Eric Hosmer- 1B- SD- Idea- Hosmer had a very productive season against RH pitching last season, with a slash line of .335/.410/.528 against them. Her normally performs much better against RH than southpaws. Charlie Morton had a season of reverse splits in 2017, holding LH hitters to a .172 average. This was out of his norm, as his career slash line against LH hitters is .283/.375/.442. Morton enjoyed a .244 BABIP against LH hitters last year, which offers some explanation for his unusual numbers. Given the longer track records of the veterans, Hosmer is the better bet in this matchup. Value play- Draft Kings salary $3200
Ian Happ- OF- CHC- Cold- You might think that Happ's .179 average would be due to bad luck in a small sample size. Then you'd look at his .400 BABIP and wonder what was going on. The problem for Happ is that he hasn't put enough of the "balls in play" part to get a boost from his BABIP. After going 1-for-5 with 3 Ks yesterday, Happ has struck out 17 times in 30 PAs in 2018. Joe Maddon can't keep Happ in the lineup, much less at the top of the order, with that kind of performance (unless Maddon is staying cool by using Happ's bat as a fan.) Happ struck out a lot last season, also, but it took him 13 games and 52 PAs to get to 17 Ks in 2017. I see a trip to Iowa in Happ's near future if he doesn't turn things around quickly.
Maikel Franco- 3B- PHI- Hot- Franco got the most RBIs of any Phillie in their 201- shellacking of the Marlins. He knocked in 6 and scored 2 in his 2 for 5 day. Both of Franco's hits were for extra bases; a double and homer. He now has a .316 average early in the season, going 6-for-19. Four of his 6 hits are for extra bases. Franco hasn't been the beneficiary of extraordinary luck, with a BABIP of only .286. A very promising sign is that his Batting EYE is at 1.00 as he has walked and struck out 3 times so far. It's way early, but Franco is showing signs of the potential he has long had.
Chris Owings- SS- ARI- Stats- Is Owings going to be the first major leaguer since Ted Williams to hit .400 in a season? Not unless his BABIP of .600 keeps rolling along. Owings has also struck out 8 times in his last 5 games, giving him a 32.1% K% for the season. Both of those numbers should go down, which makes his projected .273 average still a reasonable mark.
Ender Inciarte- OF- ATL- FYI- Slow starts are nothing new to Inciarte. His career average is .261 in March and April for the career .294 hitter. The average is that high primarily due to one outlier season when he hit .316 in 2015. Add to that the first month of his career, when he hit .156 in May 2014 and it's clearly not time to go into any panic over a .229 average in the early part of the season.
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