The Daily Grind: Definitive Proof of the Most Exciting Player

It’s a gross weather day. More on that below the fold.

AGENDA

1. The Most Exciting Player
2. Weather Reports
3. Pitchers to Use and Abuse
4. Hitters to Use
5. SaberSim Says…
6. TDG Invitational Returns!

1. The Most Exciting Player

No player can hold my attention like Billy Hamilton. When I watch baseball, I’m usually also watching three other games, reading, tweeting, or at least playing with the dog. But when Hamilton reaches base, I drop everything to pay attention. Here he is scoring a winning run from first base on a single.

Granted, Brantley made it easy for Hamilton to coast to the plate by losing track of the ball. Only a clean catch could have stopped him.

2. Weather Reports

The Reds-Indians game looks like a lock for postponement. Fortunately, it’s not included in either slate. The Nationals game has increasing risk of storms throughout the day. They might not finish. Philly has spotty storms all day. New York has early rain followed by a lull and then more rain. The Yankees game might get a late start, and the Mets game may finish early. Boston also has some rain in the forecast. It’s a real mess today.

3. Pitchers to Use and Abuse

Exacerbating the weather issues is a 12 game, split slate. Six games are early and five are late. Of the weather affected venues, three are early and two are late. So, it’s 3×3 for dry games.

Early Slate: Jeff Samardzija has replaced his cutters with sliders. The results speak for themselves – 10.48 K/9, 1.48 BB/9, 4.57 ERA (2.89 FIP), and an average of nearly seven innings per start. It’s nice to have a DFS workhorse. The wind is currently blowing left to right at Wrigley which serves to limit power numbers.

If you don’t have a taste for Samardijon mustard, most of your alternatives are threatened by rain and truncated outings. One dry alternative is Matt Andriese. He tends to have some difficulty when facing hitters a third or fourth time. Andriese could be a high quality multi-inning reliever instead of a mediocre starter.

I wish Eddie Butler was correctly priced. He should cost $5,600 rather than $7,600. He has a path to decent value via a barrage of ground balls.

Stack Targets: Butler, Daniel Wright, Bartolo Colon, Ariel Miranda, Vince Velasquez, Miguel Almonte

Evening Slate: The night crew has several interesting arms. Jacob deGrom would be a must-use pick if not for the blister on his middle finger. The hope is that it’s a non-issue. For $11,000, you don’t want to find out that he’s done after three frames.

Justin Verlander isn’t matching his 2016 success. His DFS numbers still rank among the best. As we know, he has the ability to fire a complete game against any opponent. The Astros are a tough assignment.

Robbie Ray versus the Brewers is the ultimate risk and reward. The upside is something like seven innings and 14 strikeouts. The downside include a handful of runs in four innings.

Drew Pomeranz is getting the strikeouts, but he’s really struggling to throw five innings. If today’s the day it clicks, he could compete for top arm.

Stack Targets: Dinelson Lamet, Nick Martinez, Mike Fiers, Zach Davies

4. Hitters to Use

Yasmani Grandal is quietly having a superb season. It’s not noticeable because he only has five home runs. Last season, he hit 27 home runs and 14 doubles. This year, the split is five homers and 13 doubles. Who wants to bet those doubles start flying over the wall in the form of multi-homer games. Michael Wacha and the Cardinals bullpen aren’t pushovers, but they do make mistakes.

A DBacks stack with the big guns – Paul Goldschmidt and Jake Lamb – seems to be in order versus a struggling Davies. At tiny Miller Park!

Kris Bryant doesn’t give a crap about any crosswinds. Samardzija may regret throwing strikes. Anthony Rizzo has hit about a thousand home runs since Monday. I know this because I’m opposite him in H2H.

Speaking of big guns, Mike Trout is the true BFG.

5. SaberSim Says…

deGrom, Velasquez, Ray, Tyler Anderson, and Verlander are the favorites today. I vehemently disagree with Velasquez. For now, he’s broken. He publicly asked to be moved to the bullpen. The Phillies said “nah, bro.”

6. The Daily Grind Invitational

Mhindy first appeared on the leaderboard a few days ago and already has two wins and a second place finish. This time, Chris Sale, Erasmo Ramirez, and the Pirates I didn’t roster (i.e. Jordy Mercer and Adam Frazier) provided the juice.

We’re on FanDuel today. After much hemming and hawing, I’ve opted to make it the early slate.