The Daily Grind: 9-3-14 – Presented by FanDuel

Agenda

1. Will The Youngsters Play
2. Daily DFS
3. Thin Thursday
4. Table

1. Will The Youngsters Play?

A good question asked by Eno. Historically, the answer is “not really.” What’s worse, I had to equivocate slightly because they will take some playing time from other useful pieces.

There were a couple August promotions who may see a little more action than the guys highlighted by Sir Sarris.

2. Daily DFS

Yesterday’s Grind

Early: We have five games early. With the way it’s set up, we’re liable to only have rosters from two games before contests lock. That makes DraftKings a little more desirable for this particular contest (you can sub up to the start of the game). Sorry sponsors, I still like you more overall.

David Buchanan hasn’t been spanked the way I expected. As a mediocre starter facing an Atlanta lineup with some thump, it could happen. Justin Upton is probably out tonight with an elbow contusion.

Carlos Frias aka “The Sponge” will make his first major league start after eight relief appearances. Even if he’s stretched out enough to go deep, his minor league number do not evince hope for a successful outing.

Christian Bergman is pitching in Colorado. So is Ryan Vogelsong. Just as there’s always money in the banana stand, so too is there always money in Coors Field.

Late: Math implies that if five games are early, 10 are late.

I think I’ll write a series of stories loosely based on baseball and sabermetrics. The first – Anthony Ranaudo and the Terrifying Peripherals. He needs to double his strikeout rate and halve his walk rate. That would be a start. Luckily, he’ll face a mediocre Yankees lineup.

Dylan Axelrod probably is not a 1.64 ERA pitcher with a massive strikeout rate. Our projection systems call for a mid-4’s ERA, which seems generous to me. He’s pitching at another homer prone stadium.

Nick Tepesch hasn’t reliably provided DFS gold, but he melts down with some frequency. The Rangers bullpen is terrible, so you still have a chance to cash even if the Royals stack scuffles against Tepesch.

You simply must target Trevor May. It’s all the rage. John Danks is also pitching in this one. Target Field destroys lefty power, but righties do OK.

3. Thin Thursday

With eight games, it’s a true Thin Thursday.

Pitchers to Start: Jake Odorizzi is the guy for tomorrow. He’ll face a challenging Blue Jays offense. I’m excited about Odorizzi’s breakout, which I expect to continue into next season barring injury. While I worry about the Jays offense, Tropicana Field should partially neutralize them.

Michael Wacha is back. He’s only available in 18 percent of Yahoo leagues. I just figured I’d mention him.

Pitchers to Exploit: Brandon Workman versus Chris Capuano at Yankee Stadium could potentially go sideways.

The Rangers throw TBA. That can’t be good. Unless you’re with the Mariners.

Trevor Bauer is generally in the space between use and exploit. I worry about a matchup with the Tigers though.

Similarly, Kyle Gibson has to take on a very potent Angels lineup. They’re a little more top heavy than the Tigers.

Hitters (power): Mike Napoli has surfaced in a couple leagues of mine. I picked up a streamed home run the other day. Take another shot tomorrow.

Maybe it’s the kind of day to try Brian McCann, Stephen Drew, or Chase Headley.

Trevor Plouffe has the platoon advantage against Hector Santiago.

Hitters (speed): Mookie Betts is a solid speed play.

As I’ve been saying David Peralta and Ender Inciarte could be used if you really need steals. Peralta is a lot more palatable.

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.

The Twins might see a few scattered storms.

The Link. A pure 10 rating at Coors Field looks mighty tasty.

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