The Daily Grind: 5-25-14 – Presented by FanDuel

Agenda

1. Satellites
2. Daily DFS
3. Monday Mania
4. Table

1. Thoughts on Satellites

For the uninitiated, a satellite is a tournament that offers entry to another, higher priced tournament if you win. For example, FanDuel is offering a $2 satellite to their $200k Survivor series. If your lineup outperforms 111 others, you’ll receive a $200 ticket. As an aside, the Survivor Series is a really cool idea, I just wish they had a $25 entry analog.

What do you think of satellites? My impression is they’re a rip off. In the example above, FanDuel makes $222 for their $200 ticket, then applies another rake at the next level. Usually, you have to really spike to win your ticket. Then you need to spike again to win money in the bigger tournament. If you put $2 into a Squeeze contest and spike hard enough to win a satellite, there’s a good chance you’d make more than $200. Then you can just buy your way into the larger tournament or keep the cash.

2. Daily DFS

I’ll split the contests by time slot, just remember your options are full day or late contests.

Early: Los Atleticos have a few very attractive options to stack against Blue Jays lefty J.A. Happ. He (Happ) isn’t terrible, but he is exploitable.

Colby Lewis is pretty fringy, but the Tigers feature best as roster patches. Unfortunately, they cost quite a bit more than your standard patchwork.

Certain very expensive Brewers have a drool worthy matchup against Randy Wolf. Certain affordable Brewers are also viable options. Just remember Marlins Park kills home runs.

The Diamondbacks have an easier lineup to use for patching your DFS roster. Rafael Montero has a ton of talent, but he might be a little overwhelmed at the major league level. With a doubleheader today, they’re liable to overextend Montero if he pitches well.

I need to invent a word that means “inordinately left-handed.” The Indians lineup is that word. And they’ll face Orioles homer prone hurler Miguel Gonzalez. Oh joy!

Brandon Workman versus Jake Odorizzi has the makings for more than a few runs scored. The game is to be played at Tropicana Field. I prefer greener pastures, but I might take a share of this game somewhere. Keep in mind, the bullpens had to work pretty hard in yesterday’s 15 inning affair.

Late: The Yankees offense faces another mediocre pitcher at U.S. Cellular Field. This time it’s right-hander Andre Rienzo. He brings a 4.00 ERA, 5.33 FIP, and 4.80 xFIP.

You can’t play this one on FanDuel, but a game between Daisuke Matsuzaka and Zeke Spruill sounds mighty exploitable. We could play the game on Jupiter and it would still be exploitable. On second thought, even if the players could survive and we crafted some form of playing surface, the planet’s gravity would be too great to throw 60 foot pitches.

The Atlanta Braves face Franklin Morales. He probably belongs in the bullpen. He’ll be there soon enough. In the meantime, there are a couple potent Braves bats awaiting your pleasure.

3. Monday Mania

It’s a full day of fun even though it’s a Monday.

Pitchers to Start: Even though the game is to be played at U.S. Cellular Bandbox, Jose Quintana looks like a favorable choice tomorrow. The Indians have been incapable of punishing left-handers, mostly because certain switch hitters are scuffling.

Chase Whitley looks useful tomorrow. Between his short leash and matchup against Michael Wacha, he probably won’t record a win.

I like both Tyson Ross and Brandon McCarthy. They’re both sinker ball pitchers who can rack up strikeouts (the skill is new to McCarthy). They’re facing pretty terrible lineups too.

Pitchers to Exploit: If you allow for a normal BABIP, LOB% and HR/FB ratio, Clay Buchholz has been mediocre rather than execrable. We’ll see if he can keep the home run or strikeout Braves in check.

The Rangers are rather banged up, but Kevin Correia is pretty hittable these days. I wouldn’t go hog wild at Target Field.

The Tigers finally face a lefty! You don’t know how long I’ve been waiting to tout a couple right-handed Detroitists. Too bad the game is to be played in Oakland.

Chris Young has pitched poorly despite a 3.53 ERA. He has to turn pumpkin in a big way eventually, perhaps the Angels juggernaut is the team to do it.

While it’s not a high octane offensive environment, there’s a lot to like about the Colorado Rockies visiting Kyle Kendrick and the Phillies.

Hitters (power): J.D. Martinez should start against Milone. I’m pretty excited about his power despite the high whiff rate. Maybe it’s time to nominate him in Ottoneu.

Matt Joyce is startable against Drew Hutchison.

Yan Gomes has hit pretty well recently. He’ll have the platoon advantage against Quintana.

Hitters (speed): Rajai Davis finally has the platoon advantage. I wonder if he’s forgotten what lefties look like.

There’s always Norichika Aoki and his special blend of bland leadoff work.

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.

Aside from a 30 percent chance of storms in Atlanta, we’re looking at a clear day of baseball.

The Link. We have a little bit of everything today. The pleasant weather across the league should help balls fly.

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