We kick off June with a 15-game split slate, with four games on the early slate (1:10 PM ET/10:10 AM PT roster lock), and 11 games on the late slate (7:05 PM ET/4:05 PM PT roster lock).
The early slate is a bit rough if you’re playing on a site without late swap because the MIN/OAK game will be starting 2 1/2 hours after roster lock, and the TEX/CLE game will be starting 5 hours after roster lock. If you’re thinking of playing a good number of players in either game, do yourself a favor and stay away from FanDuel, or at the very least, commit yourself to only GPPs, where you’re bound to get lower ownership than you normally would.
As for the late slate, we are treated to another night at Coors Field. The Reds pitching staff is an absolute joke. I would say more but I’m going to bite my tongue before I lose my mind. With that said, you’re obviously going to want a good number of Rockies in your lineups, but of course, we have some high-end pitching options that are going to be very safe plays, but they are going to cost you a pretty penny. Still, most Reds/Rockies bats are going to be in play tonight, but I will not drown you with 12 Coors bats in my article. I will say this though, I’m going to give a slight preference to the Rockies bats, mainly because the Reds have a monstrosity of a bullpen.
But anyway, today’s weather actually doesn’t look too bad. The two problem spots are going to be in stadiums that have retractable roofs, so we don’t have much to worry about. Still, keep an eye on any developments, because you never know what can happen.
| CATCHER | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Player | Team | Bats | Opp | Opp Pitch | AB | H | HR | R | RBI | BB | SB | AVG | OPS | ISO | BABIP | wOBA | LD% | Hard% | Z-Cont% | FD | DK | Aces |
| Jonathan Lucroy | MIL | R | STL | Jaime Garcia | 177 | 53 | 9 | 28 | 28 | 16 | 1 | .299 | .886 | .232 | .331 | .374 | 23.2% | 35.2% | 86.5% | $3,500 | $3,900 | $4,800 |
| Josh Phegley | OAK | R | MIN | Pat Dean | 41 | 13 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 0 | .317 | .739 | .073 | .382 | .324 | 23.5% | 23.5% | 95.7% | $2,300 | $2,500 | $3,700 |
| Chris Herrmann | ARI | L | HOU | Mike Fiers | 82 | 24 | 5 | 15 | 20 | 9 | 2 | .293 | .944 | .293 | .358 | .395 | 19.0% | 45.8% | 84.6% | $3,200 | $3,400 | $4,600 |
| Brian McCann | NYY | L | TOR | Aaron Sanchez | 144 | 33 | 7 | 22 | 21 | 18 | 0 | .229 | .733 | .181 | .257 | .320 | 17.6% | 31.5% | 89.7% | $3,000 | $3,200 | $4,900 |
| Dustin Garneau | COL | R | CIN | John Lamb | 45 | 11 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 0 | .244 | .700 | .156 | .303 | .302 | 18.2% | 32.4% | 85.3% | $2,700 | $2,900 | $4,500 |
| Blake Swihart | BOS | S | BAL | Mike Wright | 49 | 12 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 8 | 0 | .245 | .712 | .122 | .343 | .314 | 25.7% | 28.6% | 93.0% | $2,700 | $3,500 | $3,900 |
EARLY SLATE
Jonathan Lucroy has been reDONKulous in this homestand, going 9-for-17 (.529 AVG) with three homers, a triple, two doubles, and 11 RBIs in just five games. There is no catcher in baseball that’s swinging a hotter bat right now.
Josh Phegley is basically a right-handed version of Stephen Vogt. His 95.7% Z-Contact Rate is one of the highest in baseball for catchers, and makes him a very safe, yet cheap option at catcher.
LATE SLATE
Chris Herrmann and his league leading ISO among MLB catchers is definitely in play today against Mike Fiers. Herrmann has been flat out mashing it this season. Case in point: 11 of his 24 hits have gone for extra bases.
Brian McCann has had some recent struggles, but it has helped him make him a tad more affordable (only $3000 on FanDuel). He has homered off of Aaron Sanchez in the past, and obviously has a shot at repeating tonight as well.
