The Daily Grind: Even More Aces?

One Thin Thursday to bring them all and in the darkness bind them. To the Waiver Wars.

AGENDA

1. TDG Invitational
2. Weather Reports
3. Pitchers to Use and Abuse
4. SaberSim Says…
5. The Grace of Yankees
6. Bonus

1. The Daily Grind Invitational

Cubbieblues swung the winning combination of Anthony Rendon, Ryan Braun, and Jesus Aguilar. Two of those players were solo-owned. Congrats. With three contests remaining, four players are vying to finish atop the Leaderboard.

Three more Invitationals remain on FantasyDraft. Join us for the end of 2018.

If you have not signed up for FantasyDraft, please use this referral link for tracking purposes. If I understand properly, by using the referral, you will receive a 10 percent return on any rakes you pay.

2. Weather Reports

Rain continues to cloud the forecast, particularly in Washington D.C. and New York (NL). The Marlins-Nats game isn’t a part of today’s DFS slate. The Braves-Mets contest may get off to a late start. As of now, it looks like it’ll happen.

3. Pitchers to Use and Abuse

Main Slate: Jacob deGrom ($25,900) tops the charts in his final proof of Cy Younginess. Sean Newcomb ($16,000) is almost certain to win. I say that facetiously. Newcomb has evinced extreme inconsistency in recent weeks, bouncing between single digit and upper 20s point totals. The best Mets bats are left-handed which is a modest boon to Newcomb.

Next up is Chris Sale ($21,300). Seeing as he’ll probably pitch no more than five innings, I just can’t see jumping on this particular bandwagon. I’ll be hunting for more specific information about his pitch count throughout the day. I want an excuse to use him against the Orioles. Sadly, the math is unlikely to resolve in a positive way.

German Marquez ($19,600) continues to trounce opponents including four double-digit strikeout totals in his last five starts. The Phillies have a bit of a strikeout problem. Beware, the game is at Coors Field.

Masahiro Tanaka ($18,400) is finishing the season on a high note. He’s done this before. Well… ignore that flop against the Red Sox last week. They’re the Red Sox. These are the Rays which means they are not the Red Sox. The game is at the above-ground basement commonly referred to as Tropicana Field. The Rays finally saw fit to return Yonny Chirinos ($10,400) to the rotation. Honestly, I’m kind of sad. He was consistently throwing five or more innings as the first reliever which gave him access to easy wins. Not that the Yankees offer up many easy victories.

Where have all these aces come from? This is the third straight ace-heavy contest. Anyway, Zack Greinke ($17,800) is solid. He hasn’t turned in a big point total in a while, but we all know it’s in his bag of tricks.

I still maintain that Shane Bieber ($17,200) is a future ace. He should enjoy a meeting with strikeout happy White Sox. I’m not terribly keen about this price. I guess Jace Fry is starting for the White Sox.

Madison Bumgarner ($17,000) isn’t Madison Bumgarner, but he is Madison Bumgarner. If you follow. You don’t follow? How should I say… Even though Bumgarner is no longer an ace, he’s still a keen competitor capable of great feat of lefthandedness. The Padres make for a friendly opponent. I guess it’s Casey Kelly now?

Matt Boyd ($15,500) has driven his slider to victory this season. Look for him to finish strong against the Twins. Andrew Heaney ($15,300) has been all over the place in recent weeks, ranging from negative points to over 40. Jose Quintana ($14,900) is a bland sort of playable versus the Pirates.

Stack Targets: Nick Pivetta, Jimmy Yacabonis, Yohander Mendez, Luis Perdomo, Felix Hernandez, Ivan Nova

Pivetta is homer prone AND visiting Coors Field.

4. SaberSim Says…

The Sim wants Sale, deGrom, Bieber, Heaney, and Jake Odorizzi. Playable bargains include Heaney, Odorizzi, Newcomb, and Bieber. Prime batsmen consist of Mike Trou, Mookie Betts, J.D. Martinez, Charlie Blackmon, and Anthony Rizzo. Value hunters should target Jose Osuna, Daniel Murphy, Nelson Cruz, Rizzo, and Austin Slater.

5. The Grace of Yankees

I once read a fantasy novel called the Grace of Kings. This is the Grace of Yankees.

Yum. Grass.

Scary.

6. Bonus

My twitter buddy Matt Meiselman is back with helpful information about today’s Vegas line movement. Incorporating this information into your DFS picks (or traditional bets) can put you ahead of the masses.