The Daily Grind: Doubleheader Days

The Twins and White Sox have a doubleheader today. The Marlins and Phillies are playing two tomorrow. Doubleheaders are risky sources of uncommonly used players – especially since lineups aren’t usually posted for the start of contests.

AGENDA

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

1. Wild Wins

I don’t often get a chance to talk about closers in this column. I’ve been warning about Roberto Osuna on other sites. Early in the season, he averaged 94 to 97 mph with his heater. Since mid-July, he’s sitting in the 92 to 94 mph range. It’s a red flag. So too are performances like this one.

Interestingly, Osuna has just 1.20 BB/9. The free passes he issued yesterday were of the swinging variety.

2. Weather Reports

The second half of the Twins-White Sox doubleheader appears to be in jeopardy. Keep an eye on Pittsburgh and Baltimore too. They have a lesser risk of storms.

3. Pitchers to Use and Abuse

Main Slate: We have eight games on the docket this evening. Alex Wood is the top performer, although he should no longer be viewed as the ace he was earlier in the season. Wood now looks like the version we knew before this campaign. He can keep opposing lineups uncomfortable due to a funky delivery, but he’s also not immune to clunkers. He’s visiting PNC Park tonight.

Opposite Wood, you’ll find Gerrit Cole. The talented righty is having an inconsistent season, bouncing between gems and duds. He’s yet to exceed 52 points on FanDuel – 60 points is the bar for excellence. In a deeper slate, I’d prefer a pitcher with a higher ceiling. Since we’re effectively working with seven games tonight, Cole is a solid contrarian pick. Beware the Dodgers lineup.

I might choose to opt out of PNC Park in favor of Cole Hamels at Angels Stadium. Hamels is a reliable high floor, medium ceiling arm. And he costs only $8,600 for a friendly matchup. Tyler Skaggs is on the other end of the action. The Rangers have a bottom-10 offense versus left-handed pitching. Too many of their boppers are prone to southpaws.

For $7,500, you can roster Zach Davies for what should be an easy win against Chris Stratton. The game is at AT&T Park. Davies generally works in the 25 to 35 point range which is right on par with his price tag. There’s some upside and downside to this matchup. Davies can get a little hittable at times. Stratton is an interesting contrarian pick tonight. Since AT&T Park suppresses home runs, it limits the Brewers biggest upside. Stratton has a strong swinging strike rate too.

Stack Targets: Andrew Albers, Dillon Gee, Chris Smith, Stratton, Robert Gsellman, Wade Miley

4. SaberSim Says…

Skaggs, Cole, Stratton, Wood, and Miley are the top listed pitchers. I’ll say this, today’s projections don’t pass my smell test. Let’s leave it at that. Oakland should crush Miley. On the hitting front, Mike Trout, Paul Goldschmidt, Manny Machado, J.D. Martinez, and Edwin Encarnacion are the preferred sluggers du jour. Bargains include Matt Kamp, Cameron Maybin, and Rajai Davis.

5. The Daily Grind Invitational

A last minute scratch of Max Scherzer really hurt four of us last Friday. I know my roster was a typical Scherzer outing away from third place. Bigwig500 rode Manny Machado’s ridiculous 70.1 points to victory. Congrats and leaderboard.

It’s a FanDuel day. A reminder, we’re doing 15 user contests for the rest of the season. Let’s keep ’em filled.