Nearly a full slate for this wonderful Friday! If you’re like me, you locked in a high-priced pitcher right away, so now you need to find some value bats. Whether the batter has good BvP data, or an advantageous split, there are a lot of great options out there, and some notable pricing mistakes from FanDuel and DraftKings alike. Without further ado, let’s jump into today’s Value Vault!
Both Sites
Kyle Tucker, OF HOU ($3,200 FD/$3,700 DK) - If you have the money, you’re going to want the Houston bats, starting with Tucker. He’s hitting .290 with six home runs in 131 at-bats against righties this year, and in the month of June alone, despite not homering yet, he’s hitting .382 with six extra-base hits. If we look specifically here in the month of June across righties, he’s hitting .476 with five doubles. Minnesota’s Matt Shoemaker doesn’t miss many bats, and he’s served up a massive .405 wOBA to left-handed hitters this year. Update: Bailey Ober will start for Minnesota, with Shoemaker coming out of the pen. In eight innings this year, Ober has a 5.63 ERA, 2.25 HR/9 and has allowed lefties to post a riduclous .933 slugging percentage.
JP Crawford, SS SEA ($2,800 FD/$3,500 DK) - Crawford’s number on the year versus right-handers aren’t overly impressive, but in June, he’s hitting a whopping .400! He’s hitting .389 against righties this month alone, not to mention a 1.181 OPS. Cleveland’s Aaron Civale has been more susceptible to left-handed hitters, serving up a .342 wOBA and .264 batting average against. The Seattle shortstop has three multi-hit efforts in his last four games.
FanDuel
Josh Bell, 1B WAS ($2,700) - DeSclafani has served up a .323 wOBA to left-handed hitters this year, and Bell has three homers against righties this season. Bell’s numbers this year aren’t anything to write home about, but he’s no stranger to DeSclafani. In 21 at-bats against the San Fran righty, Bell has seven hits (one homer), good for a .333 average and .333 wOBA.
Omar Narvaez, C MIL ($2,500) - Chase DeJong doesn’t scare me whatsoever. His numbers may look good against lefties, but I’m not afraid. Narvaez should have a field day, like he has all year against righties. In 113 at-bats against right-handers, Narvaez is sporting a .327 average with six home runs. It’s hard to play him on FanDuel with a lot of good first base options on the board today (namely Matt Olson), but if you want to be contrarian, here’s your play.
LaMonte Wade Jr., OF/1B SFG ($2,200) - Going against Mad Max Scherzer doesn’t feel great, but Wade has punished righties this year, to the tune of a 1.025 OPS and .440 wOBA. Sure, he’s had some luck, too, registering a .667 BABIP versus right-handed pitchers, but hey, take it while it’s there! He’s routinely been leading off for the Giants over the past few games, and he’s hit safely in four of his last five contests. As the team’s leadoff hitter this year, he’s posted a .405 on-base percentage and .300 ISO.
DraftKings
Corey Dickerson, OF MIA ($3,700) - Y’all already know this, but I’m a sucker for BvP data. He’s faced Charlie Morton 14 times, six of which have gone for hits, and two of them have gone for a round tripper. Morton has allowed a .310 wOBA to lefties this year, and Dickerson is a serviceable .261 hitter at home. In the month of June, Dickerson may only be hitting .206, but he’s making much harder contact this month and it’s only a matter of time until he breaks out of this mini-funk. He’s hit safely in six of his last 10 games, but perhaps a matchup against a familiar foe is just what the doctor ordered. However, Dickerson cannot be trusted in cash today.
Jake Fraley, OF SEA ($2,500) - I’m not ready to go a full Seattle stack against Aaron Civale, but if you want some exposure, you want left-handed bats. Fraley is hitting .308 with two home runs in 26 at-bats against righties in 2021. Furthermore, Fraley is 6-for-14 in his last five contests, notching one home run, six RBI, four runs scored and two stolen bases.
Player News
Trevor Story went 3-for-5 with a double and five RBI as the Red Sox beat the Yankees 10-7 on Saturday.
It’s his seventh career five-RBI game. All three knocks left the bat at over 103 mph, which is nice. But Story’s issue hasn’t been exit velocity nearly so much as a lack of contact and an unusual amount of his contact coming on the ground. Maybe the worst of his slump is over, but we’re still not sure a big turnaround is on the way.
Garrett Crochet yielded five runs in six innings and struck out nine in a win over the Yankees on Saturday.
Crochet gave up three runs in the second, two of which came on an Austin Wells homer that would have left only three ballparks. The other two came in the fourth. Crochet faced the minimum after that, with the only batter reaching against him doing so on catcher interference. That runner was erased on a double play. Crochet is expected face the Yankees again next time out, probably on on Friday.
Aroldis Chapman closed out the Yankees with a perfect ninth inning for his 10th save Saturday.
It’s Chapman’s fourth career save against his former team; he previously had one in 2012 with the Reds and two last year with the Pirates. Tonight, he got two groundouts and a strikeout in the 11-pitch outing. He’s thrown 19 pitches in six days, so he’ll definitely be fine if needed again Sunday.
Ryan Yarbrough surrendered eight runs in four innings to take his first loss of the year Saturday against the Red Sox.
Yarbrough came into the night 3-0 with a 2.83 ERA in five starts and eight relief appearances, but his ERA sits at 4.17 after he gave up nine hits, including a homer, and two walks. He’s slated to face the Red Sox again next time out, but the Yankees might want to try something else then. Perhaps they could just use Yarbrough once around the order and then go to the pen.
Romy Gonzalez went 3-for-5 with a two-run homer, a double and three runs scored Saturday against the Yankees.
The homer off Ryan Yarbrough was his first in 22 games this season. Gonzalez is 7-for-18 with six RBI in five games (three starts) since coming off the injured list Monday. He’d seem to us to be the better first base option than Abraham Toro, not that either would make for a good long-term choice.
Austin Wells homered, doubled and knocked in four runs Saturday against the Red Sox.
Wells matched his RBI total from his previous 17 games tonight. He now has 10 doubles and 10 homers on the season, and while he’s not really about hitting for average, his current .222 mark is his highest at a game’s finish since Apr. 2.