The Daily Grind: DFS, Streaming, and More for May 13

Agenda

1. Obligatory Advertisement
2. The Daily Grind Invitational and Leaderboard
3. Daily DFS
4. SaberSim Observations
5. Tomorrow’s Targets

1. Obligatory Advertisement

Join Dylan Higgins and me at 11:00am for The Field of Streams live video podcast. Emphasis on live. Two weeks ago, I shaved my beard. This week I have something beginning to resemble a beard. This answers the question everybody wants to know – how long does it take to grow a beard? We’ll also answer DFS questions, and there’s a chat option for you to interact with the show. Sir Higgins should have posted/will post a link on RotoGraphs.

2. The Daily Grind Invitational and Leaderboard

Big congrats to CuseJF06 who put up a GPP worthy 214.75 points last night. That might be a record. Clayton Kershaw, Matt Holliday, and Odubel Herrera provided half the firepower. The leaderboard is updated.

Despite a complaint yesterday, we’re back on DraftKings for a 30 user contest tonight. There are two reasons why DK is getting played more than FanDuel.

1. It supports more than 20 users in a league.
2. I’m up $150 bucks on DK and down $175 on FanDuel (I can’t buy a win)

If you’re new to DraftKings, they’re offering $25 of free tickets if you use a referral link. That’s better than their stupid deposit matches because you don’t have to spend $2,500 on the site to activate your free $25. There are also some nice beginner-only games for you to clean up.

3. Daily DFS 

Yesterday’s Grind

Early: The Pirates and Cubs are playing all by themselves in the afternoon. Francisco Liriano and Jason Hammel should be fun to watch, but it’s not DFS relevant.

Late: The other 14 games are late. Its uncommon for such a deep slate to include so few high value matchups. Chris Sale is the daily ace. On FanDuel, he costs $2,400 more than the next priciest pitcher. You better feel strongly about some of you bargain picks. I’d like him more if he wasn’t visiting Yankee Stadium.

Edinson Volquez is infuriatingly inconsistent. He’s the heartburn pick tonight against the Gwinnett Braves. He should earn an easy victory while tossing seven stress free innings. Anything less is just embarrassing for him. However, this is Volquez we’re talking about – there will be some angina-inducing moments.

I would be on the Nate Karns bandwagon if he didn’t cost $8,500 on FanDuel. That’s too much for a $7,000-quality pitcher with a good matchup. Jake Odorizzi is appropriately priced for a game against the Athletics.

Stack Targets: Brandon Finnegan, Tom Koehler, Ricky Nolasco, Jon Gray, Matt Harvey, Andrew Cashner, Martin Perez, Shelby Miller, R.A. Dickey, Luis Severino, Julio Teheran, Justin Verlander, Chris Tillman, Josh Tomlin

4. SaberSim Observations

We have some interesting results today. I wanted to recommend Jeremy Hellickson and Junior Guerra as risky GPP picks. SaberSim ranks them third and fourth tonight. Of course, Sale is the top dog with Rich Hill filling the second seat. Hill’s start should be interesting – a spicy lefty versus a lefty-mashing lineup. Luis Severino and Josh Tomlin are also well liked by the projections.

The Brewers are going to wreck Cashner says SaberSim. It’s not entirely clear that Cashner will actually start today. ESPN thinks he’s pitching tomorrow. Other sources say today. He may be skipped entirely. Alternative stacks include the Coors game, Orioles, and Blue Jays.

5. Tomorrow’s Targets 

Pitchers to Start: I hope you’re not desperate for wins or strikeouts heading into the weekend. Dillon Gee is making his first start of the season. He might be able to throw around five innings against the Braves. If he does, he’s likely to earn a win. Perhaps you’ve heard – the Braves are bad.

Also consider: Tanner Roark

Pitchers to Exploit: Once a top prospect, A.J. Cole is in a multi-year decline. Whenever I’ve seen him, his command is roughly as good as Carlos Marmol (only slight hyperbole). He has a history of good walk rates despite an inability to hit spots. However, Triple-A hasn’t been kind to him this year – 5.47 ERA, 7.52 K/9, 4.44 BB/9. He’ll get a spot start in tomorrow’s doubleheader against the Marlins.

Also consider: Collin McHugh, Clay Buchholz, Justin Nicolino, Jeff Locke, Kendall Graveman, Anibal Sanchez, Mike Wright, Tim Adleman, Wily Peralta, Mike Foltynewicz, Colby Lewis, Logan Verritt, Eddie Butler, Jake Peavy, Jhoulys Chacin, Scott Kazmir

Hitters (power): Scooter Gennett is back from the disabled list. And for those of you who don’t like seeing a lo-power bat in the power section, tough luck. I’ve partially bought into his BSOHL story. I expect another 12 home runs over the rest of the season. Even when he’s not hitting homers, he’s a useful stream starter.

Also consider: Seth Smith, Adam Lind, Jarrett Parker, Jake Lamb, Ben Paulsen, Asdrubal Cabrera, Brett Wallace, Derek Dietrich, Ryan Howard, Pedro Alvarez

Hitters (speed): Michael Taylor should be involved in some portion of tomorrow’s doubleheader. Jacob Realmuto can be hard to steal on though.

Also consider: Jarrod Dyson, Jonathan Villar, Cesar Hernandez, Anthony Gose, Joey Rickard, Aaron Hicks