Lots of high-end hurlers can sometimes make streaming bats difficult, but there are still enough low-end arms in hitter-friendly parks on Saturday that we can exploit. He hit 28 of those in-zone pitches for extra bases, so you have about as good a chance of seeing him hit a pitch in the zone a long ways as you will of seeing him miss it. Their best Triple-A outfield prospect, Matt Wallner, is a left-handed hitter, as are their two most-used Triple-A outfielders, Cave and Mark Contreras. : If youre going to throw fastballs to Melendez, they better have some hair on them. He can sometimes get beat by quality velocity, but he also took a 95 mph Blade Tidwell fastball out to straight center field. Setting aside again how early it is, it's interesting to note how much the Giants seem to be attempting to put him in position to succeed. : Dont make mistakes trying to bust Butler inside, as Butlers power is almost entirely pull side, usually when a pitcher tries to spin a ball that allows Butler to drop the bat head. Terms at draftkings.com/sportsbook. Paul Goldschmidt, for example, has a .939 OPS when the Cardinals win and a .283 OPS when they lose. Williams will swing and miss some at changeups as he looks for a fastball to drive, but he has a solid ability to adjust to changes of speed. Additionally, you can subscribe to Baseball America's newsletter and receive all of our rankings, analysis, prospect insight & more delivered to your inbox every day. LOCK HAVEN, Pa. - Millersville University left fielder Bren Taylor totaled 11 hits in three Millersville wins, and on Tuesday, he was named the PSAC East Hitter of the Week. The problem with trying to go in on him is you dont have much margin for error. Maybe it's easier to see on an annual platoon split graph. So as a hitter, dont fall behind. They will generally see fastballs and sliders away. Lets just roll with the assumption that their managers know what they are doing and have been selective in their starting assignments. Happ (L), 15%, St. Louis Cardinals vs. Pittsburgh Pirates: After being perhaps the worst pitcher in baseball in his time with the Twins this season, Happ has seemingly turned a corner with the Cardinals, allowing just three combined runs over his last three starts. And most of alla tradition of winning. He has been valuable against lefties, albeit in a tiny sample size (1.021 OPS, 0.80 Eye in 26 AB). I would think ideally it would be AL players to limit the impact of switches and a lefty (ie strong against righties). Brandon Lowe (2B/LF, TAM) has backtracked a bit in 2021 (.200 BA, .697 OPS in 240 AB). The 26-year-old was acquired in the trade that sent Jacob Barnes to Toronto in 2021. Your email address will not be published. How Do You Attack Him? With Rocker, you want to get him into fastball counts. The first three are Otto Lopez, Cody Thomas and Austin Voth. Staff flamethrower: Devin Fontenot can touch 96 mph. You probably dont want to put much of anything into splits at this point. Some guys are set it and forget it, but we cant have a full team of studs in competitive leagues and often have spots where we have options. Los Angeles Dodgers (Hit Score: 1) 2 2. This strategy can certainly work, but to your point it should be more of a plan B or in season strategy. Lefties dont have to worry nearly as much about Williams slider, but Williams will work in and out against them more often and mixes his pitches, adding in a changeup. Tempt him with sliders down and away out of the zone and pitchers can find some successof the 110 pitches thrown well out of the zone down and away he swung and missed at 20% of them. Theres nothing Trout cant do.) And only four of them (2.6%) were turned into hits (three singles and one home run). On 31% of Kopps in-zone sliders, the hitter took it for a strike. Injury-plagued hitter with elite upside. That his current home fuels homers more than anywhere else -- there have been 745 more homers hit in Reds games at home as compared to Reds games on the road since GABP opened -- merely makes it look even more stark, even if this current split isn't likely to maintain. Why not another guy whos much stronger vs. the numerically greater righties? How Do You Attack Him? Turns out that those bad stats have been driven by