MLB DFS Bargain Bin- Friday, June 29th Evening Slates

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MLB DFS Bargain Bin- Tout Transparency Report for Thursday, June 28th

Before we get to today’s edition of the MLB DFS Bargain Bin, we’ll look back at Thursday’s suggestions fared in the MLB DFS Bargain Bin Tout Transparency Report.

In the interest of transparency and tracking trends, I’ll do a quick review after each day in which I suggest value plays to see what went right, and what didn’t exactly work out as planned.

I focused on the full slate of games yesterday, and as it turns out, the evening portion turned out slightly better than the afternoon, although neither was bad overall. However, the pitching was undeniably better than I’d banked on when it came to the likes of Lucas Giolito, Jake Odorizzi, Jimmy Yacabonis and the Orioles bullpen, which led to some underperforming on the part of Twins, White Sox and Mariners bats, respectively.

Nevertheless, there was some value to be had from bargain suggestions:

The Twins’ Logan Morrison smacked a solo home run and a single, walked and scored twice overall.
Max Kepler entered the game as a pinch-hitter and ended up logging three at-bats, rapping out a pair of singles and driving in a run.
The White Sox’s Avisail Garcia, Tim Anderson and Yolmer Sanchez each contributed two hits apiece as well, with Sanchez also scoring once. Yoan Moncada had only one hit, but it went for two bases. Matt Davidson drew two walks.
Over in Camden Yards, Ben Gamel contributed three hits, including a double. Teammate Dee Gordon had two hits and scored once.
In Miami, the D-Backs’ Nick Ahmed was the only one of three righty Arizona bargain suggestions I’d mentioned that was in the lineup, and he was able to contribute an RBI double as well as a single, while also scoring once.
The Giants’ Andrew McCutchen laced a pair of hits — including a double — while also walking, driving in a run, and scoring once.

However, with three low-scoring games, there were also duds among our value suggestions:

Seattle’s Ryon Healy had a nightmare of an afternoon, striking out four times in five at-bats.
The Twins’ Robbie Grossman and Brian Dozier went a combined 0-for-10 with only a walk apiece between them.
As far as my large-field, contrarian suggestion of using some Marlins bats against Zack Greinke, the results were a mixed bag, and there was nothing more impactful than a single produced. Those came from Justin Bour, Starlin Castro and Miguel Rojas. Brian Anderson, meanwhile, came up empty in four at-bats.

The evening slate shaped up as follows:

Suggested bargain pitchers Brian Johnson (Red Sox) and Junior Guerra (Brewers) were each serviceable, with Guerra even earning the win despite giving up four earned runs over six innings. The Reds’ recent success against right-handers at home that I’d mentioned yesterday had me a bit concerned with Guerra’s prospects seemed to rear its head on a few occasions, as Jose Peraza and Jessie Winker were able to take him deep. Guerra also allowed three doubles total to Tucker Barnhart and Eugenio Suarez but was also able to rack up six strikeouts in six innings.
Johnson hung in for only four innings (61 pitches), but he was able to limit damage to just one earned run on three hits and a walk, while also recording two strikeouts.
The best production came from the Milwaukee Brewers. It took them a while, but they finally broke through against the Reds’ Anthony DeScalfani and the vulnerable Cincinnati bullpen. Suggested bargain bat Jesus Aguilar did have a solo homer early, and Eric Thames then came through with a three-run blast off reliever Amir Garrett. Additional bargain bats Orlando Arcia (2-for-3, one run, one walk) and Brad Miller (1-for-4 with a double and a run) also came through with nice returns on their near-minimum prices.

MLB DFS Bargain Bin Best Value(s):

Aguilar, Thames, Morrison go deep– All three players were able to offer excellent returns, especially Thames, who drove in three runs overall with his blast.

MLB DFS Bargain Bin Biggest Dud(s):

Healy, Grossman, Dozier and Anderson all struggle– The trio went a combined 0-for-19 with only two walks between them.

