The Daily Grind: 12 Game Hot Potato

Why “Hot Potato?” Because sometimes it’s best to not agonize over the title.

AGENDA

1. TDG Invitational
2. Weather Reports
3. Pitchers to Use and Abuse
4. SaberSim Says…
5. Well…

1. The Daily Grind Invitational

Niffoc4 put together a big score with the right combination of popular picks. Jacob deGrom, Blake Snell, Asdrubal Cabrera, and Yasmani Grandal did the heaviest lifting. Leaderboard. Niffoc is off to a hot start to the season!

See you tonight for a 12-game contest on DraftKings.

PS – New users who deposit with my referral link get $20 bonus cash. I also get $20. It’s a win-win.

2. Weather Reports

I don’t know the status of the building damage to the Rogers Centre. At least it’s not part of our DFS slate. Neither is the Yankees or Tigers game. As these 6:35pm starts become more popular, we’re going to need to request the DFS sites move forward their contest starts.

Uh, weather. Right. It’s very cold in Chicago, Detroit, Pittsburgh, and Minnesota. At least it should be dry. The rest of the league is fine too.

3. Pitchers to Use and Abuse

Main Slate: Our 12-game slate is headlined by Corey Kluber ($12,100). He’s the easy top play at Minnesota. Last season, Kluber fired five complete games. He was one of just two pitchers with more than two (Ervin Santana) and one of only eight with more than two CGs. Point being, a complete game at chilly Target Field is possible. At the very least, he should record some strikeouts and a win opposite Jake Odorizzi ($6,000)

edit: Twins/Indians game is actually in Puerto Rico.

Shohei Ohtani ($10,900) versus David Price ($10,100). I’m not sure I’ve been more uncertain about a matchup of aces. Ohtani has curb stomped Oakland a couple times. Mookie Betts may be out of the lineup. Price has a similar story – two strong outings versus the Rays (and one flop against the Yankees).

Chase Field, aka nuPNC, will play host to Johnny Cueto ($8,800) and Patrick Corbin ($9,800). Unlike a few others, I’m not convinced Corbin is transitioning from mid-tier guy to ace. Over the long term, a two-pitch repertoire is susceptible to a number of issues. For now, a start against the Giants is fine. They’re tough to strikeout. Dollar for dollar, I prefer the Cueto side of the equation.

Lance McCullers ($9,600) is in dire need of a rebound. He’ll face the Mariners. I’m not fleeing yet. Everything looks A-OK to my eyes – velocity, spin, curve, SwStr%, etc.

But wait, there’s more. Nick Pivetta ($8,400) is evenly matched against Mike Foltynewicz ($7,200). Pivetta has the better peripherals and run support. Their surface level stats are quite comparable. Alex Wood ($8,200) is in a good spot in a visit to Petco Park. I’m not opposed to trying Tyler Chatwood, Zack Wheeler, Chad Bettis, Trevor Williams, or Trevor Cahill. I wish Yonny Chirinos wasn’t on a low pitch count. For $4,700, you can use him anyway.

Stack Targets: Bryan Mitchell, Matt Moore, Cahill, Sal Romano, Junior Guerra, Ariel Miranda, Miguel Gonzalez, Adam Wainwright

Nothing to see here besides Cahill’s debut. Are we getting first half or second half Cahill?

4. SaberSim Says…

Kluber, Gio Gonzalez, Wood, Wheeler, and Foltynewicz are the early picks for top pitcher. I’m hesitant to run into that Mets buzz saw with a mid-floor, mid-ceiling pitcher like Gio. Similarly, hard pass with Wheeler versus the Natties. All of the cheap guys are also values.

Of the batters, Mike Trout, Freddie Freeman, George Springer, Andrew McCutchen, and Bryce Harper draw top honors. Evan Longoria, C.J. Cron, and Kurt Suzuki are some of the bargains.

5. Well…

I’ve seen broken bat home runs before, but nothing like this…

I told everybody to take Yankee sluggers yesterday. Not exactly a difficult take.