DFS MLB Hitting Coach: September 2

I’m back for the Friday edition of the DFS MLB Hitting Coach. We have our usual big Friday slate with 14 games on tap. 

We also have another series in Coors as the D-Backs make their return to Denver. While I have admittedly refrained from piling on players from the Coors game throughout my Hitting Coach article, I think it’s safe to say that virtually anyone starting at Coors is a reasonable play.

Gary Sanchez is back in play tonight. I’m not necessarily going out on a limb here, but I think he rebounds tonight and takes another one out of the park. He was able to do that the last time he faced Dylan Bundy as well. 

Jonathan Lucroy has gone 2-for-5 (.400 AVG) with a homer, double, and walk in limited action against Doug Fister of the Astros.

Russell Martin and the rest of the Blue Jays get to face a returning Alex Cobb, who has been awful in his rehab starts. Martin has cooled off a bit, but cooling off a bit still has him batting .356/.406/.814 with eight homers and 21 RBIs over his last 15 games. 

Carlos Ruiz is 4-for-7 (.571 AVG) with a homer, five runs, and two RBIs, lifetime, against Clayton Richard of the Padres. 

Paul Goldschmidt is batting .313/.413/.515 with 20 extra base hits, lifetime, at Coors Field.

Freddie Freeman and the rest of the Braves have been playing some good baseball. In Freeman’s case, he has batted .309/.449/.673 with five homers and 15 RBIs over his last 15 games. 

C.J. Cron is the hottest hitter in baseball that no one knows about. Get this, over his last four games, he has gone 10-for-16 (.625 AVG) with three homers, a triple, double, six runs, and seven RBIs. I love his matchup against Ariel Miranda, who he missed out facing when he was on the DL. 

Chris Davis went 2-for-2 with two homers and a HBP last week when he met with Chad Green for the first time in his career. 

Xavier Scruggs has been getting a ton of playing time, and has been able to reach value pretty consistently. Over his last five games, he has gone 6-for-17 (.353 AVG) with three doubles and three RBIs. 

Brian Dozier was a major disappointment last night against Jose Quintana and the White Sox, but he has similar numbers against Carlos Rodon, with two homers and a .527 wOBA, so he can absolutely regroup and pick it back up. 

Matt Carpenter has batted .556/.667/1.556 with two homers, a triple, and a double over 12 career plate appearances against Anthony DeSclafani. 

Rougned Odor is coming off of his best two game run of the season, having gone 6-for-10 (.600 AVG) at the plate with three homers (including a walkoff) and seven RBIs. 

Jace Peterson’s batting average is nothing to get excited about, but he has been very disciplined at the plate, maintaining a .426 OBP over his last 15 games, and a .480 OBP over his last seven. 

Nolan Arenado has gone 12-for-27 (.444 AVG) with three homers, a .516 OBP, and .926 SLG over his last seven games.

Josh Donaldson gets that great matchup against Alex Cobb. You must keep in mind that Donaldson has been super hot, batting .423/.516/1.115 with six homers and 11 RBIs over his last seven games. Keep in mind, Evan Longoria is another formidable play in this game, having gone 8-for-16 with two homers, lifetime, against Marcus Stroman.

Jose Ramirez is batting .342/.403/.420 with seven of his 10 home runs this season at home at Progressive Field. 

Adonis Garcia had one of his best series of the season against the Padres, going 7-for-13 (.538 AVG) with two doubles, four runs, and three RBIs. 

Ronald Torreyes will be a sneaky play tonight. Believe it or not, he has hits in each of his last seven starts, going 14-for-26 (.538 AVG) with a homer, six doubles, six runs, and four RBIs. 

Francisco Lindor hasn’t been flashy, but has been getting it done at the plate, going 21-for-64 (.328 AVG) with two triples and three doubles over his last 16 games. He has also been able to put together a 5-game hitting streak, going 9-for-21 (.429 AVG) over those five games. 

Chris Owings is 5-for-12 (.417 AVG) with a homer and triple, lifetime, against Jorge De La Rosa of the Rockies.

Orlando Arcia has rebounded after a tough start, having gone 8-for-25 (.320 AVG) with two homers, two doubles, two walks, four runs, and six RBIs. 

Jose Peraza is getting a ton of playing time and has been able to do some damage at the plate. He went 5-for-9 (.556 AVG) with a double and stolen base in the last series against the Angels, and has been able to excel against the fastball, which is a pitch that Alex Reyes relies on over 70 percent of the time. 

Charlie Blackmon is batting .643/.667/1.000 with a homer, triple, five runs, three RBIs, and three stolen bases, lifetime, against Robbie Ray of the D-Backs. Given the lefty-versus-lefty matchup, and Blackmon’s pricey salary, you can expect low ownership if you roster Blackmon. While I do have Blackmon as the main name to pay up for, you really can’t go wrong with Mike Trout or any of the other Coors outfielders as well. 

Trea Turner is my lock of the night for a minimum of 10 points tonight. Noah Syndergaard has no ability to hold runners on, and Turner has been stealing bases left and right. Keep in mind, he has hits in each of his last eight starts, with seven of those eight being multi-hit games. 

Jose Bautista has gone 9-for-29 (.310 AVG) with two homers, three doubles, three walks, seven runs, and four RBIs since coming back from his most recent stint on the Disabled List.

Carlos Beltran looks much improved at the plate after going 8-for-17 (.471 AVG) with a homer, double, five runs, and two RBIs over his last four games. 

Starling Marte should be a sneaky good play tonight. PITCHf/x loves Marte’s matchup against Junior Guerra, and you know if Marte gets on base, he’s always a threat to swipe a bag or two. 

Michael Saunders is the hottest Blue Jay on the roster. He has a 5-game hitting streak where he has gone 7-for-16 (.438 AVG) with three homers, three doubles, two walks, five runs, and five RBIs. 

Curtis Granderson has been quite streaky this season, and we’re catching him in the middle of a pretty good run. Over his last five games, he has reached base safely in 10 of his last 18 plate appearances while homering twice. 

Scott Schebler is swinging a super hot bat. Over his last seven games, he has gone 10-for-26 (.385 AVG) with three homers, a double, seven runs, and seven RBIs. 

Hernan Perez absolutely OWNS Jameson Taillon, having gone 5-for-7 (.714 AVG) with three homers against the young rookie this season. 

Jay Bruce has back-to-back multi-hit games and homered in last night’s loss against the Marlins. What I like most about him tonight is his price point, which is just $3000 on FanDuel and $3700 on DraftKings. 

Khris Davis and the rest of the A’s have very little to play for, but then again, in Davis’s case, he does have a contract to play for. He is only making $524,500 this season, and looking at arbitration in the offseason. With 34 homers in 2016, and four homers over his last 12 games, he’s going to be one of my favorite one off targets for GPPs.

Corey Dickerson is a pretty good value tonight going up against Marcus Stroman, who he has a .485 wOBA against with a homer over 10 plate appearances. 

Michael Conforto remains a good value, and will get some opportunities against righties for the Mets. He looked solid last night against the Marlins, and had been batting an impressive .422/.483/.727 with nine homers over 128 at-bats for Triple-A Las Vegas. I don’t care if it is Las Vegas or not, that’s impressive.

Odubel Herrera is an outstanding sinkerball hitter, and it showed the last two times he faced Joel De La Cruz, going 3-for-6 (.500 AVG) with a homer, double, and two RBIs. 

Rob Segedin has major power that hasn’t necessarily been brought out consistently in the majors, but I like his value and his outstanding matchup against Clayton Richard tonight. 

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!