The Daily Grind: 9-13-14 – Presented by FanDuel

Agenda

1. Jeff Zimmerman’s Nose
2. Daily DFS
3. Sunday Picks
4. Table

1. Jeff Zimmerman’s Nose

Jeff did a little scouting for his most recent RotoGraphs contribution. These are the kinds of smell tests I like to conduct, although I don’t always directly share my findings (they usually find the light in the comments or on Twitter). Since his opinions on the five pitchers he scouted mirror my own, why don’t you just give his piece a look.

2. Daily DFS

Yesterday’s Grind

Early: Four games are early, but one is the rescheduled game from yesterday’s rain out in Chicago. It’s not available on FanDuel, so you’re working with three games.

I remember a long time ago when Lisalverto Bonilla was an interesting prospect in the Phillies system. He never could stay on the field, a trend that has continued in Texas. The righty looks more like a reliever since he breaks down with a starters workload. He does whiff a large number of hitters – hence the “interesting” comment. His tenure with Texas has also included a bunch of walks. Overall, I’m not expecting a long outing from Bonilla against the Braves. If Atlanta can’t get to Bonilla himself, there’s always the bullpen.

With the obvious exception of Teheran, the rest of the pitchers in this contest have good days and bad days. They’re all playing in hitter friendly stadiums. Good luck.

Late: Brad Hand versus Kyle Kendrick is a recipe for mediocrity. I’m saddened by the dearth of Stantons in Miami.

Felix Doubront is most assuredly a guy to target early, often, and repeatedly. The Pirates have a few lefty mashers and Doubront is among the worst lefties in the business. It’s almost a shame this game is at PNC Park.

Danny Salazar could shut down the Tigers, get pummeled, or something in between. It’s hard to get a read on him. Kyle Lobstein doesn’t feel ready for the majors, but at least he should neutralize some of the left-handed Indians.

It’s good to have various recipes. In the case of Logan Darnell versus Scott Carroll, we have a classic recipe for runs with plenty of gravy left over. The bullpens could be tired from the day game after all.

Rapid Fire: Southpaw David Holmberg is an easy target against the very right-handed Brewers at Miller Park. I grew weary writing about Franklin Morales months ago.

3. Sunday Picks

Pitchers to Start: Mike Minor found his way to the wire thanks to a bunch of terrible starts. He’s strung together a few good ones with crisp command and control. His strikeout rate is league average, which is a negative for most fantasy owners. He should have the inside edge on a win against Colby Lewis.

The good news regarding Yusmeiro Petit is he’ll pitch at home again. The bad news is he’s opposed by Clayton Kershaw.

Pitchers to Exploit: As sir Zimmerman so aptly pointed out in his article yesterday (link in section one), Jacob Turner really struggles with command and control. He has the stuff to be a good pitcher, he just can put the ball where he wants it. The Pirates are relatively patient.

Trevor May was…better…in his most recent outing. May versus Hector Noesi at U.S. Cellular Field still sounds like a shelling. I have to imagine the over/under on runs scored is something like 11.5 (I swear I didn’t look).

An uncharacteristically high walk rate has contributed to Marco Gonzales‘ undoing at the major league level. The Cardinals will give him a spot start against the Rockies. They have a weak lineup outside of Denver, so we’ll see how this goes. Jordan Lyles hasn’t looked particularly sharp since returning from the disabled list.

Lewis will face a Braves lineup that can barely hit right-handed pitching. Surprisingly so since they have a handful of guys who typically do well against righties. Despite the poor opponent, Lewis belongs here.

Hitters (power): Chase Headley is a solid play at Camden Yards versus Chris Tillman.

Quiet Seth Smith has a nice matchup with Trevor Cahill.

C.J. Cron has the platoon advantage.

Kennys Vargas has a fun, plural first name.

Hitters (speed): Ender Inciarte can provide empty steals.

Emilio Bonifacio should be cut loose against Lewis.

Drew Stubbs will start against Gonzales.

Mookie Betts is getting snapped up, but he’s a nice play against Jason Vargas.

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.

Baltimore and New York are likely to be interrupted or at least affected by rain. Philadelphia’s start may be delayed, but the weather report suggests the rain will be light and move out after an hour.

The Link. An interesting range of options today.

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