Daily Dime: Hanley, Syndergaard, Cesar, Holliday and more
So that was a fairly eventful MLB Monday, complete with trades, walk-offs and save-blowing. Let's dive into the Tuesday slate, looking for bargains. Key word: Bargains. You'll find a few well-priced daily plays below; we aren't suggesting that you actually start the entire list. As always, we advise you to check the weather reports and verify the MLB lineups before committing to players. Now let's do this thing...
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Hanley Ramirez, OF, vs. CWS (Samardzija), $16: Hanley has been a carnival ride at the plate and hilarious in the field this year — a joy to watch, if you don't care about outcomes. He has a nice-if-limited history against Samardzija (8-for-19), as do other Red Sox hitters, including this guy...
Pablo Sandoval, 3B, vs. CWS (Samardzija), $13: Just a reminder that Panda's worst moments this season have generally involved LHPs. He's slashing a perfectly respectable .286/.339/.436 with seven homers against right-handers. He's also 3-for-7 lifetime against Samardzija with a homer and four RBIs, for what it's worth.
Matt Holliday, OF, vs. Cin (Leake), $15: Holliday is reaching base at a .419 clip since returning from the DL, and he's 15-for-39 in his career against Leake with four extra-base hits and only two Ks. I'm assuming/hoping Monday's DNP was a simple day of rest.
Ben Paulsen, 1B, at CHC (Beeler), $13: Do I need to remind you that we're looking for bargains here? Well, I just did. No one is trying to tell you that Paulsen is your best possible option at first. I do like the price, however, with a sketchy, soft-tossing right-hander on the hill for the Cubs. Paulsen slashed .305/.374/.500 against RHPs while at Albuquerque this season, and he hit .308/.397/.554 against 'em at the same level last year.
Noah Syndergaard, P, vs. SD (Shields), $49: OK, so maybe Syndergaard doesn't seem like a steal at $49. But he's $11 cheaper than David Price and $2 cheaper than both Sonny Gray and Jeff Samadzija. I'll take the value here, particularly since he's facing a lineup with the worst team OBP in the game (.293).
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Alcides Escobar, SS, at Cle (Bauer), $14: More fun with meaningless samples: Escobar has reached base in seven of his 14 plate appearances against Bauer, striking out just once. He's also hitting well lately, batting .304 in the month of July with a respectable .355 OBP.
Cesar Hernandez, 2B, at Tor (Doubront), $15: Hernandez went 5-for-16 in the weekend series sweep over Chicago, with a pair of steals and three runs-scored. He also has four multi-hit games in his last seven. The kid has hammered left-handed pitching this season (25-for-70, 7 BBs), so Doubront isn't exactly a terrifying matchup.
Brett Anderson, P, vs. Oak (Gray), $39: If you're looking to go cheap at one of the pitcher spots, Anderson seems like a solid play against the fire-sale A's (despite the rough matchup with Gray). Anderson dodged an injury bullet last week, and he looks to continue an encouraging bounce-back season. Generally speaking, we like home starters on first place teams, facing last-place opponents.
Matt Wieters, C, vs. Atl (Teheran), $12: I'm assuming we'll see his name in the Tuesday lineup, following Monday's opposite-field walk-off. The price is certainly friendly, and he's coming off a 3-for-5 night.
Carlos Ruiz ($7) or Cameron Rupp ($10), C, at Tor (Doubront): I tend to shop in the junk catcher market, so I'm looking at whoever starts for Philly on Tuesday. Both of these guys have been solid against LHPs so far this season. Ruiz is 12-for-31 against 'em with six extra-base hits; Rupp is 12-for-39 against southpaws with a homer, four doubles and four walks.
