Neil Walker- 2B- PIT- Idea- Walker has a .277/.330/.424 slash line against RH pitching, with all of his homers coming against them. With Kevin Correia making his 2015 major league debut against Pittsburgh this is a favorable matchup for Walker. Correia had a .302/.368/.470 slash line against LH hitting last year. Value play- FanDuel salary $2700
Wil Myers- OF- SD- FYI- Myers returned to the Padres and went 0-for-5 with a walk after being activated from the DL. His BABIP stands at .321 so there may be some regression still in store for him. Myers has a career BABIP of .325 but he only has about the equivalent of a season and a half of major league time. His marks have ranged from .286 to .362 in his partial seasons so there isn't yet a sample size to see any consistency of maintaining a high BABIP.
Nick Markakis- OF- ATL- Caution- To add a couple of things to Fantsitics' Nicholas Rosseletti's blurb on Markakis yesterday, not only is his average due for regression, but his power has evaporated. After reaching double digits in every one of his 9 major league seasons before this year Markakis has yet to homer in 2015. One reason is that the opposition appears to be pitching around him. After walking 3 times yesterday Markakis now has more walks (34) than strikeouts (33.) He has a career Batting EYE of .72, but this kind of jump is not just a matter of suddenly having more plate discipline. Markakis' swing % is down slightly from last year (41.0% to 39.6%) but he is getting ahead in the count more often (First strike % down to 54.2% from 57.2% last year.) He is making contact with pitches outside the strike zone at a higher rate (89.7% this year, up from 85.2% last year.) This could partially explain a dramatic drop in his FB% from 34.5% to 21.7%. If he's not hitting the ball in the air he's not going to hit homers. His LD% has jumped from 19.6% to 25.9%, so that can explain some of the rise in average and BABIP. Markakis' GB% has also jumped from 45.9% to 52.4%, amplifying the effect of his high BABIP. Unless he improves that FB% this will be a disappointing year with his new team by the time the season winds down.
Mat Latos- P- MIA- FYI- Latos will come off the DL and start tomorrow. Although some rust may be in store for him the first time out, since he had just one rehab start, going forward he has a good shot of providing some fantasy value. His hideous ERA of 6.12 before he was injured was the product of some very bad luck. Latos' FIP of 3.46 shows that. He had a K/9 of 7.59, which was approaching what he posted as a mainstay in the Reds' rotation.
Nori Aoki- OF- SF- Hot- Aoki went 2-for-4 last night. That raised his average to .336. It is likely to fall at some point, as his BABIP of .357 is well above his career mark of .310. Aoki has exhibited outstanding plate discipline, with a Batting EYE of 1.29. That, in addition to his BABIP, has contributed to his OBP of .404, and has given him the opportunity to record 12 steals, despite a success rate of 70.6%. He is a good bet to exceed his projected total of 19 steals for the season.
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