How in the world are we going to fit in Coors AND Chris Sale tonight?
For the sake of today’s Value Index, I will not be recommending Coors bats or Chris Sale because you know that already. I imagine there are a lot of ways you can get in Sale, Coors bats and feel comfortable with your lineup. There are plenty of low-priced pitchers (some devoid of talent) that you could make it work. I know I will be trying to get in Nelson Cruz against a lefty in Coors. That’s very salivating for me.
Anyway, my picks today do center around rostering Sale, and for the record, you can play them all in a lineup and pay min salary for a catcher just so you know that I am not just recommending obvious plays and so you know I am actively thinking about how you will roster players tonight.
Sale is up against his old team, so not only is he been downright filthy this year, the narrative only adds to the excitement.
We are back to our regularly scheduled format for the Index. It’s Tuesday and that means you must subscribe to our site to receive all premium content, but as usual, a few picks are available. I hope they are just the tease you need to take the next step!
Time for picks!
Gio Gonzalez – SP – Washington Nationals – $8,200
Analysis: So if you have followed me for awhile, you know my disdain for Gio Gonzalez over the years. I can’t say this pick doesn’t make me want to throw up in my mouth a little bit. It’s Gio. He walks a ton of batters, he’s on the road, blah, blah, blah. Now for the positives for Gio – 1. PItcher’s ballpark. 2. Bad Giants lineup that has a lot of lefties. 3. Giants are 27th in wOBA against lefties this season and sport a measly .283 wOBA and .104 ISO. They don’t strike out THAT much, but a 19% K/9 rate is decent. Gio has given up some HRs to righties this season, but he has been great against lefties, posting a .267 wOBA, a 2.11 GB/FB rate and 23% hard contact. Belt, Crawford, Panik and Span are all potential lefties Gio could face tonight no to mention he likely won’t have to deal with Eduardo Nunez. I guess there’s a chance I could be scared off this pick once the lineup comes out, but I feel like Gio is actually pretty safe tonight and has an offense that can get him the win.
Jose Reyes – SS – New York Mets – $3,700
Analysis: Didi Gregorious was going to occupy this spot, but I found a cheaper SS I like more that is Mr. Reyes, my favorite shortstop of all time. Reyes has really started to hit the ball for the Mets over the past couple of weeks and currently has hits in 6 of his last 7. Tonight he faces Zach Davies who gets into trouble against lefty bats (meaning the Mets’ stack also is firmly in play). Davies has allowed a .359 wOBA, a 1.91 HR/9 rate and a 32% hard contact rate to lefties this season. Hopefully we will get a good lineup spot for Reyes.
Andrew McCutchen – OF – Pittsburgh Pirates – $3,200
Analysis: Do people think McCutchen is done and devoid of talent? His price certainly reflects that and I am going to keep playing him because he’s won me a lot of money over the past week. McCutchen and the PIrates are taking on Robbie Ray (chalk pitcher tonight) so I am going to leverage off of Ray and take some Bucs against him to hopefully make some big bucks (yes, I do cheesy jokes, too). I am coming around on Ray as a pitcher personally, but he still gives up way too much hard contact to right-handed bats (43.2% with a .243 BABIP). The PIrates have been able to at least hit the baseball in recent weeks, but they aren’t a team that has shown they can put up gobs of runs night in and night out. McCutchen has always been a lefty masher and he’s doing it again this season, collecting a .479 wOBA, a .405 ISO and a 41% hard contact rate. The stars are aligning in this one.