MLB DFS Bargain Bin- Friday, June 29th Evening Slates Quick Hits

With our look back now complete, time to turn our attention to finding bargains for today’s slates!

Welcome to a Friday “Quick Hits” edition of the MLB DFS Bargain Bin, where the goal is to provide a general overview of the day’s ledger and touch on where the weakest pitching spots might be, and by extension, where there may be some value bats to consider. Additionally, I’ll look to identify where a value arm or two might be intersecting with an offense that’s running cold or is otherwise inefficient against a certain handedness.

Before we go bargain hunting, a few particulars about both format and content:

The nature of the beast with value plays is at least a modest amount (and sometimes substantially more) of risk. After all, these players are usually priced where they are for a reason. Therefore, the Bargain Bin may prove to be a bit more of a rollercoaster ride on some slates than your typical “tout” article!
Naturally, that doesn’t mean there isn’t upside to be had. All of these selections are therefore suitable for GPPs (and usually avoidable for cash games), and they can often help you accommodate multiple higher-priced studs into your lineup.
In this Quick Hits version, I’ll suggest players that are typically value-priced across all four major DFS sites (Yahoo, FanDuel, DraftKings and FantasyDraft). Naturally, check final pricing before making your lineup decisions, as I am not listing salaries in this edition.
This is not a position-by-position breakdown, but rather, I’m just identifying games where I think there’s value players in potentially favorable fantasy spots.
The goal is to recommend truly affordable players, as opposed to, say, a player priced just $300-$400 away from the highest-priced option at his position. I don’t have set-in-stone price limits in mind for each site, but I do consider legitimate affordability a very important criteria.

With those housekeeping items out of the way, I’ll give you my thoughts on where there may be some value spots to exploit on Friday’s evening slates!

fantasy baseball /

MLB DFS Bargain Bin- Friday, June 29th Evening Slates Quick Hits

On the pitching front, I see a lot of potential high-scoring games Friday (some of which I’ll discuss below when reviewing value hitting spots), so there aren’t too many bargain arms I trust. Luckily, one does stand out in terms of price, talent and matchup — Marco Gonzales of the Mariners. The Royals sport an anemic .231 wOBA and 43 wRC+ against southpaws on the road over the last month of play (134 plate appearances), along with a .104 ISO and 28.7 percent hard contact rate. Gonzales remains very affordably priced and has allowed just a single homer at Safeco Field over 38.0 innings this season.

With respect to those potentially explosive offensive scenarios, Camden Yards could be a spot where we see plenty of fireworks. Not only have both starting pitchers proven to be vulnerable, both bullpens have also been overworked and often ineffective of late.

Angels’ starter Felix Pena has allowed a .417 average and .473 wOBA to the 27 left-handed hitters he’s faced, so consider Chris Davis — who, as bad as he’s been, has hit homers in back-to-back games — as one very inexpensive bat to deploy. Ditto for outfielder Colby Rasmus if he’s in the lineup. Each player’s average will make you wince, but there’s no denying they can pay off their price and then some with one swing of the bat. Then there’s the matter of Angels relievers, which have allowed a .362 wOBA and worked the third-most innings (31.1) of any bullpen in the last seven days. Their performance against lefty bats on the road over the last month is just as enticing — they’re yielding a 5.04 ERA and .404 wOBA (including 10 homers) to that handedness during that stretch. Also take note they’re allowing a 6.75 ERA and .398 wOBA (including eight homers) to right-handed hitters during that stretch. Therefore, Orioles righty value bats aren’t out of the question either — Mark Trumbo, Trey Mancini, Adam Jones, Tim Beckham, Jonathan Schoop — basically anyone not named Manny Machado (who also is a great play, but outside of what we’d consider value range).

