Here we are now in the second week of the MLB season which means we’ve got a little more extra data to factor in to our decisions. The majority of pitchers on today’s schedule have now made a start this season which means we can start to look at their wOBA splits from both this year and last. The comparison isn’t going to give fantasy baseball owners a huge lift, but it should give us an idea as to some improvements or regressions each starter has experienced.
Early Slate
| 2016 | 2015 | 2016 | 2015 | ||||||||||||||||||
| vs L | vs L | vs R | vs R | ||||||||||||||||||
| Name | Team | Hand | H/A | Opp | IP | K/9 | BB/9 | HR/9 | ERA | xFIP | BABIP | GB% | FB% | GB/FB | wOBA | wOBA | wOBA | wOBA | FD | DK | Aces |
| David Price | BOS | L | H | BAL | 220.1 | 9.19 | 1.92 | 0.69 | 2.45 | 3.24 | 0.290 | 40.4% | 36.4% | 1.11 | 0.000 | 0.285 | 0.264 | 0.265 | $10,500 | $12,200 | $7,550 |
| Justin Verlander | DET | R | H | PIT | 133.1 | 7.63 | 2.16 | 0.88 | 3.37 | 4.15 | 0.267 | 34.6% | 45.5% | 0.76 | 0.125 | 0.268 | 0.331 | 0.286 | $8,600 | $9,200 | $6,550 |
| Jose Quintana | CHW | L | A | MIN | 206.1 | 7.72 | 1.92 | 0.70 | 3.36 | 3.51 | 0.327 | 47.1% | 29.7% | 1.58 | 0.000 | 0.287 | 0.364 | 0.320 | $8,300 | $9,300 | $6,250 |
| Michael Wacha | STL | R | H | MIL | 181.1 | 7.59 | 2.88 | 0.94 | 3.37 | 3.88 | 0.272 | 45.8% | 32.0% | 1.43 | 0.352 | 0.270 | 0.508 | 0.313 | $8,200 | $9,400 | $6,000 |
| Yovani Gallardo | BAL | R | A | BOS | 184.1 | 5.91 | 3.32 | 0.73 | 3.42 | 4.31 | 0.303 | 49.3% | 28.7% | 1.72 | 0.000 | 0.334 | 0.382 | 0.306 | $8,000 | $6,300 | $5,850 |
| Taylor Jungmann | MIL | R | A | STL | 119.1 | 8.07 | 3.54 | 0.83 | 3.77 | 4.10 | 0.290 | 46.3% | 33.1% | 1.40 | 0.264 | 0.317 | 0.364 | 0.302 | $7,500 | $7,600 | $5,500 |
| Andrew Cashner | SD | R | A | PHI | 184.2 | 8.04 | 3.22 | 0.93 | 4.34 | 3.84 | 0.330 | 47.4% | 29.9% | 1.58 | 0.425 | 0.383 | 0.474 | 0.293 | $6,900 | $8,700 | $5,900 |
| Aaron Nola | PHI | R | H | SD | 77.2 | 7.88 | 2.20 | 1.27 | 3.59 | 3.58 | 0.289 | 47.6% | 32.4% | 1.47 | 0.136 | 0.359 | 0.243 | 0.270 | $6,800 | $8,500 | $5,750 |
| Kyle Gibson | MIN | R | H | CHW | 194.2 | 6.70 | 3.01 | 0.83 | 3.84 | 3.95 | 0.287 | 53.4% | 26.8% | 1.99 | 0.607 | 0.309 | 0.373 | 0.299 | $6,500 | $7,100 | $5,800 |
| Jon Niese | PIT | L | A | DET | 176.2 | 5.76 | 2.80 | 1.02 | 4.13 | 4.11 | 0.300 | 54.5% | 24.7% | 2.21 | 0.534 | 0.343 | 0.316 | 0.330 | $6,300 | $6,200 | $6,000 |
David Price, BOS – When it comes to cash games, I’m all about paying up for starting pitching and Price makes for a costly yet necessary expense. You almost have no need to look at any of Price’s numbers once you see that the Orioles are sporting a whopping .088 wOBA against left-handed pitchers this season, but just to throw something at you, Price has a 1.53 ERA with a 26:3 K:BB over his last four starts at Fenway Park and looked strong with 10 strikeouts over six innings during his first start of the season.
Jose Quintana, CHW – The southpaw had some struggles against righties during his first start, but these Twins are having their own difficulties here in the beginning of the season and Q should be able to take advantage. Minnesota has just a .265 wOBA, a .308 slugging percentage and a 28.6-percent strikeout rate against southpaws this season so look for him to try and get them fishing outside the strike zone early.
Michael Wacha, STL – His first outing of the year didn’t exactly go well, but traditionally, his numbers, particularly his wOBA splits, have been strong. The Brewers are sitting on a 26.6-percent strikeout rate and just a .309 wOBA against right-handers this season, so expect Wacha to try and get them to hack outside the zone.
