The Daily Grind: 4-1-14 – Presented by FanDuel

What are we talking about?

1. Words about results and process
2. DFS stackables
3. Normal fantasy mentionables
4. The daily chartables

1. Results and Process

It was a mixed day for me. My DFS teams lost a whopping $1 while my traditional fantasy teams kind of stunk. The teams of the guy I consult netted $58 thanks to Justin Smoak (and we tried so hard to roster anybody else). So those were my results. Cody Asche was probably the guy to own yesterday and I did not pick him. I usually won’t pick “the guy.” What I will do is play the percentages such that over the course of the season, we should all do fairly well. Like our man Dayton Moore says, we must trust the process. Even when it fails us on day one.

2. DFS Stackables

Los Angeles Dodgers @ Ian Kennedy: I believe that Kennedy is an alright pitcher. The Dodgers lineup is obviously better than alright. And therein lies the rub – the Dodgers lineup costs too much to stack. Today does offer one obvious cheap pitcher if you want to make a go of it. Make a note, you want left-handed hitters at Petco.

Colorado Rockies @ Nathan Eovaldi: My crusade to see Eovaldi in the bullpen before he loses his heater continues. His offspeed stuff is middling, something I expect the Rockies to exploit.

New York Yankees @ Scott Feldman: Here’s the best combination of weather, park factors, and pitcher exploitability. The Yankees lineup has some old fashioned thumpers, making this the high value stack of the day.

3. For Traditional Fantasy (tomorrow)

Pitchers to start: So maybe tomorrow isn’t the best day to stream; we have a long season ahead of us. Felipe Paulino and Jesse Chavez have interesting match-ups, but I really want to see how they do before jumping off the deep end. Usually, I’d happily throw old favorites Zach McAllister and John Lackey out there for use, but I don’t like their match-ups. If you want to get tricksy, Henderson Alvarez would like your attention. If you don’t care about strikeouts, I’m a fan of Charlie Morton. He’s not a great fantasy asset, but he gets the job done in the real world.

Pitchers to exploit: The Tigers will try to smack around Jason Vargas. Elsewhere in the Midwest, the Brewers draw Aaron Harang. The Braves decided he was better than Freddy Garcia.

Kyle Kendrick is occasionally decent, but I’d bet heavily against him in Arlington, TX.

Hitters (power): The Mets have selected the contract of Bobby Bonilla after Ike Davis hurt himself yesterday. Again. Bonilla comes with the standard “best shape of his life” moniker, but I doubt he’ll spend any time in the outfield. He may start tomorrow against Gio Gonzalez.

4. GASP! The Chart

Behold

Atmospheric conditions won’t be great for the long ball throughout the league. What did you expect, it’s April first. Yesterday, I worried that the game in Oakland would be affected by rain. That all cleared out by game time. This evening, the weather service says there is a 100 percent chance for rain during the game. So be aware and beware.