Tonight, for the first time in quite awhile, we have a really big 14-game slate with a severe lack of quality pitching options.
Once again, you should be able to pay up for some big bats across the industry, though, you’ll probably still need to mix in a value play or two throughout your lineup.
It does appear that we won’t have anything to worry about again when it comes to weather.
As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to either comment below, or message me via Twitter @kle18.
Also, players throughout the article are organized from highest to lowest salary at each position using FanDuel pricing.
| 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 | LAD | Julio Urias | 226 | 70 | 10 | 34 | 33 | 21 | 2 | .310 | .889 | .212 | .343 | .375 | 24.3% | 37.3% | 87.4% | $3,300 | $3,800 | $4,750 |
| Welington Castillo | ARI | R | PHI | Adam Morgan | 184 | 50 | 7 | 20 | 23 | 13 | 2 | .272 | .766 | .174 | .331 | .327 | 22.6% | 40.2% | 84.5% | $2,900 | $4,000 | $4,700 |
| Victor Martinez | DET | S | KC | Yordano Ventura | 222 | 75 | 12 | 27 | 38 | 17 | 0 | .338 | .945 | .221 | .348 | .399 | 26.4% | 42.0% | 92.7% | $2,700 | $3,800 | $4,950 |
| Chris Iannetta | SEA | R | BOS | Roenis Elias | 170 | 42 | 6 | 15 | 18 | 25 | 0 | .247 | .760 | .165 | .295 | .334 | 21.9% | 33.6% | 80.7% | $2,600 | $4,800 | $4,300 |
| Alex Avila | CHW | S | CLE | Trevor Bauer | 85 | 20 | 2 | 10 | 5 | 14 | 0 | .235 | .699 | .118 | .353 | .314 | 28.3% | 30.2% | 71.1% | $2,500 | $2,900 | $3,700 |
Jonathan Lucroy will lead off our little list of lefty crushing catchers. While he has had mixed results this season against southpaws, he does own a career line of .298/.347/.485 with a .187 ISO against lefties throughout his career. He faces Julio Urias who has been a mixed bag this season, but has definitely been vulnerable to the long ball, allowing a 2.12 HR/9.
Welington Castillo has been in a big slump when it comes to his power, but if it’s ever going to change, it’s probably going to happen against a lefty. He’ll get a pretty weak lefty tonight in Adam Morgan of the Phillies. Beef has batted .365/.429/.714 with five homers in just 63 at-bats this season against southpaws.
Victor Martinez came back from a knee injury last night, and all he did was go TRIPLE DONG against the Royals. Interestingly enough, his price on FanDuel is currently at the lowest it has been in quite awhile, at a very reasonable $2700. He won’t hit three home runs tonight, but I think he should be fine against Yordano Ventura, who he has homered against twice in his career.
Chris Iannetta can be considered today, going up against a southpaw in Roenis Elias. He struggled a bit in May, but he has actually performed extremely well in June, batting .390/.490/.707 with two home runs. You may also be surprised to know that he is batting .344/.462/.500 this season against lefties. Don’t even think about playing him on DraftKings though, I mean, $4800? Really?
Alex Avila started the season off quite poorly, but has come alive in recent weeks. Over his last nine games, he has gone 10-for-30 (.333 AVG) with two homers, two doubles, two walks, six runs, and three RBIs. He’s also pretty cheap throughout the industry.
