Happy Saturday FA Nation! It is the last weekend in August, so we are starting to approach the home stretch of MLB DFS. Today’s main slate is not laced with elite starting pitching by any stretch, so we have a number of great options at the plate to try to help you cash those lineups. No matter what salary level you are looking for we will help you see green to start your weekend between the coaches, value plays and of course the Playbook!
Top Tier
C.J. Cron, 1B, COL – It has been a heck of a stretch for Cron lately as he has hit a home run in two of the last three games and has hit .357 with five home runs and 12 RBI in the last 14 days. His wOBA for the season sits at .393 so he is making loud contact when he does hit the ball. He will face Dodgers’ southpaw David Price today, who Cron has hit .333 against over 30 career at-bats with three doubles and a home run. Cron fares much better against left-handed pitching with a .318 batting average and .999 OPS as opposed to .252 and .866 against righties.
Yuli Gurriel, 1B, HOU – If Cron is a little too inconsistent for you, Gurriel is another great option at first base. He has a hit in seven straight including four doubles. In total he has hit .375 in the last week with a 1.006 OPS. The Rangers are throwing Kolby Allard who hasn’t been as awful of late, but he has allowed two home runs in each of his last three starts and 21 on the season in just 15 starts and ten relief appearances. Gurriel has three hits against him in eight career at-bats, including a double and a home run and Allard has yet to strike him out. Gurriel is also hitting .324 against left-handed pitching and homers once in every 21 at-bats against lefties as opposed to every 61 at-bats against right-handed pitchers.
Corey Seager, SS, LAD – He has gotten on base in each of the last ten games, and although Seager isn’t filling up the box scores lately he has doubled in two of his last four. The Rockies send Jon Gray to the mound today, who is always a popular guy to go after. His ERA is surprisingly more than a run higher away from Colorado this season and he has allowed 15 earned runs in his last four starts. Seager has done very well against Gray in his career with a .360 batting average with three doubles and a home run in 30 at-bats.
Mid-Tier
Brendan Rodgers, 2B/SS, COL – He has cooled off a bit of late, but still has had a couple of big scoring games in the last week and has had a great month of August. We are going back at David Price again who hasn’t been able to go deep into games at all and has allowed nine earned runs in his last 17 innings. Rodgers has an impressive .324 batting average against lefties and a 1.043 OPS. Seven of his ten homers have come against left-handed pitching despite 122 fewer at-bats against them.
Randy Arozarena, OF, TB – It might seem odd to suggest Arozarena after the week he has had, but he was given a mental day off last night and has a solid matchup tonight. John Means is a quality pitcher, but he has been terrible lately allowing 13 earned runs in his last 14.1 innings including six home runs in those three starts. Arozarena has had great success against him with six hits in ten at-bats including two doubles and two home runs. He also hits for a 38-point higher batting average against lefties and has hit nine of his 16 home runs against them despite 111 fewer plate appearances against them.
Value Tier
Avisaíl García, OF, MIL – He has hit .361 in the last 14 days with four home runs and seven RBI and even threw in a stolen base. He has been destroying left-handed pitching this year with a .322 average and 1.035 OPS. The Twins will pitch Charlie Barnes who Garcia hasn’t faced but has struggled to say the least. He has allowed 17 earned runs in his four starts and one relief appearance. Over that span he has allowed four home runs, walked ten guys while striking out just 11 and allowed seven earned runs in just five innings his last time out. Garcia is a great bet against left-handed pitching and even better today with it being a weak lefty.
Cody Bellinger, 1B, LAD – It certainly has been a putrid season for Bellinger, but it is a good day to take advantage of his depressed DFS salary. He took a seat last night, so should come back fresh and has a great matchup tonight. I already detailed Jon Gray’s struggles and it gets worse for the Colorado starter when Bellinger comes to the plate. Bellinger has hit .500 against Gray in 22 career at-bats with five doubles, a triple, and has driven in five runs against him. Even with 40 fewer plate appearances at home, Bellinger has hit six of his nine home runs in Los Angeles this season and eight of them have come against right-handed pitching with a 60-point bump in batting average.
Dylan Carlson, OF, STL – His production hasn’t been great since coming back from a wrist injury, but Carlson against a left-hander is always a value play for me. The Pirates throw Stephen Brault who hasn’t been bad, including six days ago against St. Louis, but his career says this can’t hold up. Carlson has had a hit off of him in each of the two times he has faced Brault and has hit .333 against lefties this year. He isn’t likely to bust out 20+ fantasy points, but Carlson is always a great bet to return great value on not a high salary against a left-hander.