The Daily Grind: DFS, Streaming, and More for June 28

Agenda

1. The Tuesday Chat
2. The Daily Grind Invitational and Leaderboard
3. Daily DFS
4. SaberSim Observations
5. Tomorrow’s Targets
6. Factor Grid

1. The Tuesday Chat

Today’s chat will be delayed to 2:30pm ET (possibly later). Come at me with your fantasy, DFS, dynasty, and general life questions. As a reminder to my TDG insiders, I rarely select “rank these” lists. I recommend asking your question in another way. Or, if you’re a fan of ranked lists, try a non-baseball subject.

2. The Daily Grind Invitational and Leaderboard

Yesterday was crazy. I came in 15th with 150 points. That’s usually up around fourth place in our little contests. Despite using Jake Arrieta, he managed to build a ridiculously productive offense with Kris Bryant, Logan Forsythe, and Carlos Gonzalez. My own four-man Cubs stack was outscored by Bryant alone. Not just outscored, but outscored by nearly a factor of three.  The leaderboard is updated.

We’ll meander over to DraftKings for today’s contest. See ya there.

3. Daily DFS 

Yesterday’s Grind

Try one of these aces three: Jon Lester (at CIN), Corey Kluber (at ATL), or Zack Greinke (vs. PHI). Of the trio, Lester obviously has the toughest matchup. Mostly, it’s the park that makes him risky. The other two figure to be masterful. Kluber’s opposite Matt Wisler while Greinke will host Jerad Eickhoff.

I usually avoid most pitchers at U.S. Cellular Field. Jose Quintana is one of the exceptions. He has a high ceiling matchup versus Kyle Gibson and the Twins. Seven plus innings and double-digit strikeouts are possible.

Frankly, I won’t be going any deeper, the beautiful matchups for the aces and Quintana are too enticing. Viable deeper options include Matt Harvey at Lucas Giolito, Julio Urias at Chase Anderson, and CC Sabathia hosting the Rangers.

Stack Targets: Eddie Butler, Erik Johnson, Mike Pelfrey, Kyle Gibson, John Lamb, Scott Feldman, Kendall Graveman, Ubaldo Jimenez, Jon Niese, Tim Lincecum, Albert Suarez, J.A. Happ, Jerad Eickhoff

4. SaberSim Observations

SaberSim is mostly on board with my thoughts. Kluber, Greinke, Hisashi Iwakuma, Lester, and Quintana top the charts. Iwakuma is a fine option for 50/50s, but I don’t like his low ceiling for GPPs. I’m a GPP player so that’s what I prioritize when making recommendations.

Rick Porcello (Rays) and Ubaldo Jimenez (Padres) are also rated highly. Both are facing exploitable offenses. The Padres are tied with the Braves with the worst production versus right-handed pitching. The Rays are merely below average against righties, but they’re also cold as a team.

There’s a Coors game out there. To be honest, I think I’ve used fewer than 10 hitters at Coors this year. Probably eight Charlie Blackmon‘s and two Trevor Story’s. And that’s not what’s been hurting me in the win column. Cubs, Tigers, and Dodgers round out the top stacks.

5. Tomorrow’s Targets 

Pitchers to Start: Celebrated pokemon trainer Brock Stewart will make his major league debut against the Brewers. Miller Park is not an ideal environment for a new pitcher. As a baseball player, Stewart is wildly uncelebrated – he never even appeared in the Fringe Five. Baseball America is in love. The profile includes a strikeout per inning with a low walk rate, 96 mph fastball, and above average slider. It all reads like a late innings reliever to me.

Also consider: Archie Bradley, Junior Guerra, Jake Peavy

Pitchers to Exploit: Basically every pitcher not named above is an exploit candidate. It’s truly a ridiculous day. I’ll highlight Steven Matz who appears in this section due to bone spurs in his elbow. Most pitchers have bone spurs – they’re thought to be a result from throwing while growing. In some cases, the spurs become very painful and affect a pitcher’s performance. Such appears to be the case with Matz.

Also consider: Matt Moore, Cody Reed, Daniel Norris, Wei-Yin Chen, Aaron Sanchez, Tyler Anderson, Jered Weaver, Yovani Gallardo, Christian Friedrich, Zach Eflin, Nick Martinez, Ricky Nolasco, James Shields, Edinson Volquez, Sean Manaea, Wade Miley, Jameson Taillon

Hitters (power): Remember when you were all in a tizzy over Junior Lake? Well he’s back in the majors. He (probably) starts when the Jays face a lefty as they do tomorrow. He wasn’t particularly good at Triple-A with a .244/.328/.387 line, six home runs, and nine stolen bases. Shockingly, he’s still just 26 years old. In any case, I’m only recommending him because the game is at Coors Field.

Also consider: Sean Rodriguez, David Freese, Seth Smith, Adam Lind, Mac Williamson, Josh Reddick, Chase Utley, Max Kepler, Joe Mauer, Robbie Grossman, Nolan Reimold, Jon Jay, Ryan Schempf

Hitters (speed): Joey Rickard is batting .310/.355/.507 versus left-handed pitching with a sharp decline in strikeout rate. Unfortunately, he’s not actually comfortable running with lefties on the bump.

Also consider: Angel Pagan, Michael Taylor

6. 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.

The Link.

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