| 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 |
| Edwin Encarnacion | TOR | R | BAL | Mike Wright | 259 | 66 | 18 | 38 | 61 | 30 | 2 | .255 | .863 | .270 | .261 | .366 | 21.8% | 35.2% | 86.1% | $4,600 | $5,400 | $5,350 |
| David Ortiz | BOS | L | SEA | Hisashi Iwakuma | 221 | 76 | 17 | 31 | 57 | 30 | 1 | .344 | 1.138 | .371 | .353 | .466 | 22.3% | 47.8% | 90.7% | $4,300 | $5,500 | $5,400 |
| Brandon Belt | SF | L | TB | Chris Archer | 216 | 65 | 8 | 31 | 33 | 41 | 0 | .301 | .926 | .213 | .339 | .394 | 28.2% | 35.2% | 85.5% | $3,800 | $3,800 | $4,900 |
| Chris Davis | BAL | L | TOR | Aaron Sanchez | 230 | 52 | 16 | 48 | 40 | 40 | 0 | .226 | .828 | .257 | .281 | .355 | 19.6% | 39.6% | 76.5% | $3,600 | $4,700 | $5,500 |
| Albert Pujols | LAA | R | OAK | Kendall Graveman | 250 | 58 | 12 | 26 | 43 | 28 | 2 | .232 | .710 | .168 | .224 | .306 | 15.7% | 34.1% | 92.0% | $3,400 | $3,600 | $4,650 |
| Ryan Zimmerman | WSH | R | SD | Christian Friedrich | 215 | 50 | 9 | 32 | 29 | 18 | 1 | .233 | .711 | .186 | .261 | .305 | 15.7% | 34.3% | 85.4% | $3,000 | $4,800 | $4,700 |
Edwin Encarnacion is on another planet right now. He now has six home runs in his last six games. This six game run has been so ridiculous that I’m pretty certain I haven’t seen a line this good all season long (11-for-24 with six homers, three doubles, six walks, 12 runs, 14 RBIs, and two stolen bases).
David Ortiz was basically the only Red Sox bat that produced last night. He continues to be the most productive player in baseball at home against righties. He’ll matchup tonight against Hisashi Iwakuma, who he has gone 4-for-8 (.500 AVG) with two homers and four RBIs against in their previous meetings.
Brandon Belt has faced Chris Archer once before, and ended up going 3-for-3 with a home run and a triple. Yes, Archer’s command has improved a bit in recent weeks, but it still has a ways to go in order to get to the level he was playing at last season.
Chris Davis loves to face Aaron Sanchez. He is 6-for-10 (.600 AVG) with three homers and a double against Sanchez throughout his career. He hasn’t homered since crushing one against Sanchez on Sunday, but we can give him a pass because he does have five homers over his last eight games.
Albert Pujols is 4-for-8 (.500 AVG) with a homer in his previous meetings against Kendall Graveman of the A’s. It has been mentioned before, but I’ll say it again, Graveman is awful against right-handed hitting, allowing a line of .327/.368/.561 with a HR/9 of 2.52!
Ryan Zimmerman will be just one of the many Nationals hitters that I’ll be featuring in today’s article. For whatever reason, the Nationals absolutely go ham at Petco Park. Obviously, you were able to witness last night’s six run performance, but last season, the Nationals actually averaged 6.75 runs per game at Petco. Zimmerman is cheap on FanDuel, and matches up very well against Christian Friedrich from a PITCHf/x perspective.
| 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 |
| Jose Altuve | HOU | R | CIN | John Lamb | 263 | 91 | 10 | 47 | 38 | 32 | 18 | .346 | .969 | .202 | .352 | .409 | 29.6% | 34.0% | 90.7% | $4,100 | $5,600 | $5,500 |
| Dustin Pedroia | BOS | R | SEA | Hisashi Iwakuma | 263 | 82 | 7 | 45 | 27 | 25 | 4 | .312 | .843 | .160 | .342 | .365 | 21.7% | 29.5% | 94.1% | $3,800 | $4,400 | $4,900 |
| Neil Walker | NYM | S | ATL | John Gant | 211 | 58 | 14 | 26 | 28 | 22 | 1 | .275 | .844 | .223 | .303 | .358 | 21.5% | 35.2% | 86.9% | $3,300 | $4,000 | $4,750 |
| Jean Segura | ARI | R | PHI | Adam Morgan | 269 | 82 | 5 | 34 | 29 | 10 | 7 | .305 | .779 | .134 | .344 | .337 | 18.5% | 27.4% | 92.1% | $3,100 | $4,400 | $5,100 |
| Starlin Castro | NYY | R | MIN | Pat Dean | 248 | 63 | 9 | 21 | 26 | 11 | 2 | .254 | .704 | .161 | .278 | .303 | 21.2% | 27.0% | 85.1% | $2,800 | $3,600 | $4,550 |
Jose Altuve against a weak lefty just has domination written all over it. The star second baseman has put up “David Ortiz vs. righties at Fenway” like numbers this season against lefties at home, putting up a line of .450/.542/.850 with a .570 wOBA against southpaws at Minute Maid Park.
