5 Daily Fantasy Baseball Value Plays for 4/13/16
Building daily fantasy baseball lineups can be intimidating. On any given slate, you have a massive number of options in front of you and a ton of factors to consider.
We're here to help take some of that burden off and break down some hitters who you can slot into your lineup for nice and cheap, while still being well-positioned to provide your lineup with solid fantasy production.
Let's take a look at where we can find value on today's slate.
Miguel Montero, C, Chicago Cubs
FanDuel Price: $2,800
Miguel Montero draws a great matchup tonight at home against Alfredo Simon and the Cincinnati Reds.
Montero does, by far, his best work against right-handed pitchers, with a .344 wOBA and .168 ISO. He struggles in a big way against lefties, and so his overall numbers (and, more importantly, his daily fantasy price tag) are held back, but he tends to be a strong play when a righty is on the mound.
On the other side, Simon tends to struggle when pitching to left-handed hitters, allowing a career .339 wOBA. His 4.26 SIERA is also the fourth-highest among starters on todays slate, while he has the fourth-lowest strikeout rate.
Hanley Ramirez, 1B, Boston Red Sox
FanDuel Price: $3,200
The Red Sox have the fourth-highest implied total of the night (and the second-highest outside of Coors) as they take on Ubaldo Jimenez and the Orioles.
Even in a righty-versus-righty matchup, it's easy to like Hanley Ramirez with such a low price tag. He's an incredibly talented hitter, with a .368 wOBA and .192 ISO against righties through his career and only a 16.6 percent strikeout rate. He had a down year in 2015 but actually produced a higher wOBA against right-handed pitching than left-handed pitching. It's not an ideal spot for him tonight, but he's a strong enough hitter that, batting in the heart of one of the more well-positioned offenses of the night, he offers great value at $3,200.
John Jaso, 1B, Pittsburgh Pirates
FanDuel Price: $2,900
John Jaso has been excellent against right-handed pitching throughout his career, producing a .352 wOBA and .155 ISO with only a 13.9 percent strikeout rate.
He will likely be leading off tonight against righty Shane Greene and the Tigers. While Greene doesn't have a huge body of Major League work to draw conclusions from, he hasn't been particularly impressive so far. He has a 4.12 SIERA and has allowed a huge .385 wOBA to left-handed hitters with a 13.9 percent strikeout rate.
This matchup seems tailor-made for Jaso, who should see plenty of at-bats with the Pirates having one of the higher implied totals of the night.
Ben Zobrist, 2B, Chicago Cubs
FanDuel Price: $3,000
Another Cub offering great value against Alfredo Simon tonight is switch-hitter Ben Zobrist. Zobrist is about equally dangerous from both sides of the plate and has a career .338 wOBA, .166 ISO and 14.9 percent strikeout rate against right-handed pitchers.
As I already outlined for Montero, Simon is one of the weaker pitchers of the night. He has a career 4.26 SIERA and 15.9 percent walk rate (both among the worst for today's starters) and has allowed a .339 wOBA to left-handed hitters.
Troy Tulowitzki, SS, Toronto Blue Jays
FanDuel Price: $3,100
While playing against a righty doesn't make for ideal conditions for Troy Tulowitzki, $3,100 is crazy cheap. His numbers against righties through his career are still better than lots of hitters' overall numbers, with a .367 wOBA and a .204 ISO. If you're concerned about those numbers being inflated by playing at Coors Field for years, he still has a .344 wOBA and .176 ISO against righties on the road through his career. Any way you cut it, his numbers don't justify such a low price tag.
The Blue Jays have the third-highest implied total of the night against Michael Pineda and the Yankees, and in the heart of one of the best lineups in the league, Tulowitzki is likely to play a big role in any damage the Blue Jays can do.
