Agenda

1. Halfway
2. Daily DFS
3. Tuesday Picks
4. Table

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Nine teams currently have a wRC+ over 100 for the season. Anytime you’re looking to stack hitters from the same team, it wouldn’t be the worst idea to just pick a team or two out of that group of nine with the best matchup for the day. But this is just a quick reminder that some of those top offensive teams are much better against pitchers of a certain handedness.

For example, the Blue Jays are tied with the Angels for the best wRC+ in the league at 112. But the Jays have a 116 wRC+ against right-handed pitching, which they see two-thirds of the time, and have just a 102 wRC+ against left-handed pitching. The simple fact that the majority of pitchers are right-handed is what makes them the best offense in the league. If the majority of pitchers were left-handed, the Jays total wRC+ might be something like 104. Long story short, they’re not as good of a stacking option against lefties. Which makes sense because their lineup features left-handers Adam Lind, Juan Francisco and Colby Rasmus as well as two switch hitters who are better from the left side of the plate in Jose Reyes and Melky Cabrera.

Here is a chart showing you how the top nine offensive teams fare against pitchers of either handedness.

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After today, we’ll be officially half-way through the 2014 season. There’s as many Roto Riteups to come this year as there has already been, which could either be great news, or the bane of your existence.

On today’s agenda:
1. Chris Parmelee in center: good for you, bad for Twins
2. ALERT/Reminder that Taijuan Walker’s starting today
3. An Alex Cobb comparison
4. Manny Machado’s righting the ship
5. The Figurative Five

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There are a lot of different ways to evaluate bad offenses, which we’ve done a handful of times in this space of later. Simply grabbing a team’s wOBA against a certain handedness of pitcher is a quick and easy way. We’ve also looked at the average fantasy score of an opposing pitcher against that offense, as well as the distribution of those scores to get a better idea of the boom-or-bust nature of an offense.

Today, we’ll look at one other way to skin that cat, one that focuses entirely on the ultimate upside of a match-up.

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Ten years ago today the pop punk group Midtown released their third album titled “Forget What You Know.” I didn’t like it as much as their first two albums, “Save the World, Lose the Girl” and “Living Well is the Best Revenge” but I do like the track Is it me? Is it true? My favorite track by them will always be Like a Movie.

On today’s agenda:
1. Mookie Betts gets the call
2. Bryce Harper’s return?
3. Another quality start from Marcus Stroman
4. The daily five

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Agenda

1. Call of the Ocean
2. Daily DFS
3. Monday Picks
4. Table

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For the most part, I’m a positive person. At least I try to be. That’s why I usually focus on guys who are performing well. It just feels better to highlight someone’s success. Today, though, let’s talk about how bad Eric Stults has been this season.

He was decent in 2012; pretty good in 2013; and he’s been atrocious, so far, in 2014. His strikeouts are down some, but his walks are basically where they were last season. He’s never missed bats, so when he’s pitching well, he’s getting by off of weak contact, especially considering he’s a flyball pitcher. Well, he hasn’t been able to outrun a .323 babip this season after being fortunate enough to squeak past a .302 number last season. He’s stranding the same amount of runners, so what gives? Dingers. Lots of them.

Stults has allowed 15 home runs so far. He allowed 18 total last season. And we can’t exactly blame luck, because the majority of them can be blamed solely on poor location. Nine of the fifteen home runs Stults has given up have came off of fastballs. Eight of those fastballs have been at least belt high. When your fastball averages 87 mph, you can’t really miss up in the zone, unless you’re Chris Young (maybe?).

After roughly 290 innings in San Diego with a HR/FB rate around 7%, Stults’ rate is currently 14.6%. Will it stay that high? Maybe not, but I still like the Diamondbacks tonight. Paul Goldschmidt, anyone?

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Today is the 23rd anniversary of the film “The Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell of Fear” being released. The boxing knowledge clip seems like a throwaway, but later on it is relevant in the rescue scene.

On today’s agenda:
1. A big day from C.J. Cron
2. Thoughts on Michael Bourn
3. Dylan Bundy’s progress
4. The daily five

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Agenda

1. Vacation Proofing Your Roster
2. Daily DFS
3. Sunday Picks
4. Table

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Agenda

1. Platoon Man Downside
2. Daily DFS
3. Saturday Picks
4. Table

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