The Daily Grind: Afternoon Delight

I watched the Phillies and Mets play on Facebook Live yesterday. It was great. No joke.

AGENDA

1. TDG Invitational
2. Weather Reports
3. Pitchers to Use and Abuse
4. SaberSim Says…
5. Sho-Heave-Ho 2

1. The Daily Grind Invitational

Congrats to Niffoc4 for winning the contest and jumping atop the leaderboard. The Jon Gray–Sean Manaea combo was key to victory. DraftKings had server issues yesterday which prevented me from making a last minute swap from Aaron Sanchez to Gray. It wouldn’t have mattered, but it was frustrating to see him perform well after missing out for technical reasons. Anyone else get locked out of a swap?

In order to avoid the tiny three game night contest, let’s play an afternoon game. It starts at 2:05pm ET. $2, 25-entry, on DraftKings.

A programming note: I will be unavailable tomorrow. Hopefully we’ll have a freeroll set up for next Monday. I still have to read a legal document.

PS – New users who deposit with my referral link get $20 bonus cash. I also get $20. It’s a win-win.

2. Weather Reports

It’s kinda cold out. Most of the venues will have sub-50 degree temperatures. Advantage pitcher. Watch out for rain/slush/snow in Chicago.

3. Pitchers to Use and Abuse

Main Slate: Six games are in the afternoon slate. David Price ($12,100) is the head honcho, and he’s price accordingly. While I’m buying Price as the best pitcher available, I’m not necessarily buying at this price. To like Price, you have to assume the Rays bullpen plan isn’t going to work. I think that’s less than certain.

The James Paxton–Kyle Gibson pairing at Target Field promises to be popular. I’m a fan of sub-$7,000 Gibson shares. For $8,700, I’m just a tad wary. He’s pitched well since his late-2017 adjustment, including all spring and Opening Day. I’m still considering a Mariners stack. Paxton ($9,600) flopped in his 2018 debut. His command was off. The velocity was fine.

Oh my. It’s bad. So bad. Tyler Anderson – he of the negative 8.2 point 2018 debut – looks like the next best option. He’s price accordingly versus the Padres at $7,900. He’ll be working at Petco Park. I know others see hope for Joey Lucchesi, but I’m out.

Daniel Mengden was a tough luck loser last week. He has the potential to supply acceptably pedestrian numbers. For $6,600, I’m aiming at a 15 point performance. You could also throw a dart at Nick Pivetta or Martin Perez.

Stack Targets: Yonny Chirinos, Lucchesi, Caleb Smith, Anderson, Gibson, Pivetta, Jordan Zimmermann, Mengden, Perez, James Shields

I don’t know that I’m explicitly targeting Chirinos, but we do know he won’t have a chance at a win. The Rays bullpen isn’t particularly good. You’ll notice there’s quite a lot of overlap between the stack targets and recommended pitchers. It’s that kind of slate.

Late Slate: The tiny three game late crew is led by Robbie Ray ($11,700). Even at this price, he’s basically a must-play opposite the shambling corpse of Adam Wainwright. It might be hard (and too popular) to roster Ray and Jon Lester ($10,600). Personally, I like Brent Suter and Steven Brault as alternatives.

Stack Targets: Lester, Waino, Homer Bailey, Suter, Brault

Anybody but Ray. Hell, stack against Ray too, at least it’ll be the least popular stack.

4. SaberSim Says…

SaberSim wasn’t broken! My subscription expired. Anyway, now it’s actually not working. Which is funny because it was fine 30 minutes ago. I’ll check again in an hour and update accordingly.

5. Sho-Heave-Ho 2

People are starting to notice Shohei Ohtani’s batting mechanics. There’s quite a bit of Bryce Harper in there.

Hard contact.

Check out the second catch (1:02 in). That sort of nonchalance won’t play here.