The Daily Grind: DFS, Streaming, and More for June 6

Agenda

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

1. Sabermetrics Day

Epic fantasy writer Steven Erickson often refers to convergence – when the clash between two or more powerful beings draws even more powerful beings. In two weeks time, there will be a convergence in New York City – specifically on Staten Island – specifically at the home stadium of the Staten Island Yankees. Said convergence will occur on June 19 and will be henceforth referred to as Sabermetrics Day. It should go without saying that Sabermetrics Day supersedes all other holidays celebrated on a June 19.

It is my understanding that tickets to Sabermetrics Day remain available. There’s talk of a picnic which will undoubtedly include plain, overworked hamburger discs, mysteriously sweaty looking hot dogs, and at least three types of Heinz condiment. Now that’s how you sell a picnic! Of greater interest may be the aforementioned convergence whence the great sabermetric minds of our times will clash for preeminence.

Because this is a Monday morning and also because I’m lazy in general, I’ll let Carson tell you more information like how to buy tickets.

2. The Daily Grind Invitational and Leaderboard

Yancyeaton won Saturday’s TDG Invite. We fell two short of filling it so he’ll have to subside on pride. We’ll do FanDuel again today then head back to DraftKings tomorrow. See ya there.

3. Daily DFS 

All 10 games are in the main slate. Jon Lester is awfully attractive versus the invisible Phillies lineup. Lester is coming off a complete game victory against the Dodgers. Meanwhile, the Phillies have outscored the league-worst Braves by only 10 runs.

The other options all come with risk and reward. Masahiro Tanaka is tempting opposite the L.A. Trout. Tanaka is capable of tossing seven innings with a decent strikeout rate. He’s only really had one strong outing all season (May 5 against the Orioles) which is a bit of a red flag for me. Especially since he’s the second more expensive pitcher.

I would like Steven Matz at PNC Park, but the Pirates are so lefty mashful. To be fair, he’s the same price as Tanaka on FanDuel, and I’d take Matz every time. Well, unless I decide everybody else will pick Matz too.

Do note, the Yankees offense is bad. Tanaka may not receive much run support against a suddenly resurgent Matt Shoemaker. I’m not fully on the bandwagon, but I’ve started to walk next to it. He has 31 strikeouts over his last three starts (22.2 innings). The chief concern is his homer prone nature. We all know what Yankee Stadium is like for homers.

I like to point out that Christian Friedrich is kind of terrible. More terrible than the Braves offense? Probably not. Friedrich is the cheapest pitcher on FanDuel. He’s opposed by more terrible Williams Perez.

Stack Targets: Friedrich, Perez, Mike Wright, Mike Bolsinger, Adam Morgan, Robbie Ray, Danny Duffy, James Paxton, Jon Niese, Mike Fiers, Colby Lewis, Trevor Bauer, Tyler Chatwood, J.A. Happ, Michael Fulmer

4. SaberSim Observations

The Sim likes Lester and Chris Archer about equally. I like the Diamondbacks offense. I’m worried enough about Archer to pass. Bolsinger at third best is a head scratcher. He’s generally a five inning guy. Tanaka and Matz round out the top five.

There are many good stacks at our disposal, headlined by the Cubs. The Astros, Tigers, Orioles, Blue Jays, Mariners, and Rays round out the top tier.

5. Tomorrow’s Targets 

Pitchers to Start: Zach Davies has accomplished the following in his last four starts – a 2.84 ERA (2.81 xFIP, 4.03 FIP), 8.53 K/9, 0.71 BB/9. Last week, he shut out the Cardinals for eight innings. While I’m never thrilled to use Davies, I won’t deny that those peripherals are useful. The Athletics have a mediocre offense. I could see getting a quality start and six punch outs tomorrow.

Also consider:  Adam Conley, Julio Urias

Pitchers to Exploit: I kind of like Matt Boyd, but he’s extremely homer prone. I’ll take a pass opposite the Blue Jays. If any of their lefty mashers are available (i.e. Russell Martin), now is the time to act.

Also consider: Juan Nicasio, Ubaldo Jimenez, Yordano Ventura, Michael Pineda, John Lamb, Mike Leake, Dallas Keuchel, Mat Latos, Sean Manaea, Pat Dean, Matt Moore, Wade Miley, Eddie Butler, Aaron Blair, Colin Rea, Anthony Suarez

Hitters (power): The Dodgers have committed to Trayce Thompson through the DFA’s of Carl Crawford and Alex Guerrero. Thompson bats fifth most days. He’s posted a luck neutral-ish .279/.362/.566 line over 138 plate appearances. His nine home runs are the only fluky-looking part of his profile. I anticipate somewhere around a 120 wRC+ over the rest of the season. In terms of fantasy value, he reminds me of a better hitting version of Gerardo Parra. Physically, the comp doesn’t hold up.

Also consider: Jon Jay, Yangervis Solarte, Brett Wallace, Mark Reynolds, Ryan Raburn, Chase Utley, Mike Napoli, Rickie Weeks, Brandon Drury, Robbie Grossman, Aaron Hill, Tommy La Stella, John Jaso

Hitters (speed): If the world were just, Ender Inciarte would be the premier power hitter in baseball. Instead, he’s an empty average stolen base threat. He’s yet to really shake off the rust from his early season injury. If/when it happens he’ll be a regular stolen base threat. How else will the Braves score runs?

Also consider: Mallex Smith, Rajai Davis

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.

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