Meanwhile, there could be just as much fantasy goodness on the other side, as the Orioles’ David Hess has allowed a .388 wOBA and 40.0 percent hard contact rate to the 33 left-handed hitters he’s faced at home (he’s also been hit hard by righty bats on the road, but he’s been effective against them at home over a modest sample). Luis Valbuena and Kole Calhoun come to mind as potential bargain bats, especially for larger-field tournaments. The Baltimore bullpen is a target here as well, having worked the most innings (35.1) of any in the majors over the last seven days and having allowed a .351 wOBA and 5.14 ERA during that stretch. They’ve been more effective against left-handed hitters overall, but righty bats have a .326 wOBA and eight extra-base hits against them at home over the last month of play. With Hess having gone no more than 4.2 innings any of his last three outings, there’s a good chance they get called on for some heavy work Friday. Value righty Angels bats Albert Pujols, Andrelton Simmons, Martin Maldonado and Ian Kinsler are therefore also in play.

FanDuel MLB /

MLB DFS Bargain Bin- Friday, June 29th Evening Slates Quick Hits (cont.)

Phillies starter Nick Pivetta has had a rough time against several Nationals over his career, although only a couple will likely be priced low enough to be considered bargain options. Daniel Murphy (.667 average over eight plate appearances) is certainly one, and given that Pivetta has struggled versus lefty bats overall (.347 wOBA), he’s worthy of consideration despite a very rough start to his season. Adam Eaton may be priced low enough on some sites for consideration as well. Phillies relievers are also allowing a .372 wOBA to left-handed hitters at home in the last month of play, furthering the case of both players.

As with the Angels-Orioles matchup, the fantasy appeal goes both ways here, as Nationals starter

Erick Fedde

checks in with bad numbers against both handedness of hitter, especially on the road (.460 wOBA versus righty bats, .361 wOBA versus lefty bats away from Nationals Park). Prices have come up recently on some Phillies (Herrera, Hoskins, Hernandez come to mind), but

and

should be affordable enough across the industry. Worth noting as well that the Nationals bullpen has surrendered seven homers over the last week.

More from FanSided

The Reds’ Sal Romano and the Cincinnati bullpen both have plenty of issues with left-handed hitters, so many of yesterday’s Brewers suggestions come right back into play. Romano has allowed a .383 wOBA to lefty bats at home, along with a 26.1 percent line drive rate and 39.6 percent hard contact rate to that handedness overall. Both Eric Thames and Travis Shaw have already taken him deep once in their respective careers, although Thames may prove too expensive on some sites to be considered a true value play. Keep him in mind, however, along with Brad Miller and Jonathan Villar as far as value lefty bats. And that Reds bullpen? A 6.00 ERA and .343 wOBA allowed to left-handed hitters at home over the last month of play.

The Rangers’ Yovani Gallardo is always a pitcher to consider targeting, and from either side of the plate at that. Throw in the hitter-friendly conditions of Globe Life Park and you’ve got even more incentive. Gallardo has been hit hard by both Jose Abreu and Avisail Garcia during his career, so both are definitely worthy of consideration. However, with the White Sox generally being very affordable across the board, the rest of the lineup can be considered as well, especially with the game having one of the higher projected run totals of the night.

On the other side of White Sox-Rangers, Chicago’s Dylan Covey has been pretty solid, but a weakness has been lefty bats on the road (.356 wOBA allowed). Rougned Odor, Joey Gallo and Nomar Mazara are three power bats worth considering for larger-field tournaments as a result.

Rockies southpaw Tyler Anderson has actually been very poor against lefty bats (.449 wOBA, 30.4 percent line drive rate, 30.4 percent hard contact rate allowed) and gives up plenty of homers, so Joc Pederson can certainly be considered as far as Dodgers lefty value bats. Lefty-killer Enrique “Kike” Hernandez is also definitely in play despite being a right-handed bat, as is Matt Kemp, who remains very affordably priced and who has a .500 average against Anderson over six career at-bats. It’s also important to note that the Rockies bullpen has been bad against both sides of the plate on the road over the last month of play, so the Dodgers could indeed be a sneaky stack that has a few bargains within it.

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