Seth Smith smashes righties and in the Bronx, could be in for a huge night

Welcome to the Monday edition of the FanDuel value plays advice. We have eight games on the slate tonight and it looks like there are no weather concerns for tonight. Still, check the weather right before lock in case anything develops and be sure to look at the team lineups as they are released tonight. Let’s go ahead and take a look at some value players for tonight.

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Pitcher

Jameson Taillon (PIT): $7,500 vs. HOU
If you decide to go the value route tonight consider using Jameson Taillon against the Astros. Although the Astros have a pretty good offense, they lose the DH going to the national league and they have a large negative park shift to PNC Park. The Astros do strike out quite a bit too with a 23.8% K% against right-handed pitchers this season. Also, Taillon has held his own during his rookie campaign with a 3.41 FIP. Taillon is also in a good position to at least earn the win tonight since the Pirates are opposed by Doug Fister.

Catcher

Gary Sanchez (NYY): $2,900 at SEA
Gary Sanchez continued his streak over the weekend with another home run. He now has a ridiculous 255 wRC+, a 0.548 wOBA and a 0.476 ISO over the past two weeks. Tonight he has a great matchup against Cody Martin, who has allowed a 0.383 wOBA to right-handed hitters this season in 30 innings of work.

First Base

Josh Bell (PIT): $2,100 vs. HOU
The Pirates recently called up their number three prospect and although it is an extremely small sample size, Josh Bell has looked good in eight plate appearances with a home run, two singles, two walks and five RBI’s. Tonight he has an outstanding matchup against Doug Fister, who has allowed a 0.369 wOBA to left-handed hitters this season. If Bell is not in the lineup tonight, you should be able to easily pivot to John Jaso at only $400 more.

Second Base

Starlin Castro (NYY): $2,600 at SEA
In terms of value, second base is pretty ugly tonight. I wouldn’t recommend Starlin Castro for cash games, but he may be a decent, low-owned option for GPPs. To his credit, he has been pretty hot in the month of August with a 0.346 wOBA and a 0.214 ISO and I already mentioned how we can pick on Cody Martin tonight.

Third Base

Kyle Seager (SEA): $3,200 vs. NYY
Third base is even uglier than second base for value tonight, so I’m going to cheat and recommend Kyle Seager, who is a little bit over my arbitrary bargain threshold of $3,000. Seager has been magnificent against right-handed pitchers, with a 0.395 wOBA and a 0.237 ISO. Tonight he has a decent  matchup against Michael Pineda, who has struggled with his command this season allowing a 3.36 BB/9.

Shortstop

Daniel Descalso (COL): $2,900 at MIL
Daniel Descalso has been solid against right-handed pitchers this season and oddly enough, way better away from Coors Field. Descalso currently has a 0.377 wOBA and a 0.159 ISO against righties on the road. Tonight he has a good matchup against Jimmy Nelson, who has allowed a 0.345 wOBA to left-handed hitters this season.

Outfielders

Seth Smith (SEA): $2,800 vs. NYY
Seth Smith has been great against right-handed pitchers over the course of his career with a 0.358 wOBA and a 0.199 ISO. The only problem is, he sometimes is lifted for a pinch-hitter if the opposing team brings in a left-handed pitcher. Luckily, the Yankees currently only have one left-handed arm in their bullpen, so Smith should be able to get at least four plate appearances tonight.

Nori Aoki (SEA): $2,700 vs. NYY
Even though this is my third Mariners’ recommendation, I would advise against using both Seth Smith and Nori Aoki in the same cash game lineup, since Michael Pineda does have some strikeout upside. With that being said, if you need to save $100 from Seth Smith, then Aoki is a good pivot. Aoki usually hits in the leadoff spot against righties for the Mariners and he has done well against right-handed pitchers at home this season with a 0.351 wOBA.

Michael Bourn (ATL): $2,800 at ATL
If this was a full slate, I probably would not be recommending Michael Bourn. However, it is a smaller slate so we have to expand our pool of value players just a bit. Bourn has not been great this season, but he does have an excellent matchup against Mike Foltynewicz, who has been awful against left-handed hitters allowing a 0.355 wOBA. Also, he typically hits in the two-hole for the Diamondbacks which is a plus since Paul Goldschmidt is right behind him.

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Kaz is a correspondent at FantasyPros. To read more from Kaz, follow him @DraftStars_Kaz. You can find more of Kaz’s work at DraftStars.net.