Smoke ‘em if you got ‘em, people! Happy 4/20 to you all. Also a special birthday shout-out to Matt and Ken Texler, Don Mattingly, Brandon Belt, Luke Kuechly, Jessica Lange, Carmen Electra, George Takei, Killer Mike, Ryan O’Neil and, though I never like to go political but since we’re on the verge of seeing Donald Trump winning the Republican nomination, we may as well also celebrate that today was Adolph Hitler’s birthday too. Quite the motley crew, but all somewhat appropriate for today.
Now let’s get to some baseball….
| vs L | vs R | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Name | Team | Hand | H/A | Opp | IP | K/9 | BB/9 | HR/9 | AVG | ERA | xFIP | WHIP | BABIP | GB% | FB% | GB/FB | wOBA | wOBA | FD | DK | Aces |
| Chris Sale | CHW | L | H | LAA | 23.0 | 9.00 | 1.17 | 0.78 | 0.181 | 2.35 | 2.90 | 0.78 | 0.224 | 45.8% | 35.6% | 1.29 | 0.189 | 0.220 | $12,000 | $11,800 | $7,650 |
| Chris Archer | TB | R | A | BOS | 15.1 | 13.50 | 4.70 | 2.93 | 0.328 | 5.87 | 2.88 | 1.96 | 0.436 | 47.7% | 27.3% | 1.75 | 0.345 | 0.467 | $11,000 | $8,500 | $6,800 |
| Madison Bumgarner | SF | L | H | ARI | 16.0 | 11.81 | 3.94 | 2.25 | 0.279 | 4.50 | 3.90 | 1.63 | 0.349 | 32.6% | 43.5% | 0.75 | 0.303 | 0.402 | $10,800 | $11,400 | $7,000 |
| Zack Greinke | ARI | R | A | SF | 17.1 | 7.79 | 2.60 | 1.56 | 0.293 | 6.75 | 4.27 | 1.56 | 0.333 | 45.0% | 38.3% | 1.17 | 0.392 | 0.332 | $10,300 | $10,300 | $7,100 |
| Cole Hamels | TEX | L | H | HOU | 18.1 | 7.85 | 3.93 | 1.47 | 0.227 | 2.95 | 3.93 | 1.25 | 0.255 | 56.0% | 26.0% | 2.15 | 0.288 | 0.343 | $9,900 | $9,900 | $6,500 |
| Danny Salazar | CLE | R | H | SEA | 11.1 | 12.71 | 4.76 | 0.79 | 0.135 | 0.79 | 3.63 | 0.97 | 0.200 | 42.9% | 52.4% | 0.82 | 0.165 | 0.311 | $9,200 | $9,500 | N/A |
| Carlos Martinez | STL | R | H | CHC | 13.0 | 7.62 | 2.77 | 0.69 | 0.204 | 3.46 | 3.64 | 1.08 | 0.243 | 50.0% | 28.9% | 1.73 | 0.341 | 0.126 | $9,100 | $9,300 | $6,450 |
| Nathan Eovaldi | NYY | R | H | OAK | 11.2 | 11.57 | 1.54 | 3.09 | 0.271 | 6.94 | 3.15 | 1.29 | 0.310 | 36.4% | 48.5% | 0.75 | 0.459 | 0.381 | $9,100 | $7,100 | $5,900 |
| Jordan Zimmermann | DET | R | A | KC | 13.0 | 4.85 | 3.46 | 0.00 | 0.174 | 0.00 | 5.18 | 1.00 | 0.205 | 43.6% | 43.6% | 1.00 | 0.208 | 0.204 | $8,900 | $7,400 | $6,800 |
| Taijuan Walker | SEA | R | A | CLE | 12.0 | 6.00 | 1.50 | 0.75 | 0.255 | 2.25 | 3.43 | 1.17 | 0.289 | 59.0% | 23.1% | 2.56 | 0.263 | 0.279 | $8,800 | $7,200 | N/A |
| Garrett Richards | LAA | R | A | CHW | 17.2 | 9.68 | 2.55 | 0.51 | 0.265 | 3.57 | 2.85 | 1.30 | 0.354 | 53.1% | 20.4% | 2.60 | 0.207 | 0.428 | $8,700 | $9,100 | $6,600 |
| Ian Kennedy | KC | R | H | DET | 13.2 | 9.22 | 1.98 | 0.66 | 0.156 | 0.66 | 3.62 | 0.73 | 0.200 | 25.8% | 54.8% | 0.47 | 0.162 | 0.245 | $8,200 | $8,300 | $6,300 |
| Wei-Yin Chen | MIA | L | H | WAS | 11.1 | 7.15 | 0.79 | 0.79 | 0.289 | 5.56 | 3.14 | 1.24 | 0.343 | 47.2% | 27.8% | 1.70 | 0.273 | 0.326 | $8,000 | $7,900 | $6,100 |
| Ubaldo Jimenez | BAL | R | H | TOR | 12.0 | 10.50 | 3.00 | 0.75 | 0.298 | 3.75 | 2.55 | 1.50 | 0.406 | 56.3% | 18.8% | 3.00 | 0.503 | 0.255 | $7,900 | $7,000 | $6,050 |
