Happy Monday ladies and gentlemen! If you’re like me and still recovering from the awesome baseball and football Sunday we had yesterday, you can take solace in the fact that we get a seven game main slate this evening! Options on the mound are limited, as Sandy Alcantara seems to be the best option, and while Clayton Kershaw is returning to action, he likely won’t take a full workload. From there, however, yikes. Regardless, there’s plenty of value to be had on the offensive side of the ball, and below you’ll find the value bats that I believe will push you into the green!
All Sites:
Carson Kelly, C ARI ($2,500 FD/$3,300 DK/$8 Yahoo) - Kelly just might be my favorite value play of the day, especially on DraftKings and Yahoo where you have to start a catcher. The Diamondbacks are on the road for this contest, and Kelly’s .898 OPS blows his .676 home OPS out of the water. Arizona is facing a southpaw, and Kelly has a .326 batting average and 1.073 OPS against southpaws this season. Kelly hasn’t been good against Dodger pitching this year, and he’s scuffling a bit of late, but I’m not avoiding those massive numbers against lefties. Kelly is a cash or GPP play for me this evening.
Dylan Carlson, OF STL ($2,700 FD/$3,100 DK/$13 Yahoo) - A lefty is facing the Cardinals tonight, which means Dylan Carlson needs to be considered for your lineup. In 2021, Carlson has a .336 batting average and .867 OPS against southpaws, and he’s hitting .277 over the last two weeks, albeit with only a .660 OPS. He has four hits in 11 at-bats against New York pitching this season, and I’m trusting those numbers against southpaws tonight.
Yahoo:
Mike Yastrzemski, OF SFG ($10) - Yu Darvish hasn’t been all that great of late. Yes, he looked good most recently against the Angels, but prior to that, he allowed four or more earned runs in five of six starts. Since the calendar flipped to July, Darvish has a 1-7 record and a 6.84 ERA! Yastrzemski has been better against right-handers this year, posting an .832 OPS over 317 at-bats against them, and he has four hits (1 HR) over his last 15 at-bats. I like a few San Fran bats tonight.
Abraham Toro, 3B/2B SEA ($11) - To be fair, I believe Eduardo RodrÃguez is a fine play on the bump this evening, but if you have other plans at pitcher, you can take a look at a couple of the Seattle bats, including Toro. Since joining Seattle, Toro has hit lefties at a .310 clip, but for the 2021 season as a whole, he has a .309 batting average and .762 OPS against southpaws. He has a .711 OPS over the last week, hitting .261 during that span, and if you like day/night splits, he’s been better in night contests, hitting .273 with a .796 OPS, compared to a .247 average and .683 OPS in day games.
FanDuel:
Ty France, 1B/2B SEA ($2,900) - And here’s the other Seattle bat I find appealing tonight. France is hitting .303 at home this year, and he has a .353 batting average with a 1.009 OPS against Boston pitching in 2021. He gets to face Eduardo RodrÃguez, a southpaw, and France is sporting a .293 batting average and .807 OPS against southpaws this season. If you aren’t playing Rodriguez on the mound, look at France.
Wil Myers, OF SDP ($2,800) - Here’s a GPP play for you. Myers is hitting .256 with a .772 OPS against right-handed pitching this season, and when he’s on the road, he has a .773 OPS. Furthermore, 11 of his 17 home runs have come on the road this year, and he has a .713 OPS in 29 at-bats against San Francisco in 2021. Don’t worry about Leone’s numbers, as he will only throw the first inning or two. We’re looking at a bullpen game tonight from the Giants, so take Myers’ potential upside in a GPP or two.
DraftKings:
Christian Walker, 1B ARI ($2,400) - For his career, Walker is 7-for-19 with four home runs against Clayton Kershaw! Sheesh! Walker hasn’t set the world on fire this year, but he’s familiar with Kershaw and has a career .751 OPS and .177 ISO against southpaws. I’m trusting the BvP data here, and looking at Walker in GPPs.
Player News
Mariners acquired 1B Josh Naylor from the Diamondbacks for LHP Brandyn Garcia and RHP Ashton Izzi.
The Mariners have been desperate to add another strong bat to the middle of their lineup and they did so in a big way with the first major move of the trade season. Naylor has hit .292/.360/.447 with 11 homers, 59 RBI, 11 stolen bases and a 49/37 K/BB ratio over 394 plate appearances on the season. His arrival will likely push Luke Raley to the outfield and will probably cost Dominic Canzone his shot at everyday at-bats in the M’s lineup.
Daniel Kramer of MLB.com reports that the Mariners still consider Eugenio Suárez their top priority after acquiring Josh Naylor from the Diamondbacks on Thursday.
The Mariners weren’t able to get a deal done for Suárez on Thursday, as the competition for his services is believed to be much steeper than it was for Naylor, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t still trying. Adding both of the Diamondbacks’ sluggers would go a long way to fortifying the middle of a lineup that already features Cal Raleigh and Julio Rodriguez.
According to Pat Ragazzo of Sports Illustrated, the Mets are among the teams that have checked in on White Sox’ outfielder Luis Robert Jr.
The dynamic 27-year-old outfielder is having a miserable season at the plate — slashing just .206/.293/.343 with 10 homers, 41 RBI, 26 stolen bases and a 95/35 K/BB ratio over 328 plate appearances. The prevailing wisdom though is that he would flourish from a change of scenery, and he looks increasingly likely to be dealt before next week’s deadline.
Ernie Clement swatted a go-ahead three-run homer in the sixth inning on Thursday, powering the Blue Jays to an 11-4 victory over the Tigers in the opener of their four-game series at Comerica Park.
The Blue Jays had been shut out by Reese Olson through the first five innings, but they found their stroke in the sixth. There, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. smacked a run-scoring double that tied the game and then with two outs the Tigers walked Addison Barger intentionally to face Clement. He made them pay, clobbering a 1-0 changeup for a 396-foot go-ahead three-run blast. Clement also singled in the ballgame and drove in a run with a sacrifice fly in the seventh inning, finishing the night 2-for-4. On the season, he’s now slashing .284/.321/.392 with five long balls, 31 RBI and three swipes in 373 plate appearances.
Joey Loperfido went 2-for-5 and clubbed his second home run of the season on Thursday as the Blue Jays triumphed over the Tigers in Motown.
Loperfido followed Ernie Clement’s go-ahead three-run blast with a 394-foot (107.2 mph EV) solo shot to right that increased the Jays’ lead to 5-1. The 26-year-old has done a nice job in his limited action with the big league club this season, slashing .324/.361/.529 with two homers and seven RBI in his first 36 plate appearances.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. went 3-for-5 with a double and a pair of RBI on Thursday as the Blue Jays clobbered the Tigers at Comerica Park.
The 26-year-old slugger finally got the Blue Jays on the board in the sixth inning with a game-tying RBI double off of Reese Olson. He then rode home on Ernie Clement’s go-ahead three-run homer. Guerrero also drove in a run with an RBI single in the seventh inning that made it a 6-1 ballgame and then scored on Addison Barger’s two-run triple. With his three-hit attack, he’s now hitting .289/.393/.448 to go with 13 homers and 52 RBI on the season.