Dustin Garneau will likely get his second start of the series tonight against John Lamb. He has been solid filling in for the injured Nick Hundley behind the plate. He’s at a mere $2700 on FanDuel and will likely be in my lineups tonight.
Blake Swihart is still catcher eligible even though he’s making all of his starts in the outfield. We all know that all of the Red Sox bats are uber-expensive (and rightfully so), but Swihart can provide some value as the Sox take on Mike Wright, who is allowing a horrid .346/.411/.557 line with a .412 wOBA against lefties.
| FIRST BASE | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Player | Team | Bats | Opp | Opp Pitch | AB | H | HR | R | RBI | BB | SB | AVG | OPS | ISO | BABIP | wOBA | LD% | Hard% | Z-Cont% | FD | DK | Aces |
| Matt Adams | STL | L | MIL | Kyle Davies | 111 | 35 | 6 | 15 | 25 | 9 | 0 | .315 | .927 | .243 | .382 | .391 | 25.0% | 41.5% | 82.1% | $3,400 | $3,600 | $4,400 |
| Mike Napoli | CLE | R | TEX | Cole Hamels | 179 | 41 | 11 | 32 | 36 | 17 | 2 | .229 | .774 | .246 | .303 | .332 | 16.4% | 41.8% | 76.1% | $3,400 | $4,400 | $4,550 |
| David Ortiz | BOS | L | BAL | Mike Wright | 176 | 59 | 14 | 26 | 47 | 25 | 1 | .335 | 1.132 | .381 | .341 | .462 | 18.5% | 47.3% | 91.3% | $4,900 | $5,500 | $5,650 |
| Joey Votto | CIN | L | COL | Tyler Chatwood | 178 | 38 | 9 | 25 | 30 | 28 | 1 | .213 | .735 | .191 | .254 | .315 | 22.0% | 44.8% | 83.7% | $4,000 | $4,700 | $5,600 |
| C.J. Cron | LAA | R | DET | Michael Fulmer | 160 | 40 | 5 | 19 | 24 | 12 | 1 | .250 | .701 | .144 | .269 | .303 | 14.1% | 30.4% | 89.0% | $2,900 | $3,000 | $4,050 |
| Kendrys Morales | KC | S | TB | Chris Archer | 176 | 34 | 6 | 15 | 21 | 14 | 0 | .193 | .591 | .136 | .211 | .261 | 15.8% | 34.5% | 87.1% | $2,800 | $3,000 | $4,300 |
EARLY SLATE
Matt Adams is getting more and more starts due to his increased productivity at the plate. Over his last 10 games, he has gone 12-for-29 (.414 AVG) with three homers, six doubles, and nine RBIs. Plus, he matches up against Kyle Davies, who is giving up a line of .338/.410/.614 with a .434 wOBA to left-handed hitters this season.
Mike Napoli has won the hearts of the City of Cleveland, going bananas in the month of May, batting .258/.339/.547 with seven homers, a triple, five doubles, and a whopping 25 RBIs. He is always a much better hitter against southpaws, and gets one today in Cole Hamels.
LATE SLATE
David Ortiz has gone 3-for-5 (.600 AVG) with two homers in his previous meetings against Mike Wright of the Orioles.
Joey Votto at Coors Field. Enough said? Okay, maybe not. How about the fact that he has homered in each of the first two games at Coors this week? There we go.
C.J. Cron won one of the craziest games I’ve ever witnessed last night with a walk off bomb in the bottom of the 9th inning, which just so happened to be his second of the night. While Michael Fulmer has been decent this season, he has struggled against RHH, allowing a line of .286/.351/.557, along with all five of his home runs.
