The Daily Grind: Anderson, Rodon, Plouffe

Agenda

1. More Program Notes
2. Daily DFS – Anderson
3. Tomorrow’s Targets – Rodon, Chen, Plouffe, Lagares
4. Factor Grid

1. More Program Notes

I am reaching out to you from the distant past of Thursday night. I’ll supposedly be on a plane when I’d usually write, thus today’s Grind is mildly truncated. Also, tomorrow’s column shall be provided by Alex Chamberlain. If you’re curious about his credentials, here he is conjuring up a new xBABIP based on BIS batted ball data. Yeah, I think he’ll do just fine.

2. Daily DFS – Anderson

Yesterday’s Grind

It’s a good day for exploitation. Over a dozen pitchers are viable targets for a stack. One name who jumps to the forefront is lefty Brett Anderson. Usually, I would consider him to be a stream candidate. Today he’ll have to contend with Coors Field. The Rockies have scuffled sufficiently such that at least some DFSers should be ready to abandon ship. I’m happy to see Nolan Arenado and Troy Tulowitzki with the platoon advantage. It’s up to you if and how you use the other pieces. Nick Hundley, D.J. LeMahieu, and Drew Stubbs are among the most notable options.

I just hope you’re comfortable using Yovani Gallardo or Tim Lincecum because you won’t be able to afford anyone better. Watch out for storms.

Stack Targets: Adam Warren, Eric Stults, Wade Miley, Aaron Sanchez, Mike Pelfrey, Jason Marquis, Hector Noesi, Jeremy Hellickson, Jered Weaver, Eddie Butler, Taijuan Walker

3. Tomorrow’s Targets – Rodon, Chen, Plouffe, Lagares

Pitchers to Start: Tomorrow is a solid day for streaming. Carlos Rodon is the most slap-you-in-the-face-here-he-comes of the bunch. His slider is borderline invisible, but I’m not sure how I feel about his two look repertoire. He also throws a fastball, sinker, and he’ll show a change.

Don’t expect Rodon to pitch beyond the fifth inning. It still makes sense to grab him off the wire. If he has a ridiculously good outing, you might be able to immediately sell high.

I actually cut him in a league yesterday (prior to the announcement). I don’t expect him to dominate major league lineups anytime in the near future. I could be wrong, he certainly has the stuff to make me look foolish. He could miss the start if today’s game is rained out.

Also consider: Wei-Yin Chen, Jon Niese, Chase Whitley, Chase Anderson, Matt Shoemaker, J.A. Happ

Pitchers to Exploit: Lefty Bruce Chen is scheduled to return to a major league mound for his 17th season. He skipped 2008. The 38-year-old was doing his thing in Triple-A. As we all know by now, he’s a high contact pitcher. He’s up against a decent Twins offense.

Also consider: Joe Kelly, Drew Hutchison, Ross Detwiler, Kyle Lohse, Travis Wood, Jorge de la Rosa

Hitters (power): Part of that Twins attack is Trevor Plouffe. He hit third for Minnesota when they saw Drew Pomeranz. Expect a similarly prominent role tomorrow. Excluding the Pomeranz matchup, Plouffe is a career .276/.348/.470 hitter against southpaws. It’s not drool worthy, but it’s a nice addition off the waiver wire.

If Plouffe isn’t your cup of tea (or he’s owned), check out the wide range of alternatives.

Also consider: Mark Canha, Cody Ross, Seth Smith, Brandon Crawford, Yonder Alonso, Scott Van Slyke, Alex Guerrero, Justin Turner, Jeff Francoeur, Darin Ruf, Chris Young

Hitters (speed): I hope you need power tomorrow, because the speed well is much less exciting. Juan Lagares is doing his usual thing except with a slightly high BABIP and even less power than normal. He strikes me as a guy who could transform into a poor man’s Michael Brantley (or at least a poor man’s Lorenzo Cain). That’s future ceiling talk, the salient facts for now are as follows: he’s decent, he can steal bases, and he’s opposed by Aaron Harang.

Also consider: Brandon Guyer, Anthony Gose

4. The Factor Grid

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.

I begin my weather analysis in the morning with Baseball Data. I follow up with Weather.com closer to game time. You’re on your own today.

The Link. Most of the best hitter’s parks are in play today, although some of them are storm risks.

This post is not brought to you by any DFS platform. The current author is quite pleased to present a DFS ad free environment.