For this eight-game main slate, there aren’t too many major weather concerns. The only one that currently has my attention is a potential mid-game delay/postponement in St. Louis. However, we should be okay otherwise. To be frank, there’s a lot of bad pitchers on this slate, leading to quite a few different stacks you could employ, a la Toronto, Houston, etc. I’ll have my share there, but there’s also some underrated options to take a look at that don’t break your bank, like a couple Baltimore and Minnesota bats. Without further ado, let’s jump into today’s Value Vault!
Both Sites
Trevor Larnach, OF MIN ($2,600 FD/$2,700 DK) - J.C. Mejia has been so brutally bad against left-handers, it’s not even funny. He’s allowed a .371 batting average and .443 wOBA against them, not to mention an OPS north of 1.000! Larnach has homered twice in his last five games, and he has a .275 average this month. The big knock with Larnach is his immense strikeout rate, particularly this month, but Mejia has a 9.31 ERA in 9.2 road innings this year, striking out just seven batters away from his home park. This month, in 12.2 innings, Mejia has just nine strikeouts, so Larnach should get the bat on the ball this evening, and as a lefty against Mejia, the odds are in his favor for positive results.
Bradley Zimmer, OF CLE ($2,100 FD/$2,000 DK) - In recent years, Berrios at home was money. However, this year, that hasn’t been the case. Sure, he’s 4-1 in six home starts this year, but his 4.29 ERA and .255 BAA are much higher than his respective marks on the road. He racks up more strikeouts at home, so that’s something to consider, but Berrios has allowed a .293 average and .918 OPS versus lefties in 2021. Using the projections and price points here at Fantasy Alarm, Zimmer is one of the best values of the day. His numbers this month aren’t overwhelming, but outside of two games where he only got one at-bat, he’s hit safely in five straight games, and in his last seven games overall, he’s hitting .286 (6-for-21).
FanDuel
Cedric Mullins, OF BAL ($3,000) & Trey Mancini, 1B BAL ($3,300) - A little two for one here! Mullins is 1-for-2 with a home run off Toronto’s Anthony Kay, while Mancini is 2-for-3. Mullins is hitting .315 off southpaws this year, while Mancini is hitting .299 with eight home runs in just 87 at-bats. Kay’s numbers are far worse against lefties than righties, but with Mancini pummeling lefties, I’m not afraid to play both of these guys. Ryan Mountcastle is in play as well, but for me, Mullins and Mancini are excellent values today in a game that, at time of writing, has a line of 11 runs!
Austin Riley, 3B ATL ($2,600) - Riley was on a three-game cold streak, but he hit two doubles last night and scored a run in the process. Cincinnati’s Tony Santillan has some reverse splits, as he’s been far better against lefties than righties. Santillan has allowed a .357 average to right-handed hitters, and an OPS north of 1.500, not to mention an insane .573 wOBAA. Riley is hitting .280 off righties with a home run every 18.2 at-bats, and he should feast on Santillan today.
Kyle Tucker, OF HOU ($3,000) - There was a gap in the June action for Tucker, but he’s hitting .400 for the month and came back with a bang yesterday! He went 2-for-3 with two walks, and he’s hit safely in all but one game this month, raising his batting average over 20 points in the process! Detroit’s Jose Urena has allowed an .884 wOBA to left-handed hitters this year, and he’s been a disaster at home, allowing a 7.40 ERA in six home starts. Lastly, he has a 13.91 ERA through 11 innings (3 starts) this month. Ouch.
DraftKings
Kike Hernandez, OF BOS ($3,200) - Looking at Hernandez’s numbers, one would think you wouldn’t play him unless a lefty is on the mound. However, while he has hit lefties better for his career overall, he’s been fine against righties this year, and against this Tampa righty in particular. He’s 4-for-12 in his career off Michael Wacha, and Wacha has struggled mightily at home this year, allowing a 5.94 ERA and .302 BAA. Boston will likely be a popular stack today, and Hernandez is a good value bat against Wacha and his 7.56 ERA in the month of June.
