Melky Cabrera- OF- CHA- Idea- Cabrera hit 10 of his 12 homers in 2015 against RH pitching while accumulating a slash line of .286/.331/.417 against them. The Orioles' Mike Wright doesn't have a large sample size of major league results against LH hitting, with just 7 IP against them this year and 21.1 IP last year. He has been consistently poor in those appearances, though. Last year his slash line was .319/.386/.533 and so far this season it's .345/.441/.690. Expect Cabrera to have an opportunity to take advantage. Value play- Draft Kings salary $3800
Anibal Sanchez- P- DET- Stats- Sanchez was one out away from a quality start, allowing 2 runs in 5.2 IP. It wasn't a great performance, however, and that's why he didn't last long enough. He threw 114 pitches, of which 63 were strikes. While Sanchez recorded 9 Ks he also walked 7. His FIP actually rose from 5.78 to 5.82 indicating that this was not a turnaround for Sanchez' mediocre performance so far in 2016. He hasn't lasted longer than 5.2 IP in any of his 5 starts and owns a 6.08 ERA. He has a 9.89 K/9 right now but the rest of his game is too much to pay for that.
Marcus Semien- SS- OAK- Cold- Semien's modest 3-game hitting streak ended with an 0-for-3day yesterday. He has suffered from horrendous luck evidenced by a .180 average. Regression to the mean will be his friend. Semien has slugged 5 homers so far, which gives hope that he will provide decent value at SS. Consider him a buy low candidate.
John Danks- P- CHA- Get rid of player- For the third time in 4 starts Danks allowed at least 5 runs and he has now allowed 5 homers in 22.1 IP after giving up to yesterday. Danks hasn't had a FIP of less than 4.49 since 2011. With an ERA of 7.25, FIP of 6.07, K/9 of 6.45, BB/9 of 4.43, and HR/9 of 2.01 there is no category that he gives a positive result. The White Sox can't stick with him much longer.
Joey Rickard- OF- BAL- Rookie- Rickard has kept his debut hot streak going longer than Trevor Story. After going 2-for-4 with a walk and scoring 2 runs yesterday he is hitting .295 with 2 homers, a steal, and 11 runs. Rickard is being helped by a .348 BABIP. Regression to the mean should impact him negatively but his BABIP was high in the minors, including a .379 mark in 65 AA games last year. Pitchers are challenging Rickard from the beginning, with a First Strike % of 71.9%. He has been selective, only swinging at 30.3% of pitches outside the zone and making contact when he does swing, with an overall contact % of 84.4%. His K% of 20.2% is higher than his minor league history but not bad for a Rule V pick. It'll be interesting to see what adjustments pitchers make in the next few weeks and how that impacts Rickard but early returns are positive.
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