In every MLB Plays of the Day post, several FantasyLabs writers use our FREE Trends tool and Player Models to highlight each one player to roster heavily in cash games and/or tournaments for the day’s slates.
Here are today’s plays of the day.
The Play of the Daigle
Who is John Daigle? He is the son and the heir of a shyness that is criminally vulgar.
John Daigle: Noah Syndergaard, NYM, SP
Syndergaard’s recent batted-ball distance is a bit misrepresentative because of his short-lived stint in New York’s bullpen. While his advanced statistics show a 159-foot batted-ball distance in the past 15 days, his average in his last two starts is 164 feet.
But don’t let that (small) discrepancy deter you: Even with the adjustment, Syndergaard still has one of the three best recent batted-ball distances tonight. Syndergaard also benefits from being in a pitcher’s park tonight, as only Francisco Liriano, Jered Weaver, and Tom Koehler surpass his 90 Park Factor in the slate.
Nine Pro Trends would ordinarily be enough to warrant rostering Syndergaard (or any pitcher, for that matter), but his 66-percent Consistency is really what you’re chasing. It also helps that despite being ejected recently — ultimately failing to meet expectations by 12.39 points — he has still produced a good Plus/Minus over his last 10 performances:
Plus/Minus, Consistency, Pro Trends and other premium exclusive metrics are accessible via our free Ratings tool. Also, check out John’s Slate Breakdown for more recommendations regarding today’s slate.
The Remaining Plays of the Day
Here are all the plays recommended by people whose surnames don’t rhyme with “bagel.”
Mitchell Block: J.D. Martinez, DET, OF
If you’re thinking about attempting to exploit Carlos Rodon and his 1.48 WHIP tonight, I’m right there with you. Despite possessing elite strikeout potential, Rodon’s erratic ways have caught up to him of late, as both his xFIP and SIERA are well above four over the previous month of play.
Vegas appears to be on the anti-Rodon bandwagon with me, as the Tigers’ implied run total continues to rise. Opening at 4.7 runs, it peaked at 4.9 earlier today.
Martinez is a clear anti-Rodon stacking candidate, as he boasts an impressive .310 Isolated Power and .395 Weighted On-Base Average against opposing left-handed pitchers. Additionally, Martinez can be had fairly reasonably on DraftKings tonight, where he carries a Bargain Rating of 70 percent.
Check out Mitch’s Play of the Day, coming soon.
Bryan Mears: Drew Pomeranz, SD, SP
Pomeranz’s last game was a bit of a mixed bag: Pitching at hitter-friendly Chase Field, he struck out nine Diamondbacks but also gave up six earned runs. His recent advanced stats, however, are quite promising.
In his last two outings, Pomeranz has allowed a batted-ball distance of only 151 feet, a mark that is 45 feet shorter than his yearly average. Further, his opponents’ average batted-ball exit velocity is down five miles per hour, their hard-hit rate is down seven percent, and their averaged batted-ball air time is a low 2.43 seconds. His incredibly high 73-percent groundball rate corroborates that he is throwing the ball very well right now.
Today, he faces the Rockies . . . in San Diego, where he has a Park Factor Rating of 81, one of the better marks of tonight’s slate. Perhaps most importantly, though, Pomeranz has a slate-high K Prediction of 9.1 strikeouts.
On DraftKings, Pomeranz has seen a +2,300 Salary Change, but even with his escalation in price he has a zero-percent Dud rate across that span, suggesting that his salary, though increasing, is not yet inflated.
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The Plays of the Day series is our answer to the question, “Who do you guys like today?” We publish a Plays of the Day article every weekday for MLB and a Plays of the Week every Wednesday for PGA and Euro Tour.
