Pirates at Brewers
Pirates Probable Starter – Chad Kuhl, RHP
5.01 ERA, 1.48 WHIP and 7.79 K/9
Vs LHH – .345 average, .478 wOBA and 40.9 hard contact rate
Vs RHH – .250 average, .301 wOBA and 40.9 hard contact rate
Say it with me everyone – Kuhl cannot pitch to left handed bats. He’s actually a fairly decent pitcher against righties and there’s three bats that stand out among others. The first is Christian Yelich. His price is a little high for his relative lack of power and $4,000 may not be the easiest to fit in. Travis Shaw is a great play and he’s under $4,00 which is a great price point. Perhaps the best bat of the group is Jonathan Villar. He’s cheap and he’s on the right side of his splits and they happen to match up against what Kuhl doesn’t do well. He’s a great play to fit Scherzer in.
Brewers Hitters to Target
Elite Options – Jonathan Villar, Travis Shaw, Christian Yelich
Secondary Options – Lorenzo Cain, Ryan Braun, Domingo Santana
Brewers Probable Starter – Chase Anderson, RHP
3.38 ERA, 1.13 WHIP and 6.08 K/9
Vs LHH – .183 average, .261 wOBA and 30.4 hard contact rate
Vs RHH – .250 average, .373 wOBA and 33.3 hard contact rate
The Pirates offense can be difficult to target because you never really know what you’re going to get. They are the box of chocolates from Forrest Gump and Anderson could be sneaky today. I’m likely not going to play him but I might try and pick the right Bucco bat today. Starling Marte is red hot and he’s still only $3,400. His OBP has jumped in a big way because he’s actually walking at a decent rate. Whenever Marte gets on base, he could swipe a bag without any issue.
Pirates Hitters to Target
Elite Options – Starling Marte
Secondary Options – Jordy Mercer, Elias Diaz
Home Run Pick – Jonathan Villar
Tigers at Royals
Tigers Probable Starter – Matt Boyd, LHP
2.48 ERA, 1.07 WHIP and 6.52 K/9
Vs LHH – .095 average, .138 wOBA and 29.4 hard contact rate
Vs RHH – .241 average, .302 wOBA and 25.7 hard contact rate
Boyd is somehow getting the job done despite not striking batters out and generally not seeming like a good player. His fly ball ratio is ridiculous at over 50 percent.Lefties are basically out the window here which means Mike Moustakas and Lucas Duda can’t be played. Moustakas especially is a pass at his price point. Boyd isn’t this good but I’d be a little picky with who you play against him. I’ll list the Royals hitters as secondary options, but it’s fair to say they’re a little better than that but not quite elite.
Royals Hitters to Target
Elite Options – None
Secondary Options – Whit Merrifield, Jorge Soler, Salvador Perez
Royals Probable Starter – Jakob Junis, RHP
3.29 ERA, .094 WHIP and 7.04 K/9
Vs LHH – .222 average, .296 wOBA and 28.3 hard contact rate
Vs RHH – .177 average, .294 wOBA and 32.2 hard contact rate
Junis doesn’t have any major splits and the Tigers lineup is very mediocre without Miguel Cabrera, who’s on the disabled list. Sure, Nicholas Castellanos and Jeimer Candelario are dangerous but past that it gets a little easier for Junis. The biggest issue is Junis doesn’t strike out a bunch of guys. That’s a problem when Junis is priced at $8,500. I might not have much exposure to this game at all today.
Tigers Hitters to Target
Elite Options – Nicholas Castellanos
Secondary Options – Jeimer Candelario
Home Run Pick – Salvador Perez