Dustin Pedroia has batted .333/.400/.667 with a homer and three RBIs over his 10 previous plate appearances against Hisashi Iwakuma of the Mariners.
Neil Walker made a pretty epic return to the Mets lineup, going 2-for-4 with a homer and a double last night against the Pirates. He actually matches well against John Gant of the Braves, who is just a three pitch pitcher, who throws a lot of curveballs and changeups, which according to PITCHf/x, are the two pitches that Walker has excelled against this season.
Jean Segura is looking like the Jean Segura that we saw back in April. Over his last seven games, he has gone 12-for-28 (.429 AVG) with a double, five runs, two RBIs, and a stolen base. He’s a little overpriced on DraftKings, but more than reasonable on FanDuel.
Starlin Castro had a rough game last night, but he’s still a pretty affordable bat who will get a pretty good matchup tonight against Pat Dean of the Twins. Dean’s 4.17 ERA isn’t too bad, but he does have a poor 4.56 xFIP and 32.2% Hard Hit Rate allowed.
| 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 |
| Josh Donaldson | TOR | R | BAL | Mike Wright | 250 | 69 | 16 | 57 | 43 | 45 | 5 | .276 | .945 | .280 | .293 | .399 | 22.3% | 41.4% | 84.1% | $4,700 | $5,600 | $5,550 |
| Martin Prado | MIA | R | COL | Jon Gray | 248 | 82 | 2 | 27 | 21 | 16 | 0 | .331 | .794 | .093 | .365 | .343 | 23.1% | 24.4% | 97.9% | $3,300 | $3,400 | $4,500 |
| Anthony Rendon | WSH | R | SD | Christian Friedrich | 248 | 63 | 7 | 43 | 24 | 31 | 7 | .254 | .743 | .153 | .295 | .325 | 21.9% | 38.6% | 89.6% | $2,800 | $4,500 | $4,600 |
| Pedro Alvarez | BAL | L | TOR | Aaron Sanchez | 134 | 31 | 7 | 13 | 19 | 17 | 1 | .231 | .761 | .216 | .267 | .324 | 16.5% | 35.1% | 85.1% | $2,800 | $3,500 | $4,150 |
| Jhonny Peralta | STL | R | TEX | Cole Hamels | 32 | 10 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 3 | 0 | .313 | .871 | .188 | .346 | .375 | 29.6% | 44.4% | 77.1% | $2,600 | $3,800 | $4,550 |
Josh Donaldson’s biggest enemy tonight is going to be his astronomical price on both DraftKings and FanDuel. It’s pretty justified though considering he reached base safely in all five plate appearances last night and scored three runs. He now has a 9-game hitting streak, where he has gone 16-for-34 (.471 AVG) with three homers, two triples, four doubles, eight walks, 14 runs, 13 RBIs, and two stolen bases.
Martin Prado probably should be avoided on FanDuel with so many good options available, but he should definitely be considered on DraftKings where he is only $3400. Over his last 10 games, Prado has batted .439/.489/.634 with a homer, triple, three doubles, and five RBIs.
Anthony Rendon is a superb value on FanDuel where he has actually dropped down from his $3000 last night to just $2800 tonight against Christian Friedrich of the Padres.