| R.A. Dickey | TOR | R | A | BAL | 14.2 | 9.20 | 4.91 | 0.61 | 0.308 | 6.75 | 4.27 | 1.91 | 0.388 | 44.0% | 30.0% | 1.47 | 0.360 | 0.405 | $7,900 | $6,200 | $5,800 |
| Kyle Hendricks | CHC | R | A | STL | 12.2 | 7.11 | 0.71 | 0.00 | 0.220 | 2.84 | 2.26 | 0.95 | 0.275 | 60.5% | 10.5% | 5.75 | 0.295 | 0.182 | $7,800 | $7,700 | $5,800 |
| Raisel Iglesias | CIN | R | H | COL | 16.2 | 7.56 | 2.16 | 1.08 | 0.299 | 3.24 | 4.08 | 1.44 | 0.353 | 32.7% | 40.4% | 0.81 | 0.308 | 0.368 | $7,800 | $7,300 | $6,400 |
| Julio Teheran | ATL | R | H | LAD | 17.0 | 7.41 | 4.24 | 2.12 | 0.246 | 6.35 | 4.85 | 1.47 | 0.255 | 41.5% | 41.5% | 1.00 | 0.472 | 0.238 | $7,700 | $8,400 | $6,000 |
| Ross Stripling | LAD | R | A | ATL | 13.1 | 6.08 | 3.38 | 0.00 | 0.116 | 2.03 | 4.15 | 0.75 | 0.147 | 54.5% | 33.3% | 1.64 | 0.196 | 0.157 | $7,600 | $6,400 | $6,000 |
| Joe Ross | WAS | R | A | MIA | 14.2 | 6.14 | 2.45 | 0.00 | 0.160 | 0.61 | 3.72 | 0.82 | 0.200 | 50.0% | 27.5% | 1.82 | 0.292 | 0.125 | $7,500 | $8,100 | $6,050 |
| Bartolo Colon | NYM | R | A | PHI | 12.2 | 9.24 | 0.71 | 0.71 | 0.275 | 2.13 | 2.51 | 1.18 | 0.351 | 44.4% | 27.8% | 1.60 | 0.221 | 0.400 | $7,500 | $5,500 | $5,800 |
| Rick Porcello | BOS | R | H | TB | 12.1 | 10.95 | 1.46 | 2.92 | 0.196 | 5.11 | 2.89 | 0.89 | 0.185 | 45.2% | 32.3% | 1.40 | 0.000 | 0.484 | $7,400 | $8,200 | $6,050 |
| Jimmy Nelson | MIL | R | H | MIN | 19.1 | 6.05 | 4.19 | 1.86 | 0.176 | 2.79 | 4.51 | 1.09 | 0.157 | 54.5% | 30.9% | 1.76 | 0.286 | 0.276 | $7,300 | $8,000 | $5,850 |
| Tommy Milone | MIN | L | A | MIL | 10.2 | 5.06 | 1.69 | 3.38 | 0.286 | 5.06 | 3.84 | 1.31 | 0.250 | 60.0% | 25.7% | 2.33 | 0.595 | 0.352 | $6,800 | $6,800 | $5,700 |
| Jeremy Hellickson | PHI | R | H | NYM | 14.2 | 8.59 | 1.23 | 1.23 | 0.224 | 4.30 | 3.49 | 1.02 | 0.262 | 38.1% | 42.9% | 0.89 | 0.126 | 0.412 | $6,700 | $6,500 | $5,900 |
| Doug Fister | HOU | R | A | TEX | 10.2 | 6.75 | 1.69 | 1.69 | 0.318 | 7.59 | 3.75 | 1.50 | 0.353 | 36.1% | 30.6% | 1.18 | 0.560 | 0.276 | $6,700 | $5,300 | $5,450 |
| Chad Bettis | COL | R | A | CIN | 18.1 | 6.87 | 2.95 | 0.98 | 0.232 | 2.95 | 4.31 | 1.20 | 0.264 | 37.7% | 35.8% | 1.05 | 0.243 | 0.329 | $6,400 | $6,700 | $5,500 |
| Drew Pomeranz | SD | L | H | PIT | 11.0 | 12.27 | 4.91 | 0.82 | 0.179 | 3.27 | 3.55 | 1.18 | 0.261 | 41.7% | 45.8% | 0.91 | 0.435 | 0.248 | $6,200 | $6,300 | $5,400 |
| Jeff Locke | PIT | L | A | SD | 10.2 | 4.22 | 7.59 | 0.84 | 0.300 | 2.53 | 6.00 | 1.97 | 0.324 | 59.4% | 28.1% | 2.11 | 0.196 | 0.446 | $5,800 | $6,600 | $5,750 |
| Kendall Graveman | OAK | R | A | NYY | 11.1 | 5.56 | 2.38 | 0.79 | 0.167 | 2.38 | 3.89 | 0.88 | 0.176 | 65.7% | 25.7% | 2.56 | 0.245 | 0.201 | $5,000 | $5,800 | $5,450 |
Investing Heavily
While I’m not going to sit here and tell you to bypass the top tier due to a mismatch in some of the numbers, I won’t begrudge you the use of either Chris Sale or Madison Bumgarner. Both the Angels and the Diamondbacks hit lefties rather well, but these are pitchers who, more often than not, transcend the numbers for opposing offenses. I myself, will not pay up for either, but certainly wouldn’t fault you if you did. Take that for what it’s worth.
