The Daily Grind: Everyday Hustle

Gonna have to hustle with today’s post.

AGENDA

1. TDG Invitational
2. Weather Reports
3. Pitchers to Use and Abuse
4. SaberSim Says…
5. Hustlin’

1.The Daily Grind Invitational

My bold plans for a deep Dodgers stack with Jesse Chavez went horribly awry. Luckily, iamlee13 didn’t fall for the trap. He nabbed a double-dong from Trey Mancini plus fiery performances from Mike Clevinger, Whit Merrifield, and Jarrod Dyson. Incidentally, we all left a LOT of points on the table. For example, the winner of the $5 Blast had 240.95 points. Mr. Lee notched 162.95. Congrats and Leaderboard.

It’s an eight-game Thin Thursday slate on FantasyDraft.

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

All clear.

3. Pitchers to Use and Abuse

Trevor Bauer ($21,300) is correctly the top priced pitcher in the slate. The Tigers offense will probably roll over for him. He faced Detroit in consecutive outings back in June, posting point totals of 42.85 followed by 2.40. No typos, I promise. He’s opposed by Matthew Boyd ($18,400) with his crazy 12.00 K/9. Boyd is hard contact and homer prone which is why his run prevention doesn’t quite match his elite strikeout ability.

I didn’t want Domingo German ($20,700) or Yonny Chirinos ($17,100) yesterday, and I still don’t want them today. They’re overpriced for a game at Yankee Stadium.

Stephen Strasburg is very likely to earn the win bonus against the Braves tonight. They are, however, a rather challenging matchup. His $20,600 is a tad aggressive. He’s still usable.

Noah Syndergaard ($18,000) is visiting a terrible Giants offense that has scored the most runs in baseball over the last 30 days. Anything can happen in baseball. Trust me, this is still a bottom-five offense. Thor should have a lovely time at Oracle Park. Madison Bumgarner ($18,100) should be equally comfortable against a tepid Mets lineup. MadBum appears to be in vintage form these days.

Wade Miley ($16,300) has an easy win bonus ahead of him, but he’s still overpriced. Tanner Roark ($14,900) is a risky pick at GABP. He’s extremely prone to left-handed hitters. While the Cardinals will start around four lefty/switch-hitters, most of them are pretty unexceptional. Merrill Kelly ($12,200) is cheap enough to work as a bargain play, even with a bad matchup against the Brewers. Ditto Zach Davies ($10,100) except it’s not a scary pairing. Dakota Hudson ($11,300) also offers a reasonable combination of risk and reward.

Favorite Plays: Bauer, Bumgarner, Thor, Roark, Davies

Stack Targets: Kyle Wright, Matt Harvey, Hudson, Kelly

Written by me elsewhere: “The Dark Knight must have pulled his Batman suit out of a dumpster fire. He’s hot trash this season.”

4. SaberSim Says…

Bauer, Bumgarner, Strasburg, Thor, and Boyd are the top rated pitchers of the slate. Bauer, Roark, Davies, Bumgarner, and Syndergaard are the preferred bargains. I know I said I liked Roark, but this seems a bit high.

Christian Yelich, Yordan Alvarez (minor knee injury), Mike Trout, Matt Olson, and George Springer are the premo-bats. Yes, Astros shall be VERY popular this evening. Khris Davis, Joey Votto, Ryan Zimmerman, Jesse Winker, and Bobby Wilson are the value plays.

5. Hustlin’

It says he stole a home run, but that was going to hit a full foot from the top of the wall. Also, why do these radio crews sound like they’re transmitting from 1963?

While this was an excellent catch, it is an example of a “falling” dive.

Kevin Cron needs to start. Also… Jarrod Dyson is proof of the juice.