Hitters to Target in Daily Change Leagues
A look at strong side platoon bats to prioritize in leagues where you set your lineup daily rather than weekly.
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One of the best ways to get ahead of the competition in your fantasy league is to focus closely on your league settings. Most of your league will be reading articles and viewing player ranks that are not specifically targeted at the league type they’re being read for.
So, I’m going to go through a series over the next week or two where I look at some of these common but not standard league settings and give you all of the names I think make for better targets in those situations.
Today, I’m focusing on daily change leagues. In these leagues, you set your lineup every day rather than once per week.
Not a ton changes in these leagues, but there is one angle to exploit, and that is the strong side platoon. What we mean by “strong side platoon” are left-handed hitters who start against right-handed pitching but hit the bench against left-handed pitching. Last season, 73% of games were started by a right-handed pitcher. That means a left-handed hitter in a platoon would start four or five games per week (6 games per week times .73 is equal to 4.4). Missing a game and a half per week is enough to knock your value down significantly if you have to eat those zeroes, but when the downside mostly disappears if you can replace your guy the day he faces a lefty.
So we’re looking at the best strong-side platoon bats in the league. Here’s the list!
Kerry Carpenter, Detroit Tigers
ADP: 190
2024 vs. RHP: .305/.357/.631, 17 HR, 19% Brl%, 24.7% K%
Carpenter gets drafted in all leagues, and he’ll probably make a good number of starts against lefties. The guy is probably a top-20 offensive outfielder in the league on a per-game basis. In a daily changes league, I’d probably target him around ADP 150, just make sure you have a solid outfielder or two on the bench.
That last point is a given if you’re taking anybody here. Make sure you’re not replacing these guys on their days off with total losers. Get somebody solid, or at least be vigilant on waivers early in the year to find someone you feel good about.
Joc Pederson, Texas Rangers
ADP: 330
2024 vs. RHP: .281/.383/.531, 22 HR, 13.0% Brl%, 21.5% K%
I think there are legal issues with taking pictures of players and using them in these posts, so I never do that. But if I did do that, Joc would obviously be the poster boy for a post like this.
Joc did some of the best work of his career last season. He splashed 23 homers in less than 450 PAs. Now he has signed on with Texas and should be hitting 4th or 5th behind Corey Seager and Wyatt Langford against righties. And there are few better places to hit the long ball than in hot weather games in Arlington.
I’d be looking to grab him inside the top 300 in one of these leagues.