FantasyLabs is a data company. With our free Trends tool and Player Models, you can leverage our advanced statistics and premium exclusive metrics to identify players to use in your daily fantasy sports lineups.
Each weekday, our Data Dive articles use 10 of these metrics to highlight notable players in the day’s Main slate.
Batters
Today marks the end of a week-long home stand for the Rockies, but the Toronto-Colorado game was part of the early slate today on both sites. That means that we’ll get used to life without Coors during the evening slate today, ahead of a West Coast road trip for the Rockies.
Don’t worry. There are still plenty of good spots to pick from, so let’s jump right in.
Park Factor: 81, Lefties at Yankee Stadium
If we’re not going to have Coors, Yankee Stadium might be the next best thing. Both the Rangers and Yankees generally feature lefty-heavy lineups, so there are several viable options. The Yankees, facing Nick Martinez, are the stronger cash game plays, although Masahiro Tanaka averages 1.5 fewer DK points when pitching at Yankee Stadium. Maybe we shouldn’t be too quick to dismiss Texas lefties in tournaments, despite the team’s low implied Vegas total of 3.7 runs.
Recent Batted-Ball Distance (Ft): 255, Brian McCann
When considering Yankees lefty bats at home, who better to target than Brian McCann, who has posted a +2.00 Plus/Minus on FanDuel when facing a righty at home? It’s an added bonus that he is one of the hottest batters coming into the day, averaging 255-feet on batted balls over the past 15 days. With that mark, McCann in this slate trails only Justin Turner, who is questionable to play.
Isolated Power (ISO) Split: .306, Yoenis Cespedes
Cespedes draws the toughest matchup of the night, having to contend with Max Scherzer and the Nationals. His slate-high ISO is probably less of an endorsement to play Cespedes than it is a cautious reminder that Scherzer and his slate-high 43 percent fly-ball rate can be exploited. Those are two big numbers, and we have seen Scherzer struggle with the long ball in the past.
Stolen Bases per Game: 0.33, Jonathan Villar
Brock Stewart will be making his Major League debut for the Dodgers tonight. While Miller Park is a decent venue for lefty power, Stewart has allowed only three home runs across 86 minor league innings so far this season. While most will probably gravitate toward Milwaukee’s power bats against the greenhorn, Villar may be the safer bet due to his projected spot atop the order and stolen base Upside.
Plus/Minus, Upside, and other premium exclusive metrics are accessible via our free Ratings tool.
Weather Rating: 68, Indians and Braves batters
Speaking of greenhorns: 27-year-old Joel De La Cruz will be making his Major League debut tonight for Atlanta, but his numbers are less impressive than Stewart’s. Turner Field isn’t the best hitter’s park in the league, but the hot temperature and 44 percent humidity will mitigate that disadvantage tonight. In fact, when we match ballparks with a Park Factor of 20-40 with a Weather Rating of 60-70, batters have actually posted a +0.35 Plus/Minus.
Pitchers
Many will be drawn to Max Scherzer, who gets a matchup against the seemingly cursed New York Mets. The absence of Coors Field is going to give players all the more reason to roster Max, with fewer super-expensive bats to consider. There are a few decent alternatives to Scherzer tonight, so let’s weigh our options.
K Prediction: 9, Max Scherzer
Let’s start at the top. Scherzer’s K Prediction of 9.0 dwarves everyone else’s K Prediction by a substantial margin. He also qualifies for my most recent Trend Testing creation, which identifies ‘safe’ pitchers using K Prediction with a couple other filters.
Park Factor: 86, O.Co Coliseum
Park Factor has undoubtedly played a key role in Jake Peavy’s recent string of competency. Peavy has not pitched in a venue with a Park Factor below 50 since 5/4 in Cincinnati. Jon Gray has surely thrown up his arms in disgust. Though O.co’s 86 Park Factor for righty pitchers isn’t quite as cushy as the 100 Park Factor Peavy benefits from when starting home games at AT&T Park, it’s still very positive.
Intriguing rookie Sean Manaea also stands to benefit, but his performance to date and more difficult matchup make him a riskier play. (I can’t believe that I just typed that.)
Home Plate Ump: +1.5 (DK)/+2.1(FD), Danny Salazar
Danny Salazar is an option worthy of consideration for those looking for an alternative to Max Scherzer. Not only does he face the Braves, who are projected to score a slate-low 3.3 runs, but he also benefits from having Hunter Wendelstedt behind home plate. In games Wendelstedt has umped in which Vegas has forecast 3.5 or fewer runs for the opposition, pitchers have posted a +5.22 Plus/Minus on FanDuel.
Home Runs Allowed Per Nine Innings (HR/9): 0.52, Carlos Martinez
If you’re looking to play it safe and minimize damage tonight, Carlos Martinez is another option. The Royals’ .141 ISO over the past 30 days ranks 24th in the league. Martinez is a hard guy to generate power against, as shown by his slate-low HR/9 mark. Factor in an 82 Park Factor and it seems pretty unlikely that the Royals are going to put up a big number tonight.
Bargain Rating: 92 (FD), Jameson Taillon
Tied for second in Bargain Rating behind Max Scherzer tonight is Jameson Taillon, who pitches in Seattle. Still, Taillon’s $6,200 FanDuel salary means that we would expect him to score 24.66 fantasy points tonight. He has exceeded that number only once in three career starts. In a matchup against the lefty-heavy Mariners, Taillon might be a candidate to be over-owned on FanDuel tonight based on Shiny Object Syndrome and perceived value.
Bonus
Pro Trends: 12(DK), 10 (FD), Brian McCann
On both DraftKings and Fanduel, Brian McCann is the pacesetter in Pro Trends. It’s hard to find many holes in his matchup tonight against Nick Martinez between Vegas, his platoon split, ballpark, and recent stats. Expect McCann to be a very popular option tonight at catcher.
