The Daily Grind: A Sale on Sale

If you participated in yesterday’s guessing game, the answer was Max Muncy. I’ve made the related post free.

AGENDA

1. TDG Invitational
2. Weather Reports
3. Pitchers to Use and Abuse
4. SaberSim Says…
5. Le Sigh

1. The Daily Grind Invitational

Just when it looked like we might all catch up to mmddyyyy on the leaderboard, he does something silly like finishing first AND second. Francisco Lindor was the hero of the day. Congrats and Leaderboard.

We have a 15-game hootenanny on FantasyDraft tonight. See ya there.

If you have not signed up for FantasyDraft, please use this referral link for tracking purposes. If I understand properly, by using the referral, you will receive a 10 percent return on any rakes you pay.

2. Weather Reports

As of this hour, no venue looks like a postponement risk. However, storms are still hanging around the Baltimore and Atlanta areas. Monitor the situation.

3. Pitchers to Use and Abuse

Main Slate: Four aces are available tonight. For some reason, I’m having trouble buying Stephen Strasburg ($23,100) as the Chief Ace. Talent-wise, I kinda view him as fourth best. I suppose his matchup against Mike Foltynewicz is the softest in terms of expected run support. Not that Folty is a scrub, but the others have much more difficult matchups.

Gerrit Cole ($22,400) and Chris Sale ($21,300) cancel each other out. Those are some mighty potent offenses too. Both pitchers are priced to move. I’m very tempted by the matchup-driven $5,000 discount on Sale. It’s a sale on Sale (I think I’ve found my headline).

Ace #4 is Carlos Carrasco ($20,800). He’ll face the easiest opposing lineup. However, Jose Berrios ($17,800) appears to have put a mini-slump behind him. He’s rolled off three straight ace-quality outings. Carrasco actually has fewer high value outings than Berrios (4-for-11 compared to 7-for-12). If it wasn’t for the Indians potent offense, I’d be all over Berrios tonight.

Nick Pivetta ($19,300) finds himself in a lovely situation at AT&T Park. Although he’s not immune to clunkers, he typically supplies around top tier production when he’s on. The Giants are a tad strikeout prone. They’re a mid-tier offense.

Miles Mikolas ($17,100) has a hugely consistent profile, making him one of my favorite DFS picks. You can count on him to supply over a point per $1,000 invested. However, I much prefer Jameson Taillon tonight for $13,900. He whipped out an impressive slider last week against the Cardinals. Even though it only carried him to a 16 point performance, I think we’re about to see some next level Taillon over the coming months. The breakout arrives.

Commander Tyler Mahle is visiting the Padres. For $14,900, he may record enough strikeouts to make up for his other weaknesses. “Commander” is my new way of saying a guy is a command specialist. You’ve been informed.

Chase Anderson ($12,700) is cheap because his peripherals suck and the White Sox are dangerous (and strikeout prone). There’s just one thing… Anderson’s velocity is back up in the 93 mph range where he lived last year. I’m buying very low.

I can’t be bothered to keep track of the Rays pitchers. Who’s next to relieve Sergio Romo? They may be a huge value, albeit with a low ceiling.

Ian Kennedy ($11,200) is a fly ball pitcher. The Athletics are a very fly ball skewed offense. He could be surprisingly good tonight.

Stack Targets: Rays, Dennis Santana, Elieser Hernandez, Jaime Garcia, Tyler Anderson, Hector Santiago, Blaine Hardy, Andrew Cashner, Clay Buccholz

Poor Dennis Santana. The Collective Bargaining Agreement should include a $100,000 bounty for making your first career start at Coors Field. Santana is a Fringe Five eligible pitcher. After flaming out as a shortstop prospect, he’s combined hugely impressive whiff rates with low walk rates. Like everybody else, he throws mid-90s with his heater. My read is potentially premium multi-inning reliever.

4. SaberSim Says…

Sale, Cole, Carrasco, Mahle, and Strasburg are the top rated pitchers. Well, I indicate some doubt about Strasburg’s top billing on FantasyDraft. I can’t say I expected to see Mahle above him. Mike Leake, Santana, and Crhis Stratton are the top bargains. Batsmen include Charle de Blackmon, Aaron Judge, Mike Trout, Bryce Harper, and Justin Turner. Derek Dietrich, Justin Bour, and Matts Joyce and Olson round out bargainland.

5. Le Sigh

I spent the better part of the week warning people about Felipe Vazquez. The Pirates didn’t get the message, opting to use their injured closer on three consecutive days. Predictably, this happened.