The Daily Grind: Batting Around

Some days, I have things to say above the fold. Some days, I don’t. Guess what kind day this is?

AGENDA

1. Batting Around
2. Weather Reports
3. Pitchers to Use and Abuse
4. SaberSim Says…
5. TDG Invitational Returns!

1. Batting Around

Baseball twitter recent debated whether “batting around” meant sending nine or 10 hitters to the plate in one inning. We won’t waste time debating such here. Well…

It does seem there’s a correct answer. The accepted meaning over the last hundred thousand years is that all nine hitters had a plate appearance. The argument for 10 hitters revolves around english semantics. But here’s the thing, even if “around” implies the first batter hit twice, the phrase “batting around” is jargon. The rules of english are irrelevant. In the language of baseball, batting around means nine batters. Case closed. Don’t @ me.

Because I’m curious how many of you are wrong, a poll:

How many hitters are required to “bat around”

— Brad Johnson (@BaseballATeam) September 13, 2017

2. Weather Reports

The weather should be fine. A couple venues could see passing sprinkles. Check again closer to game time.

3. Pitchers to Use and Abuse

Main Slate: Twelve of 15 games will be played this evening. Max Scherzer is the king of the action versus the Braves offense. Who wants to bet on them supplying firepower two nights in a row? Not me. Scherzer’s last two outings have been uninspiring. He’s battled some minor injuries lately – most recently a strained calf.

Can you believe Ervin Santana is the second most expensive pitcher on a day that include Yu Darvish, Jon Lester, Aaron Nola, Lance McCullers, and Marcus Stroman? Santana has been a steady contributor, and he leads the league in complete games. More importantly, he’s opposed by the Padres – a team that just rolled over for Kyle Gibson.

I expect owners to be wary of Darvish this evening. Despite his recent slump, his peripherals say he’ll probably be alright going forward. A visit to AT&T Park and the Giants crumbling lineup should help.

Speaking of crumbling lineups, Lester is hosting the Mets. He’ll usually supply 20 DK points.

Dan Straily at Nola gives us two interesting choices in the upper-mid price range ($8,600 and $9,100 respectively). Both pitchers often throw six innings with about a strikeout per inning. They just need to avoid Rhys Hoskins and Giancarlo Stanton.

Doug Fister is running hot. He has four straight starts of seven or more innings. He also has nice matchup against a highly inconsistent Athletics offense.

Kevin Gausman is visiting Stroman. Gausman has been mixing complete duds with gems. Definitely a risky pick. Stroman is far more consistent, and he’ll occasionally work deep into an outing.

Plenty of alternatives are available today. Dinelson Lamet, Chase Anderson, McCullers, Pat Corbin, Mike Leake, german Marquez, and Tyler Glasnow all offer value at their prices.

Stack Targets: Luiz Gohara, Matt Harvey, Jharel Cotton, Martin Perez, Tyler Skaggs, Jack Flaherty, Matt Moore

4. SaberSim Says…

Scherzer, Lester, Darvish, Stroman, and Nola are the preferred arms this evening. Looks like a fine list to me. Stanton, Mike Trout, Nelson Cruz, Kris Bryant, and Starling Marte are the top rated bats. Values include Matt Chapman, Tyler Naquin, Marte, and Hanley Ramirez.

5. The Daily Grind Invitational

Congrats to travisbecker. Corey Kluber, Eduardo Rodriguez, Freddie Freeman, and Ozzie Albies combined for 129.15 of his 184.15 points. Pretty heroic to select a semi-injured Freeman against a lefty – good going. Leaderboard.

We’ll be sticking to DraftKings for the rest of the season. We’ll do 15 entrants tonight.