Kendrys Morales has destroyed Chris Archer throughout his career. And that was when Archer wasn’t getting pulverized every other outing. Morales is 7-for-11 (.636 AVG) with a homer, three doubles, and four RBIs, lifetime, against the Rays ace.
| SECOND BASE | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Player | Team | Bats | Opp | Opp Pitch | AB | H | HR | R | RBI | BB | SB | AVG | OPS | ISO | BABIP | wOBA | LD% | Hard% | Z-Cont% | FD | DK | Aces |
| Neil Walker | NYM | S | CHW | Miguel Gonzalez | 176 | 49 | 13 | 23 | 25 | 15 | 1 | .278 | .858 | .244 | .308 | .362 | 23.3% | 35.4% | 86.1% | $3,200 | $4,000 | $4,750 |
| Jurickson Profar | TEX | R | CLE | Trevor Bauer | 23 | 8 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .348 | .913 | .217 | .389 | .387 | 10.5% | 10.5% | 100.0% | $2,200 | $3,200 | - |
| Jose Altuve | HOU | R | ARI | Robbie Ray | 211 | 69 | 9 | 41 | 31 | 26 | 15 | .327 | .953 | .223 | .328 | .401 | 30.7% | 35.9% | 90.2% | $4,000 | $5,000 | $5,600 |
| DJ LeMahieu | COL | R | CIN | John Lamb | 170 | 54 | 3 | 29 | 17 | 17 | 5 | .318 | .840 | .147 | .354 | .361 | 29.3% | 33.8% | 96.6% | $3,500 | $3,900 | $5,100 |
| Josh Harrison | PIT | R | MIA | Adam Conley | 170 | 56 | 2 | 21 | 25 | 8 | 8 | .329 | .798 | .106 | .367 | .346 | 27.2% | 26.7% | 84.1% | $3,100 | $3,900 | $4,550 |
| Howie Kendrick | LAD | R | CHC | Jon Lester | 143 | 33 | 2 | 19 | 10 | 9 | 4 | .231 | .580 | .077 | .267 | .256 | 19.5% | 31.4% | 87.4% | $2,700 | $3,400 | $4,100 |
EARLY SLATE
Neil Walker homered for the second time in as many nights off of Mat Latos of the White Sox on Tuesday. Over his last 10 games, he has gone 13-for-35 (.371 AVG) with three homers, two doubles, four walks, and five RBIs.
Jurickson Profar continues to be dirt cheap even though he’s a lock to be leading off for the Rangers until Rougned Mayweather comes back from his suspension. Profar has a 5-game hitting streak, where he has gone 8-for-23 (.348 AVG) with a home run, triple, and six runs scored.
LATE SLATE
Jose Altuve is heating up again. He is working on a 6-game hitting streak where he has gone 11-for-25 (.440 AVG) with a triple and four RBIs. He matches up extremely well against Robbie Ray of the D-Backs.
DJ LeMahieu had some crazy high ownership last night, which just shows the power of what Coors Field does to ownership (really though, I’m still surprised Neil Walker had such low ownership). Nonetheless, I feel his value is significantly increased when he bats in the top-half of the order. He has a crazy high 96.5% Z-Contact rate this season, which crushes anything he has ever done in his career. Not much power upside from DJ, but when you’re batting 2nd at Coors, that’s not going to always be necessary.
Josh Harrison made the most out of batting leadoff for the first time this season on Monday, going 2-for-5 with a double, two runs, and a stolen base. I’m guessing he should be back in that spot tonight against another southpaw in Adam Conley.
Howie Kendrick has been getting good looks at the top-half of the Dodgers lineup against lefties. In fact, Howie happens to be 6-for-12 (.500 AVG) with a double, walk, five runs, and two RBIs against lefties away from home. He has also been showing off his speed lately, so I think if he gets on base against Lester, he may be the one to exploit him.