Late Slate
| 2016 | 2015 | 2016 | 2015 | ||||||||||||||||||
| vs L | vs L | vs R | vs R | ||||||||||||||||||
| Name | Team | Hand | H/A | Opp | IP | K/9 | BB/9 | HR/9 | ERA | xFIP | BABIP | GB% | FB% | GB/FB | wOBA | wOBA | wOBA | wOBA | FD | DK | Aces |
| Max Scherzer | WAS | R | H | ATL | 228.2 | 10.86 | 1.34 | 1.06 | 2.79 | 2.88 | 0.268 | 35.8% | 45.4% | 0.79 | 0.253 | 0.284 | 0.254 | 0.232 | $11,600 | $13,100 | $7,750 |
| Jon Lester | CHC | L | H | CIN | 205.0 | 9.09 | 2.06 | 0.70 | 3.34 | 3.06 | 0.303 | 48.9% | 29.3% | 1.67 | 0.000 | 0.286 | 0.177 | 0.290 | $10,700 | $10,500 | $6,400 |
| Sonny Gray | OAK | R | H | LAA | 208.0 | 7.31 | 2.55 | 0.74 | 2.73 | 3.69 | 0.255 | 52.7% | 30.7% | 1.72 | 0.263 | 0.260 | 0.176 | 0.265 | $10,400 | $9,600 | $6,650 |
| Collin McHugh | HOU | R | H | KC | 203.2 | 7.56 | 2.34 | 0.84 | 3.89 | 3.91 | 0.310 | 45.4% | 34.6% | 1.31 | 0.742 | 0.286 | 0.693 | 0.328 | $8,900 | $8,000 | $6,300 |
| Hisashi Iwakuma | SEA | R | H | TEX | 129.2 | 7.70 | 1.46 | 1.25 | 3.54 | 3.27 | 0.271 | 50.4% | 31.1% | 1.62 | 0.369 | 0.301 | 0.368 | 0.279 | $8,900 | $9,700 | $6,550 |
| Steven Matz | NYM | L | H | MIA | 35.2 | 8.58 | 2.52 | 1.01 | 2.27 | 3.56 | 0.300 | 45.5% | 33.7% | 1.35 | N/A | 0.314 | N/A | 0.278 | $8,500 | $9,200 | $5,850 |
| Colby Lewis | TEX | R | A | SEA | 204.2 | 6.24 | 1.85 | 1.14 | 4.66 | 4.62 | 0.289 | 33.7% | 44.2% | 0.76 | 0.418 | 0.324 | 0.294 | 0.310 | $7,900 | $7,500 | $5,600 |
| Brandon Finnegan | CIN | L | A | CHC | 48.0 | 8.44 | 3.94 | 1.50 | 3.56 | 3.77 | 0.238 | 54.3% | 29.1% | 1.86 | 0.526 | 0.335 | 0.173 | 0.303 | $6,300 | $5,900 | $5,150 |
| Jarred Cosart | MIA | R | A | NYM | 69.2 | 6.07 | 4.26 | 1.29 | 4.52 | 4.46 | 0.259 | 55.5% | 27.0% | 2.05 | N/A | 0.319 | N/A | 0.342 | $6,300 | $6,100 | $5,500 |
| Bud Norris | ATL | R | A | WAS | 83.0 | 7.70 | 3.36 | 1.63 | 6.72 | 4.29 | 0.332 | 43.4% | 33.7% | 1.29 | 0.376 | 0.385 | 0.186 | 0.379 | $5,900 | $7,800 | $5,150 |
| Chris Young | KC | R | A | HOU | 123.1 | 6.06 | 3.14 | 1.17 | 3.06 | 5.33 | 0.209 | 25.5% | 57.9% | 0.44 | 0.277 | 0.320 | 0.284 | 0.237 | $5,500 | $6,300 | $5,500 |
| Nicholas Tropeano | LAA | R | A | OAK | 37.2 | 9.08 | 2.39 | 0.48 | 3.82 | 3.64 | 0.342 | 38.5% | 40.4% | 0.95 | N/A | 0.312 | N/A | 0.299 | $5,400 | $5,000 | $5,400 |
Max Scherzer, WAS – I have to say, I’m very much looking forward to see what a strikeout specialist like Scherzer does when he faces a weak Braves lineup that is fanning 25-percent of the time against right-handers. Their .290 wOBA looks pretty weak and while he’s not really a ground ball pitcher, their 45.8-percent ground ball rate should help the Nats’ ace dominate.
Sonny Gray, OAK – This is probably my favorite match-up of the night. Gray had some command issues in his first outing but still managed to keep the runs off the board. Now he faces an Angels team that has a .229 wOBA against righties with a miserable .511 OPS. Even better is his career 54.3-percent ground ball rate going up against a team mashing the ball into the dirt 50-percent of the time this season.
Steven Matz, NYM – He’ll make his season debut today and the match-up couldn’t be better. Really, it’s that good. The Marlins are posting just a .224 wOBA against lefties and have a ridiculous 45.5-percent strikeout rate thus far. Not to mention a pathetic .473 OPS. Matz had a strong 8.58 K/9 last season with solid wOBA splits, so look for him to get all of his numbers off on the right foot.
Jarred Cosart, MIA – Looking for a dart? Cosart may be a nice, cheap option. He’s obviously going up against Matz here and I like his chances a little better for the win, but Cosart is facing an offense that hasn’t found its groove yet and is rocking a sad .236 wOBA against righties. There’s also the 25.9-percent strikeout rate for the Mets which could, if Cosart gets them to fish outside the zone, prove positive for him on the outing.
Player News
{{item.text}}
{{analysis.analysis}}