbered a huge opposite field shot against Michael Foltynewicz tonight, and has now gone 9-for-19 (.474 AVG) with a homer, triple, four doubles, and seven runs over his last four games.

Stephen Piscotty has been the hottest Cardinal in the outfield, going 17-for-42 (.405 AVG) over his last 10 games. He also has three doubles in his last two games. Plus, his Hard Hit Rate when combined with Patrick Corbin’s Hard Hit Rate may be a combination that is destined for some fireworks. 

Kole Calhoun is batting .351/.432/.459 since being moved to the 2-hole in front of Mike Trout. It is a spot in the lineup that has helped him make a name for himself, and he is looking very locked in right now. I like him in GPPs in a mini-stack of Angels bats than can include anyone from Escobar, Trout, Pujols, or Cron.

Rajai Davis is super hot right now and will continue to be in the lineup on an everyday basis with Michael Brantley on the DL. Get this: he has reached base safely three times or more in each of his last four games.

Adam Jones is 4-for-10 (.400 AVG) with a homer and two RBIs throughout his career against Hector Santiago. His price has jumped up a bit, but outside of the last series against the Mariners, he had been swinging a super hot bat. 

Jayson Werth is in a very good situation batting from the #2 spot in front of Bryce Harper. Everyone knows that Harper is getting walked left and right, so Werth is going to get a lot of good pitches to hit. He is 3-for-5 (.600 AVG) with a double and three RBIs in his previous meetings against Justin Nicolino, and is 9-for-19 (.474 AVG) this season vs. lefties.

Matt Kemp has become a bit of a Dodgers killer since being traded to the Padres. He has batted .317/.371/.463 with two homers in 82 at-bats against his former team. He also gets a decent matchup against the southpaw, Scott Kazmir. Kemp has batted .325/.385/.551 against lefties throughout his career. 

Coco Crisp has doubled in six of his last nine games, and has had some success against CC Sabathia in their previous meetings, even homering twice. Most importantly, over his last three seasons, Crisp has batted a solid .261/.349/.410 against lefties.

Cameron Maybin’s price has jumped up, but it’s still reasonable for someone who is a huge threat for a stolen base (stolen base in each of his three games this season) if he’s able to get on.  

Matt Holliday continues to be underpriced on FanDuel, and he gets as good of a matchup as he’s ever going to get in Patrick Corbin. I mentioned some of his advanced stats being terrible, but it should also be noted that he struggles hard against righties. He has allowed eight of his nine homers this season to right-handed bats, and is also allowing a .356 wOBA. 

Joey Rickard is at a reasonable price throughout the industry, and has reached base safely in 12 of his last 13 starts. Not much power upside here, but if he gets on base, he has a good chance of scoring some runs with the big boys hitting behind him. 

Yasiel Puig, to be frank, has had a terrible season. Nonetheless, it shouldn’t warrant a near minimum salary on FanDuel, where he is at a mere $2300. While 2016 has been terrible, you shouldn’t forget that he has batted .284/.379/.473 with a .370 wOBA against left-handed pitchers throughout his career. Oh, by the way, do not use him on DraftKings. $4800? Really?

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.