Pedro Alvarez hasn’t gotten much playing time lately, mainly because of all of the lefties that the Orioles have been facing. Nonetheless, he’ll get a decent matchup tonight against Aaron Sanchez, who he went 2-for-2 against with a homer less than a week ago.
Jhonny Peralta is only $2600 on FanDuel and has actually had a little success against Cole Hamels in their previous meetings. Peralta has gone 4-for-11 (.364 AVG) with three doubles against the former Phillies ace.
| 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 |
| Corey Seager | LAD | L | MIL | Zach Davies | 263 | 72 | 15 | 43 | 36 | 24 | 1 | .274 | .833 | .224 | .288 | .354 | 21.7% | 39.0% | 90.2% | $3,400 | $4,000 | $5,000 |
| Jonathan Villar | MIL | S | LAD | Julio Urias | 242 | 73 | 6 | 37 | 28 | 36 | 24 | .302 | .832 | .140 | .401 | .361 | 23.7% | 32.4% | 84.0% | $3,300 | $3,700 | $4,750 |
| Trevor Story | COL | R | MIA | Adam Conley | 257 | 69 | 17 | 38 | 45 | 19 | 4 | .268 | .877 | .288 | .354 | .367 | 22.7% | 44.6% | 82.6% | $3,100 | $4,400 | $5,350 |
| Marcus Semien | OAK | R | LAA | Matt Shoemaker | 222 | 53 | 12 | 26 | 28 | 22 | 5 | .239 | .739 | .194 | .265 | .318 | 16.3% | 27.0% | 81.7% | $3,000 | $2,900 | $4,650 |
| Ketel Marte | SEA | S | BOS | Roenis Elias | 193 | 52 | 1 | 25 | 14 | 8 | 8 | .269 | .657 | .088 | .329 | .285 | 25.0% | 22.9% | 86.0% | $2,400 | $4,000 | $3,900 |
Corey Seager is only $3400 on FanDuel, which is pretty insane for someone who has hit 11 of his 15 home runs against right-handed pitching this season. Oddly enough, he has also hit 11 of his 15 home runs at home in Dodger Stadium. Even though Zach Davies has been much improved after a disastrous April, he is still allowing a .405 wOBA on the road.
Jonathan Villar came up huge last night, going 2-for-5 with a homer, two runs, two RBIs, and a stolen base. I mentioned last night that he’s incredibly good against lefties, and he’ll get another lefty tonight in the young Julio Urias. While Urias has been able to get seven strikeouts in each of his last two games, he is still getting crushed when the opposition makes contact with his pitches.
Trevor Story is at a great price point on FanDuel at just $3100 and is actually swinging a pretty hot bat, going 13-for-42 (.309 AVG) with two homers, three doubles, seven runs, and seven RBIs over his last 10 games.
Marcus Semien always seems to have his way against Matt Shoemaker. While the Matt Shoemaker from the last month or so seems to be a different Matt Shoemaker,
Ketel Marte tends to start in the leadoff spot against lefties, and I don’t see why that’ll change tonight against Roenis Elias in Fenway. He is unplayable in cash games at his price tag on DraftKings, but is a very reasonable $2400 on FanDuel.