| THIRD BASE | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Player | Team | Bats | Opp | Opp Pitch | AB | H | HR | R | RBI | BB | SB | AVG | OPS | ISO | BABIP | wOBA | LD% | Hard% | Z-Cont% | FD | DK | Aces |
| Matt Carpenter | STL | L | MIL | Kyle Davies | 184 | 50 | 9 | 36 | 35 | 32 | 0 | .272 | .928 | .272 | .306 | .390 | 25.4% | 43.2% | 92.2% | $3,700 | $5,100 | $5,450 |
| Danny Valencia | OAK | R | MIN | Pat Dean | 129 | 43 | 8 | 23 | 21 | 8 | 0 | .333 | .928 | .225 | .354 | .393 | 21.5% | 37.4% | 91.1% | $3,200 | $2,900 | $4,850 |
| Nolan Arenado | COL | R | CIN | John Lamb | 195 | 56 | 16 | 37 | 43 | 21 | 0 | .287 | .948 | .303 | .255 | .398 | 14.5% | 38.4% | 93.7% | $4,400 | $4,500 | $6,000 |
| Kyle Seager | SEA | L | SD | Christian Friedrich | 190 | 52 | 10 | 30 | 33 | 22 | 0 | .274 | .875 | .247 | .276 | .369 | 21.7% | 37.7% | 87.4% | $4,000 | $4,300 | $5,100 |
| Pedro Alvarez | BAL | L | BOS | Joe Kelly | 103 | 20 | 3 | 6 | 11 | 15 | 1 | .194 | .644 | .155 | .230 | .283 | 15.6% | 28.6% | 84.9% | $2,800 | $3,400 | $4,150 |
| Jefry Marte | LAA | R | DET | Michael Fulmer | 10 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | .600 | 1.800 | .600 | 1.000 | .756 | 16.7% | 100.0% | 75.0% | $2,000 | $2,300 | $3,000 |
EARLY SLATE
Matt Carpenter is absolutely tearing apart the Milwaukee Brewers this season. After last night’s huge performance, Carpenter is now 12-for-21 (.571 AVG) with three triples, five doubles, nine runs, and six RBIs against the Brew Crew in 2016.
Danny Valencia homered last night off of Tyler Duffey and gets a much better matchup for him against a southpaw in Pat Dean.
LATE SLATE
Nolan Arenado was one of my favorite plays in Coors last night, and boy, did he deliver. Nolan went 2-for-4 with two homers, three runs, and four RBIs against the Reds and their abysmal pitching staff.
Kyle Seager is daring us all to go lefty-versus-lefty in our lineups at third base. Seeger has gone 5-for-6 (.833 AVG) with two homers and five RBIs in his previous meetings against Christian Friedrich of the Padres. Coors Field isn’t involved this time around, but sheesh, that’s an impressive stat line.
Pedro Alvarez has batted .312/.500/.562 with a homer, double, and four RBIs in his previous meetings against Joe Kelly of the Red Sox. Alvarez is a low floor and high ceiling type of play that has the “double dong” potential you’re always looking for.
Jefry Marte got a great look batting 5th for the Halos and rewarded his team with a 4-for-4 performance with a home run and a double. While it has already been announced that Yunel Escobar will return to the lineup tonight, I wouldn’t be surprised if Marte got a good look elsewhere, potentially to give either Albert Pujols or C.J. Cron a night off. He would provide a ton of salary relief if you’re able to get him in your lineups.
| SHORTSTOP | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Player | Team | Bats | Opp | Opp Pitch | AB | H | HR | R | RBI | BB | SB | AVG | OPS | ISO | BABIP | wOBA | LD% | Hard% | Z-Cont% | FD | DK | Aces |
| Jonathan Villar | MIL | S | STL | Jaime Garcia | 182 | 56 | 2 | 27 | 19 | 32 | 19 | .308 | .835 | .115 | .422 | .369 | 23.3% | 30.8% | 83.5% | $3,900 | $4,500 | $4,550 |
| Eduardo Nunez | MIN | R | OAK | Sean Manaea | 159 | 54 | 5 | 22 | 20 | 5 | 9 | .340 | .876 | .170 | .386 | .375 | 18.5% | 27.3% | 88.1% | $3,300 | $3,600 | $4,350 |
| Carlos Correa | HOU | R | ARI | Robbie Ray | 198 | 50 | 8 | 23 | 27 | 27 | 8 | .253 | .762 | .162 | .311 | .335 | 23.8% | 37.8% | 83.3% | $4,000 | $3,600 | $5,100 |
| Alcides Escobar | KC | R | TB | Chris Archer | 221 | 59 | 0 | 21 | 14 | 9 | 10 | .267 | .610 | .045 | .311 | .269 | 20.1% | 18.7% | 88.6% | $3,000 | $3,100 | $3,800 |
| Danny Espinosa | WSH | S | PHI | Adam Morgan | 166 | 33 | 6 | 15 | 20 | 17 | 2 | .199 | .622 | .127 | .233 | .270 | 18.6% | 31.5% | 82.2% | $2,500 | $3,100 | $3,800 |
| Adeiny Hechavarria | MIA | R | PIT | Jon Niese | 167 | 42 | 3 | 17 | 15 | 8 | 0 | .251 | .616 | .084 | .271 | .264 | 23.4% | 25.9% | 90.0% | $2,300 | $3,400 | $4,000 |
EARLY SLATE
Jonathan Villar leads MLB in stolen bases with 19. He’s basically what we want in Billy Hamilton, only, he’s getting on base at will. He has drawn nine walks over his last eight games, and has also gone 12-for-28 (.429 AVG) at the plate. This has helped him contribute a fantastic five stolen bases in that eight game span.
