The Daily Grind: 4-25-14 – Presented by FanDuel

Agenda

1. An Informal Poll
2. Today’s Picks
3. Tomorrow’s Selections
4. Un Table

1. An informal poll

A formal poll would be embedded and automatically collect results. However, I could not find how to make such a poll. I did find how to add an old poll; maybe we’ll try that on a day when I’m bored.

Anyway, I would like to know what kind of DFS games you play. Here are your options, check all that apply.

• Deep tournaments (200+ participants)
• Leagues (~40-100 participants)
• 50/50’s
• H2H
• Matrix
• I don’t play DFS

The results of said poll will affect the content of section two. As one grumpy commenter pointed out yesterday, stacking is both easy and effective, but it’s also only suited for deep tournament play. If most of you aren’t playing tournaments, we can focus on other content. Personally, I need the big payoffs to keep me interested all season long.

2. DFS Targets

Late: It’s all late today. A full slate of late.

If it doesn’t rain, the Royals lefties have a lovely matchup against Ubaldo Jimenez at Camden Yards.

Similarly to above, Angels lefties might enjoy their game against Hiroki Kuroda. He looks like he might be fading, though he’s still a decent pitcher.

The Rays stack is fantastic tonight against Erik Johnson in Chicago. The weather conditions aren’t perfect, but they’re good enough for some long balls.

The Brewers also have a pleasant matchup against Carlos Villanueva. His ERA is 10.93. His FIP/xFIP are 3.47/3.81, and he has 13 strikeouts against just one walk. He’s just been too hittable.

Kevin Correia is a hittable sort of guy, but there are so many hitter friendly parks available tonight.

Speaking of which, the Athletics face Brad Peacock at Houston.

Roberto Hernandez versus Josh Collmenter could be a high scoring affair in Phoenix.

3. Tomorrow’s plays

Pitchers to Start: Zach McAllister pitches at San Francisco. AT&T field limits both runs and home runs. The Giants offense also limits runs and home runs (despite the quip, the Giants are currently 5th in home runs. I expect them to finish in the bottom half of the league; do with that as you will.

I’m growing to like Travis Wood. Last year he succeeded on smoke and mirrors. This season, he’s replaced the smoke with some whiffs.

Dallas Keuchel doesn’t have a great matchup against the A’s, but his slider heavy approach should work against almost anybody. At least until his arm breaks.

Jenrry Mejia will face the Marlins. That’s still a desirable offense to target, even if they’ve been kind of OK.

Pitchers to Exploit: By some peripherals I monitor, Hector Santiago has been one of the worst starters in baseball. His 3.68 ERA disguises that fact. He’s opposed by Vidal Nuno in New York, so it could be a slugfest.

The one time I strongly recommended against Clay Buchholz was also the only time he pitched very well. He has two meltdowns this season and the Rogers Centre doesn’t offer much margin of error.

Orioles lefties face Jeremy Guthrie with a very favorable park factor to back them up.

Grab right-handed Rays and White Sox against Cesar Ramos and John Danks. Speaking of Danks, his 2.84 ERA is totally supported by his 5.18 xFIP.

The Phillies start Cliff Lee and face Bronson Arroyo. That should be a Phillies win, but you never know.

Hitters (power): Perhaps Yangervis Solarte versus Santiago will sate your platoon needs.

It’s a Drew Stubbs kind of day against Paul Maholm. Brandon Barnes also gets time at the top of the lineup, but that’s baffling.

Lucas Duda draws Kevin Slowey. Duda Duda Day.

Logan Forsythe gets prominent treatment against lefties. Sean Rodriguez is more of a reach.

Hitters (speed): Ben Revere has a easy matchup against Arroyo.

4. Table

The table below indicates which stadiums have the best conditions for hitters today. The color coding is a classic stoplight where green equals go for hitters. The weather conditions are from SI Weather’s home run app. A 10/10 means great atmospheric conditions for home runs. A 1/10 means lousy atmospheric conditions.

There is a 70 percent chance of rain in Baltimore and Washington D.C. New York has a lesser chance of rain, but it increases later in the night. San Francisco also has a small risk for rain, but it decreases later in the night.

The Link. I’ve reorganized the table by overall HR factor. That should make it a little more top to bottom when assessing park quality.

We have seven green games, so hitters should be plentiful tonight. The possible rain might not happen, so keep an eye on the weather.

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