The Daily Grind: 5-17-14 – Presented by FanDuel

Agenda

1. Quantity Wins
2. Daily DFS
3. Sunday Selects
4. Table

1. Quantity Wins

Yesterday was a pretty decent day for me and the first where I won a significant amount of money without really spiking a tournament. I entered five tournaments in all – the Bunt, Single, Squeeze #1, Squeeze #2, and Squeeze #3 (five rosters total entered three times each). I entered each Squeeze five times, each with a subtly different roster. My best performance only made $30, but four of my five rosters placed. My total net for the evening was over $150. I’ll take it.

This is part of my ongoing experiment to vary my lineups for a better shot at spiking. Based on the research I’ve done, it makes more sense to enter the same roster multiple times on a “socialist” platform – i.e. one where more than the top 10 percent make money, like DraftKings. FanDuel puts up a high standard in their GPPs, so varied lineups can be the best way to go. If you do spike, you’ll make more money than you would at DraftKings.

2. Daily DFS

Early: Five games fall into the early basket of treasures.

We’re entering day three of my recommendation to use Pirates lefty hitters against David Phelps. Sometimes it feels like I make the same recommendation every day. Since this time slot is thin, you can also fill in with left-handed Yankees against Edinson Volquez.

Hector Noesi versus Jarred Cosart is probably the other place you want to go for runs in the early contest. There aren’t many good guys with the platoon advantage in this one.

Overall, I recommend chasing values this morning.

Late: We have a deeper slate of 10 games for the night contest.

I kind of like Josh Tomlin, but I also like left-handed hitters at Progressive Field. A few Athletics went wild last night, most notably Josh Reddick. If you had him in DFS, you probably won a lot of money (I did not *shakes fist*).

You could do a left-handed Royals stack against Bud Norris. The Royals offense isn’t anything to gawk over, so this would be a fade play.

The righty heavy Twins face a lefty in Roenis Elias, which opens up a few likely candidates.

Certain right-handed and switch hitting Blue Jays may enjoy facing Robbie Ross.

You can stack Padres against right-hander Jordan Lyles, but he’s looked sharp enough to avoid. On the other hand, Robbie Erlin is rather hittable.

3. Sunday Seafood

Pitchers to Start: Tony Cingrani returns tomorrow to face the Phillies. The only downside to this matchup is he’s opposed by Cliff Lee.

Gavin Floyd makes his third start of the season against a vincible Cardinals lineup. He’s opposed by Jaime Garcia making his first start of the season.

Pitchers to Exploit: Another repeat from yesterday, Hiroki Kuroda can be exploited by left-handed Pirates. Right-handed Pirates are too predictable in their swashbuckling.

Zack Wheeler is coming off a terrible outing if you want to gamble on continued struggles.

What did I say about the Royals against Bud Norris? It applies doubly against Ubaldo Jimenez.

The good news for Seattle is they’ll face a mediocre righty tomorrow. The bad news is the game will be played at Target Field, with its ridiculous right field wall.

John Danks versus Brad Peacock is another game to exploit in Houston.

The Brewers righty stack will face Travis Wood in Chicagoland.

Jacob Turner has been rather lousy this season, so maybe it’s worth using a few Giants in San Francisco. They’re usually a lineup and park I avoid.

Vidal Sassoon Nuno pitches tomorrow against the Pirates. While the lefties will find it hard to golf at the short porch, you’ll have a few right-handers to try out.

Hitters (power): Mark Reynolds brings the power and the funk. Well, he brings one of those things.

Usual suspects Matt Joyce and David DeJesus face Matt Shoemaker.

Guys like Seth Smith, Chase Headley, and even Will Venable might be worth a stab in Colorado.

Juan Francisco and Adam Lind are home run threats in Arlington against Nick Martinez.

George Springer requests your consideration.

Hitters (speed): Maybe Gregor Blanco will bat leadoff. And maybe he won’t. It’s never easy to predict when he’ll be in the lineup.

Michael Saunders, James Jones, and Brad Miller could also swipe a base.

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.

Denver has a risk of isolated thunderstorms all day, but it’s only a 30 percent chance. The rest of the league looks clear, but keep an eye out all the same. There’s some rogue weather wandering the country.

The Link. We have a full range of choices without too much weather to worry about today.

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