Eduardo Nunez continued his amazing run last night, going 2-for-5 with a double. He has now gone 15-for-32 (.469 AVG) with two homers, two doubles, six runs, and three RBIs throughout a 7-game hitting streak.
LATE SLATE
Carlos Correa is $3600 on DraftKings. Lock it in, folks. Lock it in.
Alcides Escobar seems to score more than your average player when he gets on base, and that’s something he’s done A LOT against Chris Archer throughout his career. Escobar is 7-for-9 (.778 AVG) in his previous meetings against Archer, and happens to be a very reasonable price throughout the industry.
Danny Espinosa remains a great value play if you’re looking for a lot of upside at the shortstop position. He has 20+ home run upside, and he’s finally looking locked in at the plate, hitting home runs in three of his last six games.
Adeiny Hechavarria has been getting the last few starts against southpaws lately for the Marlins. If he does get the start, he could be a cheap source of value for those looking to stack some Coors bats. Over his last three seasons, he has batted .292/.343/.378 over 339 at-bats against lefties.
| OUTFIELD | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Player | Team | Bats | Opp | Opp Pitch | AB | H | HR | R | RBI | BB | SB | AVG | OPS | ISO | BABIP | wOBA | LD% | Hard% | Z-Cont% | FD | DK | Aces |
| Stephen Piscotty | STL | R | MIL | Kyle Davies | 195 | 63 | 6 | 34 | 31 | 21 | 3 | .323 | .897 | .174 | .375 | .389 | 21.5% | 32.9% | 88.5% | $3,800 | $4,900 | $4,900 |
| Yoenis Cespedes | NYM | R | CHW | Miguel Gonzalez | 171 | 47 | 15 | 31 | 37 | 18 | 1 | .275 | .945 | .322 | .283 | .395 | 23.4% | 39.1% | 87.7% | $3,700 | $4,600 | $5,650 |
| Khris Davis | OAK | R | MIN | Pat Dean | 186 | 45 | 14 | 22 | 35 | 6 | 1 | .242 | .789 | .274 | .250 | .331 | 17.4% | 41.3% | 71.1% | $3,300 | $2,900 | $5,100 |
| Robbie Grossman | MIL | S | STL | Jaime Garcia | 36 | 13 | 2 | 8 | 9 | 6 | 0 | .361 | 1.147 | .333 | .393 | .479 | 20.7% | 30.0% | 82.2% | $2,800 | $2,000 | $3,000 |
| Jeremy Hazelbaker | MIN | R | OAK | Sean Manaea | 114 | 29 | 7 | 18 | 19 | 7 | 3 | .254 | .801 | .254 | .324 | .336 | 17.8% | 31.6% | 87.0% | $2,300 | $4,300 | $4,300 |
| Alejandro De Aza | NYM | L | CHW | Miguel Gonzalez | 50 | 10 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 2 | .200 | .539 | .080 | .265 | .242 | 32.4% | 40.0% | 86.0% | $2,000 | $3,100 | $4,100 |
| Mike Trout | LAA | R | DET | Michael Fulmer | 192 | 61 | 12 | 38 | 40 | 35 | 6 | .318 | .992 | .255 | .360 | .416 | 24.3% | 39.9% | 89.0% | $4,600 | $4,900 | $5,800 |
| Nelson Cruz | SEA | R | SD | Christian Friedrich | 183 | 54 | 10 | 28 | 35 | 25 | 0 | .295 | .900 | .213 | .346 | .385 | 19.7% | 31.4% | 84.8% | $4,100 | $4,800 | $5,500 |
| George Springer | HOU | R | ARI | Robbie Ray | 212 | 61 | 12 | 34 | 33 | 26 | 3 | .288 | .885 | .222 | .343 | .381 | 19.4% | 33.6% | 79.0% | $3,800 | $4,500 | $5,250 |