Reese McGuire, C TOR ($2,100) -McGuire is sporting a cool .328 batting average against righties this year, and Baltimore’s Dean Kremer has been punished by righties, to the tune of a .294 average and OPS near .900! McGuire has a .371 wOBA versus righties this year and he’s hitting .333 with a .911 OPS in the month of June. He’s red hot over his last three games, going 7-for-10 in that span with three doubles, two RBI and two runs scored.
Player News
Mike Yastrzemski doubled and drove in three runs on Sunday afternoon as the Giants eked out a 4-3 victory over the visiting Braves.
Yastrzemski got the Giants on the board and evened the score at 1-1 in the second inning as he plated Matt Chapman with a sacrifice fly off of Spencer Strider. He then roped a two-run double to right off of Strider in the fourth inning that tied it at three runs apiece. The 34-year-old outfielder then raced around to score the go-ahead run on an error by second baseman Ozzie Albies. Yastrzemski finished the afternoon 1-for-2 and is now hitting .232/.329/.369 with five homers, 20 RBI and five stolen bases on the season.
Matt Chapman doubled, walked, stole a base and scored a pair of runs on Sunday as the Giants triumphed over the Braves in San Francisco.
Chapman led off the second inning with a double off of Spencer Strider, swiped third base and scored the Giants’ first run on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Mike Yastrzemski. He then walked in the fourth inning and scored on a two-run double by Yastrzemski. The 32-year-old third baseman finished the day 1-for-2 officially and is now slashing .243/.360/.452 with 12 long balls, 30 RBI and seven stolen bases (in nine attempts) on the year.
Camilo Doval slammed the door on the Braves in the ninth inning on Sunday afternoon, preserving a one-run advantage to tally his ninth save of the season.
Doval has made a habit out of making things interesting in the ninth inning as of late, and this outing was no different as he allowed a one-out single to Ozzie Albies to put the tying run on base. He battled back nicely though, getting Alex Verdugo on a called third strike and Drake Baldwin on a swinging third strike to end it. On the season, Doval has now converted nine of his first 12 save chances on the season and he continues to build job security after taking the role over from the struggling Ryan Walker.
Landen Roupp logged a quality start in Sunday afternoon’s victory over the Braves, allowing three runs on five hits across his six frames.
The 26-year-old right-hander walked two and struck out two opposing hitters on the day. Matt Olson was responsible for all of the damage done against him in this one, plating a run with a fielder’s choice in the opening inning and crushing a two-run double in the third. Roupp got just three swings and misses on 95 pitches in the ballgame, registering a CSW of 26 percent. Now 4-4 on the season, he’ll carry a 3.29 ERA, 1.36 WHIP and a 63/24 K/BB ratio (68 1/3 innings) into a tough matchup against the Dodgers in Los Angeles on Saturday.
Matt Olson went 1-for-4 with a double and three RBI on Sunday afternoon as the Braves fell to the Giants in San Francisco.
Olson got the Braves on the board first in this one as he plated Ronald Acuna Jr. on a fielder’s choice in the top half of the first inning. He then smacked a go-ahead two-run double off of Landen Roupp in the third that gave the Giants a 3-1 advantage, that would be the extent of their offense in the game though. The 31-year-old slugger is now hitting .236/.342/.460 with 13 long balls and 37 RBI through his first 64 games on the season.
Spencer Strider pitched decently in a losing effort against the Giants on Sunday, allowing four runs (three earned) on three hits over his six innings of work.
The 26-year-old right-hander punched out five batters on the evening while issuing three free passes. Mike Yastrzemski was his nemesis in this one, driving in a run with a sacrifice fly in the second inning and plating two more with a double in the fourth inning. Yastrzemski then scored the go-ahead run on an error. Strider got 11 swings and misses on 90 pitches on the day — seven of them on his slider — while posting a CSW of 29 percent. Still in search of his first victory of the season, Strider will bring a disappointing 5.40 ERA, 1.28 WHIP and a 24/11 K/BB ratio (25 innings) into Saturday’s premium matchup against the Rockies.