deep struggles against righty arms: .527 OPS, 0.27 Eye in 60 AB. You can create a stud pitcher more easily by finding middle relievers / setup men who generate Ks, have great ratios, lock up the occasional save and get wins sprinkled in as a bonus. The left-handed hitter can play all three outfield positions but fits best in the corner spots. His strong 2021 came with a chase rate of 29%, while his lesser seasons all have chase rates near 35%. Catcher -- Carson Kelly (R), 24%, Arizona Diamondbacks at Colorado Rockies (LHP Kyle Freeland): Although Daulton Varsho has been seeing regular time behind the plate, Kelly should get the start with a left-hander on the hill for the Rockies. Making that leap, we can simply just add their stats together to create Adam Hays or Austin Duvall, right? First Base -- Connor Joe (R), 13%, Colorado Rockies vs. Arizona Diamondbacks (RHP Zac Gallen): Speaking of Coors Field bats, Joe is another slugger to try to get into your lineup. His fastball is arguably his best pitch, but because hitters have to be looking for it, his slider is even more effective. Stats in green are for teams Houston Astros (Hit Score: 5.5) 4 4. Against left-handed-hitting Ji Hwan Bae, he threw four-seam, changeup, four-seam, changeup, four-seam and, on 3-2, a curveball. WebThe most surprising batting splits of 2021 Nick Castellanos, OF, Reds. When the injured Adalberto Mondesi returns to play shortstop, it might free up Nicky Lopez to move back to second and push Whit Merrifield back to right, though that would leave the defensively-limited O'Hearn without a home. First, the following bats own the widest LH/RH OPS splits: Tools. : Dont give him fastballs to hit. Inciarte, for example, is hitting .268/.327/.341 (83 OPS+) despite his opposite field tendencies. Fantasy baseball roundtable: Who is the No. Dont worry about Nikhazy going in and out nearly as much as him going up and down. Since joining the Cardinals, Happ has been nominally better with a 4.30 ERA in six starts, with six home runs allowed and a 5.38 FIP. 3. His plate skills against southpaws are solid too (15% bb%, 69% ct%, 0.58 Eye). WebRamon Laureano (CF, OAK) is one of the best bats in the game against lefties: .365 BA, 3 HR, 8 RBI, 1.056 OPS in 63 AB. He has posted a .283 BA, 17 HR, 50 RBI, and .911 OPS in 251 AB. Kyle Higashioka (C, NYY) might seem like a second catcher you want to avoid, even in deep leagues (.186 BA, .678 OPS in 86 AB). On the other hand, McKenzie sports a 10.6 K/9 and has delivered three straight quality starts, including an absolutely dominant performance his last time out during which he held Detroit to just one hit over eight frames to go along with 11 strikeouts. Only 12% of those fastballs were put in play. Or another guy good against righties (and Hays also happens to be good against lefties)? With Elko playing on a torn ACL, hes going to be swinging for the fences as he cant run well enough to leg out extra base hits. So, after a little digging and manually aligning every starter for every game that Adam Duvall and Austin Hays played in 2021, we find out that they combined to start 143 games across the season in the favorable side of their splits. While you arent able to create a stud you can play with splits when setting your lineups using venue, pitching match up, etc. For now, we can't expect him to do much against RHers though: .132 BA, 1 HR, 4 RBI, .424 OPS, 0.15 Eye in 53 AB. His plate discipline has been nearly as good as those stats (10% bb%, 83% ct%, 0.64 Eye). He wants to throw his slider out of the strike zone, as it has the depth and tilt to dive away to become effectively unhittable. We are not able to verify the legality of the information we provide, or your ability to use any sites that are linked to on this site, for every combination of your location, the sites location, and the type of service those sites provide. The Padres are taking a flier on the 29-year-old left-handed hitter, who has batted .201/.274/.398 for three teams over the past four seasons. The fact that he also sports a .302/.367/.581 line at Coors Field doesn't hurt, either. Baseball HQ is intended for entertainment purposes only. suggests MLBs new shift rules wont boost lefty hitters all that radically. Rudys hittertron is also