| Lorenzo Cain | KC | R | TB | Chris Archer | 193 | 57 | 8 | 28 | 33 | 15 | 6 | .295 | .804 | .161 | .350 | .347 | 24.3% | 29.1% | 86.7% | $3,800 | $4,200 | $5,250 |
| Giancarlo Stanton | MIA | R | PIT | Jon Niese | 154 | 33 | 12 | 21 | 26 | 25 | 0 | .214 | .806 | .266 | .256 | .343 | 13.8% | 38.3% | 79.0% | $3,500 | $4,700 | $5,300 |
| Brandon Guyer | TB | R | KC | Danny Duffy | 132 | 38 | 6 | 22 | 14 | 6 | 1 | .288 | .887 | .220 | .330 | .382 | 24.5% | 31.7% | 85.5% | $3,500 | $4,300 | $4,400 |
| Gerardo Parra | COL | L | CIN | John Lamb | 200 | 56 | 4 | 29 | 25 | 3 | 5 | .280 | .734 | .165 | .315 | .311 | 16.5% | 29.9% | 90.5% | $3,400 | $3,600 | $4,750 |
| Matt Kemp | SD | R | SEA | Felix Hernandez | 210 | 48 | 13 | 25 | 33 | 4 | 0 | .229 | .705 | .238 | .232 | .291 | 18.9% | 34.2% | 83.2% | $2,900 | $3,300 | $4,750 |
| Whit Merrifield | KC | R | TB | Chris Archer | 45 | 16 | 0 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 2 | .356 | .822 | .111 | .444 | .354 | 30.6% | 38.9% | 95.2% | $2,800 | $3,400 | $3,650 |
| Franklin Gutierrez | SEA | R | SD | Christian Friedrich | 74 | 18 | 5 | 10 | 13 | 8 | 0 | .243 | .816 | .243 | .283 | .350 | 19.6% | 43.1% | 75.2% | $2,800 | $3,000 | $4,000 |
| Jake Marisnick | HOU | R | ARI | Robbie Ray | 69 | 13 | 1 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 2 | .188 | .527 | .116 | .250 | .230 | 20.8% | 32.7% | 88.4% | $2,600 | $2,900 | $3,750 |
| Hyun-Soo Kim | BAL | L | BOS | Joe Kelly | 50 | 18 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 7 | 0 | .360 | .928 | .120 | .415 | .408 | 19.0% | 31.0% | 87.1% | $2,500 | $3,600 | $3,700 |
| Michael Bourn | ARI | L | HOU | Mike Fiers | 35 | 12 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 3 | .343 | .882 | .114 | .429 | .386 | 30.8% | 34.5% | 90.9% | $2,200 | $2,600 | $4,000 |
EARLY SLATE
Stephen Piscotty has a 5-game hitting streak where he has gone 6-for-19 (.316 AVG) with a homer, four walks, and six RBIs.
Yoenis Cespedes can be a bit of a headache if you’re depending on him consistently in your cash games, but he’s a fine GPP play considering there’s not many people who bring his type of upside. He has hit 38 of his 50 home runs over the last two seasons against right-handed pitching, and gets a good matchup against Miguel Gonzalez of the White Sox.
Khris Davis should be a staple in your GPP lineups today. He rarely makes much of a cash game play thanks to his terrible contact rate, but his ceiling is unlike anyone else at his price point.
Robbie Grossman is having the time of his life in the majors. Over his last eight games, he has gone 9-for-27 (.333 AVG) with a homer, five doubles, five walks, five runs, and six RBIs. I prefer him on DK where he is still a minimum priced option.
