The Daily Grind: Bartold, Kershanked, Plus a Major Trade

Sorry today’s post is late. There was a surprise discovery (see Section 5).

AGENDA

  1. TDG Invitational
  2. Weather Reports
  3. Pitchers to Use and Abuse
  4. SaberSim Says…
  5. Zombie NotGraphs
  6. Bartold

1. The Daily Grind Invitational

Last Friday, YoSoyFiesta33 spiked Gerrit Cole, Tyson Ross, Eduardo Nunez, and a solo share of Ryan Braun for the win. Congrats and Leaderboard.

We’re sticking with 25 $2 entries on DraftKings. See ya tonight.

PS – New users who deposit with my referral link may get $25 bonus cash. Unfortunately, DraftKings has added some conditions for unlocking the money (they don’t share the specifics with referrers). I also get $25 if you use the link so it’s a potential win-win.

2. Weather Reports

Patriot Day was postponed in Boston. New York could see some passing showers tonight. They should play. It’s nearly freezing in Chicago and Pittsburgh. The other venues are normal-ish.

3. Pitchers to Use and Abuse

Main Slate: We have a 10 game slate this evening. Sadly, the highly valuable Yankees matchup against Caleb Smith is starting a half hour early. No easy homers or Luis Severino shove.

The top pitchers are Jacob deGrom ($11,500) hosting the Nationals and Aaron Nola visiting the Braves ($10,400). The last time Nola faced Atlanta, he was removed before reaching 70 pitches. Since then, he’s been allowed to throw full outings.

Some of you may get indigestion seeing Hyun-Jin Ryu for $9,700. It’s actually par value opposite Robbie Erlin and the Padres. That said, Ryu is never a lock against any opponent. Just last week, I was wondering if he was broken.

Tyler Chatwood’s ($8,500) sinker-ladden approach should work well in the frozen tundra of Chicago. I’m not keen to pay that much for what should be a low strikeout game.

Dallas Keuchel ($9,400) versus James Paxton ($8,000) is the max-value battle. Both starters are capable of a complete game drubbing of their opponent. Obviously, you’ll want to be careful of targeting the Astros, even if they were Bartold yesterday. Keuchel hasn’t been in top form this year.

Others I’m strongly considering include Blake Snell ($7,800), Luis Castillo ($7,300), Jaime Garcia ($7,100), Brent Suter ($6,200), and German Marquez ($6,000).

Stack Targets: Erlin, Jeremy Hellickson, Eric Skoglund, Steven Brault, Daniel Mengden, Julio Teheran, Martin Perez, Adam Wainwright

Hellickson is making his 2018 debut tonight. The luckbox Mets may be a wise play.

4. SaberSim Says…

deGrom, Snell, Ryu, Paxton, and Castillo are the top rated pitchers. No Nola! He’s actually ninth ranked. Erlin, Mengden, Snell, and Suter are notable values. On the batter side, Rhys Hoskins, Ian Happ, Michael Conforto, Yasiel Puig, and Kris Bryant are well-liked. Beware the cold in Chicago. And Puig’s mediocrity (that’s a semi-inside twitter joke). Teoscar Hernandez, Steve Pearce, and Matt Joyce look like value gems.

5. Zombie NotGraphs

#BringBackNotGraphs*

*The previous is in no way sponsored or affiliated with the “Graphs” family of webblogs. And unless it falls under parody law, I’m definitely breaking some sort of copyright or trademark. Shhh.

6. Bartold

The Astros were Bartold. It’s kind of like mansplaining except it involves a specific round guy throwing a round ball.

The Diamondbacks were Kershanked.

Sweet trade bro. (sidebar: DJ LeMahieu has five home runs)





You can follow me on twitter @BaseballATeam

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psychobunny
5 years ago

If notgraphs returns, zombie or alive, I’ll buy a FG site membership.