Washington Nationals starting pitcher Max Scherzer throws in the first inning of their baseball game against the San Francisco Giants Friday, Aug. 14, 2015, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)
Welcome to Saturday baseball! We have a 9 game early slate and a 5 game late slate with a ton of things to look at. Make sure to check on out other articles as they will touch on some more pitching options, tournament stacks and any weather concerns that may arise. Let's get into the top options at each position!
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Opponent - ATL (Teheran) Park - @CHW
FD - 36.12 DK - 23.4
We have a split slate on our hands and the early slate is definitely a bit rough on the pitching side. That being said, we do have a lefty against the Braves. While it didn't work out too sell last night, it has worked out extremely well all year on a consistent basis. Against lefties, the braves held the leagues worst wOBA of .273 that is backed up by a 68 wRC+ and a rediculous 0.89 Isolated power. Quintana on the other hand, has been tremendous against lefties with a .228 wOBA. Aside from the wOBA, he has held a 8.40 K/9 and a 28% hard contact rate. Quintana is a great play in all formats, on both sites.
Opponent - NYM (Verrett) Park - @NYM
FD - 43.67 DK - 28.75
On the late slate, Scherzer is going to be our top option. While the Mets are regarded as one of the best hitting teams, they are nowhere near the team they were at the beginning of the year. Against righties, the Mets have sported a .313 wOBA, which comes in as the 10th worst in the majors. Scherzer is obviously one of the best pitchers in the league and has destroyed bad teams this season. With a sub 3.00 SIERA, a 38% K rate against righties and a very low hard contact rate, you can expect a big performance tonight. Scherzer makes for a great play in all formats, though there are some other options. Check out the pitcher article to see some more guys to target.
Opponent - ARI (Ray) Park - @SF
FD - 11.84 DK - 9.15
Buster Posey was thrown at multiple times last night and will look to do some damage here against the left hander Robbie Ray. While Ray isn't a gas can, he is pretty bad against right handers. Dating back to 2015, Ray has maintained a .341 wOBA that is backed up by his peripherals against righties. Posey is a well know lefty smasher and this year has been no different as he has held a .409 wOBA and a 37.2% hard contact rate. Posey makes for a great play in all formats, though I think punting catcher is in play as well.
Opponent - PIT (Kuhl) Park - @PIT
FD - 10 DK - 7.78
While this isn't a FanDuel specific play, he is a better play over there as they refuse to raise his price. The Cubs will be taking on Chad Kuhl, a right handed pitcher that has not shown us much of a major league sample size. However, in the minors, Kuhl struggled striking out righties and gave up a 1.06 HR/9 to right handers. Contreras has been great against righties and has provided an offensive boost to the Cubs start. Contreras is a great play in both cash games and tournaments, especially on FanDuel.
Opponent - TB (Moore) Park - @BOS
FD - 13.58 DK - 10.65
While there is no offense on the early slate that stands out, I think the Red Sox are a very good one to target. My top first baseman on the slate is going to be Hanley Ramirez, a right handed power bat that has mashed lefties this season. Dating back to opening day, HanRam has hit lefties to the tune of a .445 wOBA that is backed up by a crazy 46% hard contact rate. We will touch on Matt Moore later, but just know that he is a southpaw that struggles against right handers. Hanley is a good play in both cash games and tournaments.
Opponent - NYY (Sabathia) Park - @CLE
FD - 10.76 DK - 8.16
If you want to talk about somebody that destroys left handers, talk about Mike Napoli. Napoli has destroyed southpaws in 2016 with a 50% hard contact rate, a 38.5% pull rate and a .242 ISO. He will stand 60 feet away from C.C. Sabathia, a reinvented Sabathia at that. While he has undoubtedly fixed some things, he is still not perfect. Against righties for example, he has a 4.85 xFIP and has given up a 6.8% HR/FB rate. Napoli is going to be very popular, and rightfully so.
Opponent - TB (Moore) Park - @BOS
FD - 13.01 DK - 10.26
The Red Sox are back at it again with a great match up at home in Fenway Park. Pedroia has historically mashed lefties over the course of his career with a .369 wOBA and this year has been no different as he has sported a .286 BABIP and .336 wOBA. I look for Pedroia to start hitting lefties in the second half of the season and this could certainly be the start of it. While Matt Moore is regarded as a good pitcher, he has struggled against right handers. Dating back to 2015, Moore has given up a .365 wOBA to righties and that wOBA is backed up by all of his peripherals. In Fenway Park, that is very very dangerous. You can target Pedroia in all formats.
