Both Sites:
Brendan Rodgers, 2B/SS COL ($2,200 FD / $3,000 DK) – Rodgers was in the playbook yesterday for me and we got a home run out of him and we are going right back to the well today. He is very hot right now, hitting .435 (10-23) with three home runs and nine RBI over his last eight games. He is also off to a great start against lefties this season, going 6-14 (.429) with two home runs and eight RBI against the so far. He is being disrespected and underpriced on both sites, but that’s not a bad thing for us. Righties have accounted for all three home runs that Miley has given up and all three of those home runs have come while pitching at home. Righties are also hitting .030 points higher against him and his BAA against at home is .031 points higher at home.
DraftKings:
Max Fried, SP ATL ($7,400) – Fried has been on cruise control lately, giving up just one run in five of his past six starts and in that span producing a 2.41 ERA with three wins and 31 strikeouts across 33.2 innings of work. Today he gets the Marlins in Miami (a pitching park) and they have the fifth highest strikeout rate in the league at 26.4-percent and that number jumps to 28.2-percent against lefties. They are also just 23rd in the league in runs per game with an average of just 3.95. He should not be this cheap and I would take him over any of the pitchers priced between $7,500 and $9,500, which would make him third on my board of pitchers today, but we are getting him as the 13th priced pitcher. He is the perfect SP2 to pair with Burnes or Cease.
Jake Fraley, OF SEA ($2,800) – Fraley is a steal at this price on DK, which is actually cheaper than his 3k price on FanDuel. He is hitting .318 (7-22) with two home runs, three steals, six runs, and nine RBI over his last eight games. That is massive counting stat upside. He has been FAR for more productive against righties, slashing .286/.500/.536 against them, compared to a lousy .167/.474/.250 against lefties. McKenzie has a 6.26 ERA this season and he has been abysmal at home this season with an 8.27 ERA and 1.65 WHIP across four games. Lefties have also been more productive against him, slashing .230/.387/.419, compared to the .151/.300/.356 line that righties have produced. If you really want to get cheap/wild you can even pair him with Trammell and/or Long Jr. who are both also cheap.
FanDuel:
Billy McKinney, OF NYM ($2,500) – Is anyone paying any attention to what McKinney has been doing since joining the Mets? In 13 games with New York, he is hitting .302 with four home runs, five doubles, a triple, 12 RBI, a stolen base, and nine runs scored. That’s a TON of production. And we get him at a near minimum price? Six of his seven home runs this season have been against a righty and 16 of his 18 RBI have come against them. Musgrove has been great this season, but when he’s been hurt it’s been by left-handed bats as they have accounted for six of the eight home runs that he has given up and are hitting for an average .024 points higher than what righties have produced.
Willy Adames, SS MIL ($2,200) – Adames, Adames, Adames. A daily breakdown for me, at least until they adjust his price tag and price him more appropriately. He is hitting .294 with three home runs, four doubles, and 13 RBI since joining the Brewers. Over the last three games he has six hits, two doubles, two RBI, and a pair of runs scored. He has always had more success against right-handed pitching as evidenced by his career .277/.345/.439 slash line against them, compared to his .214/.276/.391 line against lefties. Kuhl has a 5.61 ERA and 1.48 WHIP through six starts this season and it gets even worse when pitching on the road as he has a 6.19 ERA across four road starts.
Player News
Anthony Volpe was removed from Friday night’s game against the Red Sox after being hit by a pitch on the left elbow.
Volpe remained in the game for another couple of innings before being lifted. He did undergo precautionary X-rays and a CT scan which came back negative for any structural damage. He’s considered day-to-day and should return to the Yankees’ lineup before the weekend is through.
Cardinals signed RHP Zach Plesac to a minor league contract.
The 30-year-old right-hander had been pitching for the Long Island Ducks in the independent Atlantic League where he posted a 2.84 ERA, 1.13 WHIP and a 33/16 K/BB ratio over 38 innings in his seven starts. He’ll add extra starting pitching depth at Triple-A Memphis.
Luis Robert Jr went 2-for-3 with three RBI and a walk in a 7-2 win over the Royals on Friday.
While the White Sox are certainly not playing well, they’re at least starting to have some fun again. Robert Jr. pushed them ahead in this tightly contested, well played game against the Royals with his two-run single in the bottom of the eighth inning. That hit started a five-run onslaught in front of one of the liveliest home crowds they’ve had in quite some time. And why shouldn’t they be? Star prospect Kyle Teel made his debut in this game and the home faithful just got news that much maligned owner Jerry Reinsdorf is beginning to work on his exit strategy. For Robert Jr., he’s desperately waiting to get going and has shown few signs of life with his .567 OPS despite his 21 stolen bases being one off the league-lead.
Davis Martin allowed five hits and two runs with seven strikeouts and zero walks across six innings in a tough fought no-decision on Friday against the Royals.
Martin was great from the jump in this one. The Royals barely challenged him besides back-to-back solo home runs from Maikel GarcÃa and Vinnie Pasquantino in the third inning. Otherwise, he deftly worked his fastball high and changeups and cutters low to consistently stay ahead of hitters and strikeout a season-high seven batters. He now has a surprisingly solid 3.62 ERA and will have a chance to build on this success in his next scheduled start against the Astros in Houston.
Vinnie Pasquantino went 1-for-3 with a solo home run on Friday against the White Sox.
Pasquantino’s hot stretch continued with his ninth home run of the season when he went back-to-back with Maikel GarcÃa in the third inning. The Royals’ offense did literally nothing besides that, but all three Pasquantino’s balls in play were hit at least 99 mph. Ironically, his homer was the softest hit of the trio. Alas, he has a .361 batting average and .898 OPS over his last 30 games to flush away what was a rough April.
Seth Lugo allowed five hits and two runs with two walks and five strikeouts over five innings in a no-decision on Friday against the White Sox.
Uncharacteristically inefficient, Lugo squandered a bit of a golden opportunity against this lowly White Sox lineup. He labored through long innings in both the second and fourth that drove up his pitch count. Then, Mike Tauchman took him deep in the fifth to tie this game. As usual, he mixed his wildly deep 10-pitch mix, but struggled to hit his spots consistently. Still, it’s now been two not-so-great starts since coming off the injured list last week. He’s scheduled to face the Athletics next time out.