| 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 |
| Nelson Cruz | SEA | R | BOS | Roenis Elias | 245 | 73 | 16 | 40 | 46 | 30 | 0 | .298 | .923 | .241 | .345 | .389 | 19.3% | 32.6% | 84.0% | $4,300 | $5,500 | $5,300 |
| Carlos Gonzalez | COL | L | MIA | Adam Conley | 247 | 77 | 15 | 44 | 36 | 17 | 1 | .312 | .915 | .247 | .358 | .385 | 19.3% | 33.0% | 82.3% | $4,000 | $3,600 | $5,500 |
| Rajai Davis | CLE | R | CHW | Jose Quintana | 208 | 52 | 7 | 32 | 26 | 20 | 17 | .250 | .729 | .154 | .308 | .319 | 17.1% | 28.8% | 84.5% | $3,800 | $4,200 | $4,550 |
| Jayson Werth | WSH | R | SD | Christian Friedrich | 219 | 55 | 10 | 34 | 37 | 23 | 1 | .251 | .759 | .187 | .288 | .327 | 16.3% | 38.6% | 86.6% | $3,600 | $5,100 | $4,650 |
| Curtis Granderson | NYM | L | ATL | John Gant | 243 | 55 | 13 | 33 | 21 | 27 | 1 | .226 | .779 | .235 | .250 | .330 | 17.2% | 40.9% | 88.4% | $3,400 | $4,700 | $4,550 |
| Whit Merrifield | KC | R | DET | Michael Fulmer | 105 | 34 | 2 | 19 | 8 | 2 | 3 | .324 | .822 | .162 | .390 | .351 | 27.7% | 38.1% | 92.7% | $3,400 | $3,400 | $4,050 |
| Lorenzo Cain | KC | R | DET | Michael Fulmer | 247 | 71 | 8 | 31 | 36 | 19 | 6 | .287 | .761 | .134 | .352 | .327 | 22.5% | 30.0% | 86.3% | $3,400 | $3,000 | $5,300 |
| Ben Revere | WSH | L | SD | Christian Friedrich | 145 | 30 | 1 | 19 | 12 | 10 | 6 | .207 | .535 | .069 | .223 | .238 | 19.2% | 22.1% | 94.4% | $3,200 | $3,900 | $4,300 |
| Shin-Soo Choo | TEX | L | STL | Michael Wacha | 26 | 6 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 11 | 2 | .231 | .872 | .154 | .263 | .406 | 21.1% | 40.0% | 88.9% | $3,100 | $3,400 | $4,500 |
| Carlos Gomez | HOU | R | CIN | John Lamb | 162 | 32 | 3 | 15 | 11 | 13 | 7 | .198 | .574 | .111 | .299 | .254 | 21.3% | 30.4% | 75.1% | $3,100 | $3,700 | $4,300 |
| Joc Pederson | LAD | L | MIL | Zach Davies | 197 | 46 | 11 | 29 | 30 | 25 | 3 | .234 | .799 | .244 | .273 | .339 | 19.3% | 34.5% | 85.3% | $3,100 | $3,800 | $4,350 |
| Ryan Raburn | COL | R | MIA | Adam Conley | 101 | 26 | 6 | 14 | 16 | 11 | 0 | .257 | .838 | .248 | .323 | .356 | 17.6% | 38.2% | 81.4% | $3,000 | $3,000 | $4,700 |
| Justin Upton | DET | R | KC | Yordano Ventura | 240 | 55 | 4 | 30 | 23 | 18 | 3 | .229 | .628 | .117 | .340 | .273 | 21.4% | 34.4% | 77.4% | $3,000 | $4,300 | $4,350 |
| Mallex Smith | ATL | L | NYM | Matt Harvey | 162 | 40 | 3 | 23 | 21 | 16 | 13 | .247 | .712 | .148 | .311 | .310 | 14.7% | 20.0% | 85.1% | $2,700 | $3,500 | $3,750 |
| J.B. Shuck | CHW | L | CLE | Trevor Bauer | 45 | 9 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 0 | .200 | .539 | .089 | .231 | .238 | 12.8% | 27.5% | 96.5% | $2,400 | $3,000 | $3,300 |
Nelson Cruz will always be in play against southpaws, but he is actually even better against southpaws away from Safeco Field. This season, he is batting .381/.480/1.024 (LOL) against southpaws away from home. He gets a pretty big park boost in Fenway tonight and a decent matchup against his former teammate, Roenis Elias.