Opponent - MIN (Nolasco) Park - @TEX
FD - 11.91 DK - 9.64
Rougned Odor moved into the 3 spot yesterday and produced, which is why I feel confident that it is going to happen again. If so, he is in a great spot against Ricky Nolasco and the Twins bad bullpen. Odor has hit righties very well this season with a .342 wOBA that is backed up by a hard contact rate and a great line drive rate. Nolasco on the other hand, has given up a .324 wOBA t go along with a 4.39 xFIP and a 34.3% hard contact rate. While he is a bit expensive on DK, he is way too cheap on FanDuel.
Opponent - NYY (Sabathia) Park - @CLE
FD - 10.6 DK - 8.8
Like I mentioned when touching on Napoli, Sabathia is due for some real regression as his xFIP and SIERA are sitting over 2 runs higher than his ERA. That could surely come today against an Indians team that can hit lefties well and Lindor is one of those guys. Since 2015, Lindor has hit lefties to a .348 wOBA that is backed up by a great hard contact rate and batted ball peripherals that support it. While he will cost you a pretty penny, he may be worth it against the old man Sabathia.
Opponent - SD (Perdomo) Park - @LAD
FD - 11.79 DK - 9.22
While Corey Seager disappointed mightily last night, we can't let that influence our decision tonight. The Dodgers will be in another great match up here against the right handed gas can Luis Perdomo. Perdomo has struggled against lefties this season with a .346 wOBA that is backed up by his batted ball peripherals. Seager on the other hand, has hit 16 home runs this season which is only 2nd to Trevor Story at the position. While the ballpark won't help, Seager will do his best to make it 17.
Opponent - CIN (Lamb) Park - @MIA
FD - 10 DK - 7.88
Prado against a lefty? sign me up. Prado consistently goes under owned against left handed pitchers, for no reason. Dating back to opening day against the Yankees, Prado has mashed left handers with a .375 batting average and a .380 wOBA. Even though he does lack power, he brings a ton of consistency which we will take in our cash games.In tournaments, however, I think he is just fine as long as you have some high upside guys surrounding him. Moving on to a pure tournament play, let's look at Maikel Franco.
Opponent - COL (Anderson) Park - @COL
FD - 11.78 DK - 9.1
Franco is a guy that reminds me of Hanley Ramirez, due to the main fact that both of their helmets fly off every single time they swing and miss. While that really means nothing, it shows that they are swinging for the fence constantly. In Coors Field, that is something you love to see. He will face the left handed Tyler Anderson who has struggled against right handers in Coors Field with an absurd .453 wOBA. You can feel free to deploy Franco in both cash games and tournaments, on both sites.
Opponent - CIN (Lamb) Park - @MIA
FD - 15.12 DK - 11.4
Moving onto the outfield, we have our top play Giancarlo Stanton. Personally, he is my top play of the day across all of the position. Not only is he finally hitting like himself, he is facing one of the absolute worst southpaws in the game, John Lamb. Not only does lamb give up a ton of hits to righties, he gives up a ton of power. Dating back to 2015, Lamb has given up 25 extra base hits in only 89 innings of work. Stanton is one of the best hitters in the league against left handed pitching and you can feel confident with him in all formats. He is close to a must play for me on FanDuel at only $3800. Also, I am calling a home run here.
Opponent - TB (Moore) Park - @BOS
FD - 14.79 DK - 12.26
This is the Red Sox bat on our docket and it may be our favorite. Mookie Betts is an absolute stud and while he hits literally everyone well, he excels against sinker-ballers. With a 35% hard contact rate against lefties, he has proven that he is a legitimate hitter in this league. As Previously mentioned, Matt Moore struggles against righties and will struggle a ton here with the green monster breathing down his back. While the Red Sox should be very highly owned, I would look past that in cash games and tournaments.
Opponent - PHI (Eickhoff) Park - @COL
FD - 15.26 DK - 11.73
While the Rockies have yet to be mentioned, they are obviously a great option in Coors Field. I chose to not fill up the entire article with Coors bats as that would not be giving anyone anything they don't already know. That being said, I think CarGo is going to be my favorite of them all. Gonzalez is a guy that likes to hit the ball inside and Eickhoff is a guy that is know to pitch righties inside with a decent change up and fastball. I look for CarGo to turn on one early in the game and send it out to right field. While he is very expensive on both sites, he is the bat I would try to work in on the late slate.
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