Jeremy Hazelbaker hit a pinch hit home run last night until it was declared foul after a challenge by Brewers Manager Craig Counsell. With the early game today, I think there’s a chance Hazelbaker gets the start, and if he does, he might be a must play.
Alejandro De Aza may or may not get the start, but if he’s ever going to give someone a day off, it might as well be a day when he has good BvP numbers against the opposing pitcher. He is 4-for-7 (.571 AVG) with a home run against Miguel Gonzalez throughout his career.
LATE SLATE
Mike Trout tends to be underowned on nights where there’s good, expensive pitching combined with Coors Field. Trout brings a high floor to go with a high ceiling, which makes sense considering he is the most expensive outfielder on the board on FanDuel.
Nelson Cruz has some ridiculous splits when we narrow things down. Away from Safeco, he is batting .407/.515/1.074 against southpaws with five homers in 33 plate appearances. That is absolutely, positively, INSANE.
George Springer probably should have been the Astros leadoff hitter from the get go. He is currently batting .371/.436/.600 with two homers over 35 at-bats from the leadoff position. He has also gone 3-for-4 with two doubles against Robbie Ray in their previous meetings.
Lorenzo Cain ended his May with an amazing line of .346/.377/.551 with five homers, seven doubles, and 21 RBIs. He has had success against Chris Archer in their limited meetings, going 3-for-4 (.750 AVG) with a homer and a double.
Giancarlo Stanton has been out of the lineup since 5/24 due to some soreness, but it was said that he could be back at some point in the Marlins current series against the Pittsburgh Pirates. It makes sense for it to be tonight considering the fact that Stanton is 12-for-29 (.414 AVG) with four homers and eight RBIs against Jon Niese. His price is actually a very reasonable $3500 on FanDuel, so the price is definitely right.
Brandon Guyer loves to face lefties, and he happens to be perfect in his career against Danny Duffy, going 3-for-3 with a home run. What will make him contrarian tonight is definitely the fact that his price has significantly increased on both FanDuel and DraftKings.
Gerardo Parra still happens to be the one “bargain” bat in the Rockies outfield, yet, I think he’s the best play tonight against the lefty, John Lamb. It may not matter simply because the Reds have baseball’s worst bullpen, but Parra happens to be batting .444/.464/.667 with a homer and three doubles in 23 at-bats at home against southpaws.
Matt Kemp has homered in three of his last five games. Kemp has always been a bit of a streaky player, and considering his deflated price, he should be considered in all formats.
Whit Merrifield just continues to get the job done, and even missed out on his first career home run by a few inches (he still doubled though). He’s not only making good contact, but he’s making HARD contact, with a Hard Hit Rate that is hovering just below 40%. His opposite tonight will be Chris Archer, whose Hard Hit Rate happens to be the worst of his career, at 35.7%.
Franklin Gutierrez will likely get another start against the southpaw Christian Friedrich in Petco. He has a 7-game hitting streak where he has gone 9-for-23 (.391 AVG) with four homers, a double, six runs, and eight RBIs. He did something like this last season and it was a mistake to fade him against lefties for a good three weeks!
Jake Marisnick is looking like a completely different player. Over his last four games, he has gone 7-for-18 (.389 AVG) with a homer, two doubles, six runs, three RBIs, and a stolen base. He has showed bits and pieces of greatness but hasn’t been able to sustain anything throughout an entire season. With the Astros outfield needing a boost, he’s getting plenty of playing time, and he’s starting to take advantage of it.
Hyun-Soo Kim has been getting the bulk of the recent starts against right-handed pitching, and has been doing so batting 2nd in the lineup. While I do like him as a punt play, just keep in mind that the O’s may pinch-hit for him if a left-handed pitcher comes up. It wouldn’t exactly be shocking because he has yet to face a lefty this season.
Michael Bourn has gone 11-for-25 (.440 AVG) with a triple, two doubles, four walks, four runs, six RBIs, and two stolen bases in his last six starts. Much of this has been aided by his spot in the 2-hole in front of Paul Goldschmidt. Just a great value for Bourn across the industry
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!