The Daily Grind: A Whole Pile Of Arms

What if, instead of referring to the multitude of playable pitchers, today’s title was about an actual pile of arms. Well, that would be rather macabre.

AGENDA

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

1.The Daily Grind Invitational

Prevalent good pitching and predictably effective hitters led to a clogged contest. Roc-pile won by a margin of 0.25 points. Just 7.3 points separated first and fifth. Fourteenth place – i.e. the first spot that isn’t paid – was only down 25.3 points. Congrats and Leaderboard.

It’s a 14-game slate tonight on FantasyDraft. We’ve had a nice-sized overlay for four consecutive contests. We need to nip that in the bud if we’re to maintain this contest size. So spread the word and get this thing filled. Don’t worry, we’ll have large overlays later in the year.

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

St. Louis has some risk of late rain. The wind is expected to blow out to left field at Wrigley tonight.

3. Pitchers to Use and Abuse

The White Sox, as I’ve pointed out numerous times, are both strikeout prone and rarely walk. Justin Verlander ($22,200) should enjoy carving through them like a competitive eater at an Old Country Buffet.

The second-most expensive arm is Caleb Smith ($20,700). As much as I appreciate his obvious talent, a lack of supporting cast makes it hard to pay these sorts of rates for him. He’s visiting the Tigers in DH-land. Spencer Turnbull ($15,200) offers better value for money, albeit in a less impressive package. Still, he’s a solid bet for a strikeout per inning against the lowly Marlins.

I feel like Zack Greinke’s ($19,900) horrific season debut has overshadowed his general dominance since then. He’s one of the best daily fantasy pitchers because he consistently pitches deep into the game while posting high point totals. The Padres make for a volatile opponent. Speaking of slow starts, Matt Strahm ($15,800) has pitched well since a couple early clunkers.

Domingo German is visiting Baltimore. While he could easily return a profit on $19,500, I’m drawn to other options in this slate. I’m not certain my preferences will extend to others. Basically, I could see him ranging from lightly owned to borderline chalky. He posted a 29.55 point outing against these same Orioles last week.

The Rays offense is merely decent against left-handed pitching. And Clayton Kershaw ($18,600) is no ordinary southpaw. The game is at pitcher friendly Tropicana Field. A win is likely as is sufficient production to support a sub-$20,000 price.

It keeps going… German Marquez is a sea level boss. For $18,000, you too can share his visit PNC Park, the home of the, um… nobody has ever explained to me why there are Pirates in Pittsburgh. Anywho, Marquez has double-digit strikeout potential. The Rockies offense tends to wilt away from its native mountain heights. As such, Chris Archer ($15,300) is also viable.

Julio Teheran ($16,100) is a solid mid-tier play at Oracle Park. It’s a friendly venue against a friendlier opposing offense. Eduardo Rodriguez ($17,200) is similarly solid for his visit to Toronto. Rodriguez has more ceiling than the typical mid-tier guy, but he’s also near the upper end of the “affordable” price range.

Those insisting upon using a bargain arm could try Michael Pineda. He’s opposed by the Los Angeles Angels, a team that doesn’t strike out. They’ll likely be without Andrelton Simmons and Shohei Ohtani tonight. Personally, I recommend using the more expensive arms because they’re also huge values.

Favorite Plays: Verlander, Turnbull, Grienke

Stack Targets: Davis Hess, Dylan Covey, Zach Eflin, Hunter Wood et al, Tommy Milone, Trevor Cahill, Homer Bailey, Michael Wacha, Erick Fedde, Shaun Anderson, Lance Lynn

4. SaberSim Says…

Verlander, Grienke, Smith, Kershaw, and Zack Wheeler are the top rated arms. I skipped Wheeler because he seemed a little costly given the difficulty of his matchup against the Nationals. The Sim disagrees. Its preferred values are Verlander, Sonny Gray, Wacha, Trevor Cahill, and Wheeler.

5. Heroics

This video is nominally about Gary Sanchez hitting a game-winning home run, but I’m more interested in the missed inning-ending popup and Dwight Smith Jr.’s Juan Pierre throw.

Bryce Harper continues to challenge the narrative about his bad defense. J.T. Realmuto’s diving tag was the real hero. Realmuto also hit a game-winning homer.

Realmuto’s heroics were needed because of this play.