The Daily Grind: 9-8-14 – Presented by FanDuel

Agenda

1. Top Prospects
2. Daily DFS
3. Tuesday Picks
4. Table

1. Top Prospects

Those of you in keeper and dynasty leagues might be thinking about cramming a few top prospects onto your roster. You can visit our revamped prospects page here, which is being expanded considerably by Kiley McDaniel and friends.

Here are a few off-the-beaten-trail guys that I really like for 2015: Steven Souza, Michael Taylor, Daniel Robertson, Andy Wilkins, and Dalton Pompey. I’m not sure if Souza or Taylor will be able to find playing time behind the Nationals trio of solid outfielders. Both prospects can offer five category production in the right opportunity. I’m hoping one or both get traded. Robertson probably won’t be in the picture until mid-season, but he’s a nice hitter for a shortstop. Wilkins and Pompey are getting their shots now. Wilkins has 30 home run power and could bat adjacent to Jose Abreu. Pompey has 40 steal upside with other production to boot.

2.Daily DFS

Yesterday’s Grind

Early: Two games are early, so you DFSers can forget about them.

Late: We’re left with 13 late games.

Minor Minor has pitched well for about a month now. The only reason I mention him now is his matchup with the Nationals. They can put a real sting in lefty pitchers. When Minor is right, he’s unperturbed by the platoon (dis)advantage. Minor appears to be right.

A Jeff Locke versus Kyle Kendrick game sounds like an opportunity for modest production on both sides. Locke has lost his elite walk rate, which is what made him a viable fantasy pitcher. Kendrick’s the poster child for mediocrity.

Jacob Turner has to contend with a tough Blue Jays roster. I’ll be more bullish with my projections for Turner after he’s had more time to assimilate into the Cubs organization. For now, I expect some good starts and some very bad starts.

Great American Bandbox could light up with Shelby Miller opposing Dylan Axelrod. Miller has been a league average pitcher this season (by RA9-WAR), albeit with a negative FIP based WAR. Axelrod is a fly ball pitcher in a scary park for flies.

Rapid Fire: The A’s draw Hector Noesi at U.S. Cellular Field. The Brewers face Brad Penny at Miller Park. The Mariners will see Brad Peacock with Felix Hernandez on the bump.

3. Tuesday Picks

Pitchers to Start: Trevor Bauer should provide decent numbers against the Twins. More importantly, he should earn the win with his fellow Trevor opposing him (see below).

Edinson Volquez is the latest successful reclamation in Pittsburgh. The righty doesn’t have big strikeout numbers, but he’s overwhelmed the opposite with velocity and weak contact. He’ll face the Phillies.

Collin McHugh is kind of like Chris Young (the pitcher) except better. Who woulda thunk it, right? In any case, he’ll see an indifferent Mariners lineup.

Wade Miley and Yusmeiro Petit square off at AT&T Park. Miley has the tougher matchup against Buster Posey and friends. Petit gets both an extremely friendly ballpark and a weak lineup to exploit.

Pitchers to Exploit: Trevor May has a difficult matchup with the lefty-happy Indians at Progressive Field. May has kept his walks under control for three straight starts. Unfortunately, he’s allowed three home runs in his last two starts.

Jason Vargas has slightly outperformed his peripherals, which is not why he’s listed here. That reason can be chalked up to a run-in with the law, aka the Tigers stack of right-handed destroyers.

Anthony Ranaudo still has barely any strikeouts and more walks. His 6.51 FIP tells the entire story of his first four starts. He’ll need to see a spike in whiff rate to become a viable major leaguer. The Orioles make for a tough opponent.

Christian Bergman is probably still exploitable outside of Colorado. He’ll face the Mets.

Colby Lewis draws the short straw. He’ll try to survive an outing against the Angels offense.

As you know, the A’s have a lot of lefty-killers to leverage. John Danks has struggled for much of this season, so those righties look tasty.

Hitters (power): Adam Duvall will probably start against Miley. He’s not a great power play at home.

Hopefully Joc Pederson starts again.

Try Derek Norris, Jonny Gomes, and Nate Freiman.

If you’re in one of the 35 percent of leagues that hasn’t rostered Kole Calhoun, consider him tomorrow.

Kirk Nieuwenhuis seems to bat second now.

Hitters (speed): Robbie Grossman continues to draw recommendations based on his spot in the lineup (leadoff).

Craig Gentry will start against Danks.

Michael Bourn is widely available and leading off.

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.

It looks like we should be rain-free today.

The Link. Uh-oh. The weather ratings are plummeting.

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