Outfielder, High End Spend
Aaron Judge, $5,100
N/A
One of the elite bats in the game is in a fantastic spot tonight as Yankees star Aaron Judge gets to square off against lefty Andrew Heaney for the Angels. Heaney just can’t control right batters in the majors. He’s faced 545 in his career and is giving up a .275 average, .856 OPS and a .366 wOBA. All of those numbers have taken a significant jump upwards in 2018 through 35 right handed batters. Judge has been wearing out the few lefties he’s seen so far. It’s only 26 plate appearances but his strikeout rate is way down and his average is .375, the OPS is 1.428, the ISO is .438 and the wOBA is .570. The price is sky high but this is a match made in heaven for Judge.
Also Consider – Mookie Betts, $4,800 and Tommy Pham, $4,200
Mid-Range
Michael Brantley, $3,400
.200/.333/.200 with 0 HR in 5 at-bats
The power upside may not be as high as some other bats but Brantley checks into tonight as a relatively safe option. He’s hitting right hander well with an average of .342 and a wOBA of .374. We’ve already discussed just how poor Erasmo Ramirez has been at getting lefty bats out and Brantley just does’t strikeout. His strikeout rate is under six percent against righties and even though his hard contact isn’t special at 30.6 percent, it’s hard to argue with the average. As long as Brantley is healthy, he’s a very good player.
Also Consider – Ronald Acuna, $3,200 and Jesse Winker, $2,900
Value
Cameron Maybin, $2,400
N/A
Maybin really isn’t anything special at this point in his career but he’s been hitting lefties well through the 2018 season so far. His average is a robust .333 with an .867 OPS and a .366 wOBA. He hasn’t stolen bases too often lately but that weapon is always in his back pocket. The only bad thing about this play is the Miami offense is so poor, his upside is likely fairly limited. However, he’s a scant $2,400. That’s not too much to spend on an outfielder of his caliber.
Also Consider – Bradley Zimmer, $2,300 and Austin Jackson,, $2,100