Carlos Gonzalez is pretty unlikely to have much ownership tonight considering his lefty-versus-lefty matchup against Adam Conley of the Marlins. I think this is probably a mistake. He’s very reasonably priced on DraftKings, and is smokin’ hot, having one 10-for-21 (.476 AVG) with two homers, two doubles, five runs, and six RBIs over his last five games. Beyond that, Adam Conley has actually had some heavy reverse splits throughout his career, allowing a line of .314/.400/.408 against lefties compared to .244/.318/.399 against righties.
Rajai Davis oddly costs an arm and a leg on DraftKings and FanDuel tonight, but is a very good value on Aces. He has batted .302/.348/.488 with a homer, triple, three doubles, and five stolen bases against Jose Quintana throughout his career. I am willing to gamble on him in GPPs on the main sites, but will avoid him in cash.
Jayson Werth is a player who never gets much love from a DFS perspective. He does deal with a lot of haters but it’s been pretty justified for most of the last few seasons, but there’s no doubting that he’s turned his game up a notch lately. His salary on DraftKings tonight is ridiculous and is unplayable in cash games, but feel free to give it a shot in GPPs. If he does damage, you’ll definitely benefit.
Curtis Granderson loves to hit against righties, and especially so when he’s on a hot streak. He’s currently on a 7-game hitting streak, going 12-for-32 (.375 AVG) with three homers, a triple, a double, seven runs, four RBIs, and a stolen base.
Whit Merrifield will continue to be on my radar as long as he remains eligible at second base on DraftKings and Aces, as long as his price remains reasonable on DraftKings and Aces, and as long as he continues to bat leadoff. He is now 11-for-32 (.344 AVG) with two homers, a triple, and two doubles this season when batting leadoff for the Royals.
Lorenzo Cain at just $3000 on DraftKings is a bit of a joke. You can really only say that he’s having an “off year” if you expect him to bat .307/.361/.477 for the rest of his life like he did last season. Even so, he’s not far off rom that line and has even demonstrated more power than in previous seasons.
Ben Revere continues to produce anytime he’s in the lineup, and even though he faces a lefty tonight in Christian Friedrich, I think he still should be considered. Believe it or not, he is actually batting .381/.417/.619 with his lone home run against lefties this season, compared to a pretty jaw-dropping .183/.233/.225 against righties. Considering he is batting .311 in June, I guess that really sums up how awful he was to start the season.
Shin-Soo Choo has reached base safely in eight out of 15 plate appearances since coming back from his stint on the Disabled List. His price tag is more than reasonable throughout the industry, and certainly makes him in play for cash games tonight.
Carlos Gomez seems to have snapped out of his miserable run this season, hitting all three of his home runs in the month of June. Even so, he has been great against southpaws, batting .333/.404/.476 this season against lefties.
Joc Pederson didn’t explode last night against Junior Guerra, but he was still able to get a big knock to keep the Dodgers in it. He now has hits in each of his last six starts, going 8-for-24 (.333 AVG) with three homers, three doubles, and four RBIs.
Ryan Raburn is a career .262/.338/.488 hitter against left-handed pitching. With Gerardo Parra out of the lineup for quite awhile, he’s going to get every chance in the world to do some damage against southpaws. I’d definitely prefer playing him on DraftKings tonight.
Justin Upton is now on a 6-game hitting streak and is looking much more comfortable at the plate. Over his last 10 games, he has gone 11-for-40 (.275 AVG) with a homer, triple, two doubles, five walks, eight runs, nine RBIs, and two stolen bases.
Mallex Smith has been great this season against right-handed pitching, and his fantasy value has significantly increased since being moved up to the leadoff spot. He has actually performed well against Harvey in his limited meetings against him this season, going 3-for-4 (.750 AVG) with a home run, double, and two RBIs.
J.B. Shuck will be my highlighted punt play on FanDuel. It’s a little bit of a shame that FanDuel has a severe lack of true punt plays in the outfield, but Shuck has actually been great for the White Sox lately. He has a 5-game hitting streak, where he has gone 6-for-19 (.316 AVG) with a triple, two doubles, three runs, and two RBIs.
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!