DFS MLB: Top Five Hitters Visiting SunTrust Park

In our daily quest to conquer Daily Fantasy Sports, we need the best information to beat our opponents. We continue to review the top five hitters visiting each MLB ballpark, from the 2017  season, to arm you with information you need to conquer you DFS MLB cash game and GPP’s.

If you’re starting DFS MLB for the first time, or have played DFS MLB for years, you’ll learn quickly, or already know, the daily pitching match ups and ballpark location information is vital to conquering your cash or GPP plays. We’re going to look at the top five hitters taking at least 20 or more plate appearances when visiting each ballpark across Major League Baseball.

We’ve already reviewed Chase Field and discussed it’s hitter-friendly history. SunTrust Park, in Atlanta, is only one year old hosting all of the Braves’ opponents for the first time in the 2017 season. The 41,500 capacity stadium sitting outside of Atlanta, in Cobb County, quickly developed a reputation for becoming yet another hitter-friendly ballpark.

Right field has a higher wall, but is only 325′ feet along the foul line. That’s closer than the 335′ from the plate to the flag pole in left field. However, the left field wall is significantly lower, as the right field wall has a screen above the higher wall. Center field reaches 400′, and is shouldered by 375′ in right-center, and 385′ in left-center.

Last season, especially as the weather began to get significantly warmer in Georgia, SunTrust Park started to gain notoriety for hitter-friendly characteristics as Freddie Freeman‘s fantasy baseball season quickly climbed above his recent seasonal stats.

However, it wasn’t just Freeman. Many other sluggers, or efficient hitters, seemed to be able to take advantage of the hitter-friendly environment.  We’re going to review the top-five visiting the field last season, so we know who to grab each time they’re in Atlanta for the 2018 season.

Now that we’ve covered the stadium, who’s enjoyed the visits the most?

DFS MLB: Top Five Hitters Visiting SunTrust Park

While the second and third best visiting hitters in SunTrust Park last season are a bit of a surprise, the top hitter is not. Bryce Harper not only dominated the Braves pitching in Atlanta last season, he wasn’t even close compared to any other hitter visiting the park in 2017.

With a disgusting 261 wRC+, the next best value is 232. As a reminder, 100 is considered league average. So how did he get there? In six games, Harper has 25 plate appearances. He managed three walks and and ten hits, getting on base almost every other at bat, leading to a .455 batting average in the park and a .520 OBP.

Bryce had a 16% strikeout rate, which isn’t great but not terrible either. Still, you’ll easily throw that out considering his on-base production and absurd .909 slugging percentage. Harper managed to pile up four doubles and two home runs, among his ten hits. Bryce also had five runs and eight RBI’s among his 22 at-bats in SunTrust Field. Whenever the Nats are in Atlanta this season, make sure you find a way to afford Harper in your DFS MLB optimal lineups.

A 26-year-old outfielder for the Pirates came in second with 232 wRC+ in SunTrust Park. Adam Frazier had incredible on-base consistency with a 33% walk rate in Atlanta, but also managed a .769 slugging percentage thanks to two home runs among his four hits in 13 at-bats.

Frazier only struck out twice and while his batting average was only .308, he had a .571 OBP which was higher than Harper’s. Even a high on-base percentage will help your DFS MBL optimal lineups, and Adam tacks on a high slugging percentage with his high on-base efficiency. With the Pirates in Atlanta this season, make sure you have Frazier in your OF/2B spot of your lineups.

Who rounds out the top five? We’re staying in the National League East…

DFS MLB: Rounding Out Top Five Hitters Visiting SunTrust Park

Odubel Herrera struggled with strikeouts last season, after a tremendous rookie year. Herrera was emerging as a power batting option for the Phillies toward the end of the 2016 season. Odubel still had plenty of offensive production in 2017, but his K-rate continued to climb, and his overall batting average dropped.

However, when in SunTrust Park, Herrera had a 231 wRC+ thanks largely to scoring nine runs in just 34 plate appearances. Odubel still struggled with a 17.6% K-rate, but 32 at-bats, Herrera had a .375 batting average with one single and an incredible SEVEN doubles, two triples, and two home runs. Herrera’s .906 slugging percentage was barely clipped by Harper’s .909. From a DFS MLB optimal lineup perspective, Herrera is arguably as good as Harper when hitting in SunTrust Park.

From there, the top five finish with two Mets, Neil Walker and Jay Bruce. Of the two, Walker is probably the more surprising as Bruce is already a well known slugger. Walker’s slugging percentage is only .556 in SunTrust, but his K-rate is only 4% and he has a high 20% walk rate with 25 plate appearances. With six singles and five walks, Neil was on first base eleven of the 25 appearances, almost 50% of the time he walked to the plate in the ballpark.

To make things better, Walker added two doubles, and had five runs along with two RBI’s. But for a better DFS MLB result, Bruce slugged three home runs in 29 appearances. With a .778 slugging percentage, Jay knocked in nine RBI’s, more than any in the top five. Bruce had a solid .333 batting average in the park, but his 20.7% K-rate reduces his value a bit. Still, when the Mets are in Atlanta, start your stack with Walker and Bruce.

Honorable Mentions: Among the honorable mentioned, we’ll start with Asdrubal Cabrera who finished seventh among all hitters visiting SunTrust. Cabrera is a great third person for your Mets stack in Atlanta, as he piled up nine hits and eight runs among his 38 plate appearances. Asdrubal also slugged two home runs and knocked in five RBI’s.

Just missing the top five was another Washington National, Ryan Zimmerman.  Zim not only slugged three home runs in his 38 plate appearances, but he also knocked in eleven RBI’s. That is more RBI’s than any other hitting the ballpark, including Giancarlo Stanton.

Next: FanDuel MLB Opening Day 2018

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