Moderately Priced
Danny Salazar, CLE – The Mariners .304 wOBA against right-handers isn’t terrible and you have to respect their power potential, especially with a team .167 ISO. But I love Salazar this year. I love his strikeout rate and potential beyond that, so with the Mariners fanning 23.1-percent of the time against righties, I’ll give him a look in a few lineups.
Nathan Eovaldi, NYY – The A’s may not be prone to the strikeouts, but their run production has been exceptionally weak this season. Probably because they have a .274 wOBA and .127 ISO against right-handed pitching. That 80 wRC+ isn’t climbing anytime soon.
Jordan Zimmermann, DET – So the Royals bats woke up yesterday, did they? Well, that was against Shane Greene. Zimmermann is a whole different ball of wax. His K-rate is down this year, but the Royals aren’t a big strikeout team anyway. Instead, focus on Kansas City’s .285 wOBA and 26th-ranked .114 ISO.
Garrett Richards, LAA – He’s going to have to outduel Sale to grab the win, but these White Sox are not a tough group to face. Their .270 wOBA ranks 27th in the league and they’re mashing the ball in the dirt 47.6-percent of the time against righties. Richards’ ground ball rate is going to shine in this one.
Middle Class
Ross Stripling, LAD – The league simply hasn’t had enough of a look for me to go against Stripling yet, especially when he’s facing the Braves. OK, fine, they beat up Alex Wood yesterday which was a sad surprise to us all. However, against right-handed pitching, the Braves are striking out 22-percent of the time, have just a .086 ISO and a 25th-ranked 78 wRC+.
Joe Ross, WAS – Though the K/9 looks low, Ross still has some decent strikeout potential as we’ve seen recently. Now facing a Marlins team that fans 21.4-percent of the time against righties, Ross should be able to start bringing his numbers up. The Fish haven’t been terrible as evidenced by a slightly below-average .304 wOBA, but outside of Giancarlo Stanton, there’s not a whole lot of power being displayed by the rest of the lineup with their .115 ISO and .373 slugging percentage.
Bartolo Colon, NYM – Let’s give it up for the fat man, today! If Logan Verrett can shut down these Phillies, well certainly so can Chubbs Colon. The Phillies are sitting on a .285 wOBA with an absolutely awful 74 wRC+ against righties. Add in poor plate discipline and a 22.3-percent K-rate and we’ve got ourselves a bit of a bargain here.
Bargain Basement
Tommy Milone, MIN – It’s dart time, people and there are very few pitchers who are a bigger crapshoot than the Twins’ southpaw. But the Brewers have just a .274 wOBA against lefties and are striking out almost 27-percent of the time. Milone’s K/9 is low right now, but he’s more of a 7.00 K/9 type of pitcher and should see closer to that total after taking on Milwaukee. GPP only, folks, but that’s what you do with darts.
Chad Bettis, COL – To be honest, I’m a little surprised that Bettis’ price tag is this low compared to a number of other hurlers on the slate. He’s allowed just one earned run over his last two starts (13 IP) and has a 10:3 K:BB in that span. And let’s not forget one of those starts was against a Cubs team that’s been tearing through the opposition. Now he gets to face a struggling Reds team that has just a .289 wOBA against righties and a pathetic 75 wRC+. He’s got to outduel Raisel Iglesias for the win, but I really don’t see that being too much trouble.
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