awesome. Tyler Clippard has saved two games this week and, while he is highly unlikely to put up a large save total over the season's final six weeks, he is nevertheless a closer who is still available in the vast majority of leagues. How He Does It: A hitter facing Nikhazy has to get used to adjusting his eye level. Chicago snagged him with the 22nd overall pick in 2021, and Montgomery has made them look smart for it, graduating three minor league levels in about 1.2 seasons of professional baseball. Digging deeper, he's someone you really want to have in your lineup when lefties are on the mound: .348 BA, 4 HR, 10 RBI, 1.089 OPS, 0.55 Eye in 69 AB. You only have so many SP spots in fantasy lineup and you want bona fide SPs in them when theyre on the bump. The team leads the National League in runs scored (5.05) and wRC+ (105, tied with San Francisco). For every rule, there's an exception. The now-injured Brandon Birdsell was touching 99 mph before he was shut down. The Los Angeles Lakers odds to make the Playoffs have plunged to +200 in the aftermath of LeBron James latest injury. He has yet to slow down in the big leagues, hitting .333/.400/.630 with a pair of homers and a steal in his first 11 games. Its about driving his fastball down in the zone. Why, then, has a cold-weather stadium in the first month of the season populated by a home team that has some top arms and few quality hitters been witness to the most home runs outside of Cincinnati? Detroit's first-rounder worked to ingratiate himself throughout West Michigan's clubhouse. Happ starts on the mound for St. Louis. But that doesnt mean we cant at least have a little fun with some of baseballs wildest splits over the first month-plus, cant we? When Kopps slider is in the strike zone, it is more hittable (hitters hit .193 with one double and one home run), but its almost impossible to tell when its going to stay in the zone or dive out of it. Access it all with a, HQNOW: HQBasicsDraft rankings powered by BaseballHQ, HQNOW: First Pitch Arizona Speaker Draft Roundtable, PT TODAY: Brown has opening to Astros rotation, PT TODAY: Montas injury creates NYY rotation opening, PT TOMORROW: NL West - The Push for Busch. Sports betting and gambling laws vary by jurisdiction. And most of alla tradition of winning. Longoria, who turns 36 in October, posted a mere 96 OPS+ in his first three years in San Francisco. The story is noticeably different than the actual splits that we see for both gentlemen in the first chart above. Overall, Kavadas hit .196/.372/.464 against breaking balls and changeups and .349/.477/.895 on fastballs. DAILY MATCHUPS: Verlander versus the hangover, DAILY MATCHUPS: Elder looking to keep streak alive, DAILY MATCHUPS: Bieber looks to finish strong vs. Royals, THE BIG HURT: Effects of 2022 Injuries in 2023, ARSENAL REPORT: Tick-tock on the pitch clock, RESEARCH: The future of playing time measurement starts now, RESEARCH: Start making smarter FAAB bids in 4 easy steps, GM's OFFICE: Projections housekeeping, with some Quality Starts validation, SPECULATOR: Finding this year's Adolis Garca, WATCHLIST: Finding gems in the shadowed spring schedule, WATCHLIST: Prospects on Fast Track to September Call Up, FACTS/FLUKES: Olson, K. Marte, I. Anderson, Steele, J.D. If we could set our lineups by at-bat then this would be great, but we act on the best information at hand when lineups lock which would be the projected starter. Did you notice whos fueling the offense of the first-place Giants? : Dont let Elko get his arms extended. Its a pair of mid-30s veterans who you probably thought were well past their primes in Longoria and Buster Posey. More Information, Support Contact Us FAQ Education Terms Home: .400/.423/.900 -- 1.323 OPS -- 6 HRRoad: .111/.154/.222 -- .376 OPS -- 1 HR. He hit .381/.466/.603 against righthanders fastballs and .353/.436/.618 against lefties fastballs. Both his production (.487 OPS in 121 AB) and plate discipline (5% bb%, 69% ct%, 0.19 Eye) tank against same-sided arms. , and.911 OPS in 251 AB Eye level +200 in the first chart above those bad have... Near 35 % too ( 15 % bb %, 0.58 Eye ) 5.5 ) 4... Four of them ( 2.6 % ) were turned into hits ( three singles and one home run.... 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