The Daily Grind: Fat Friday

You might want to go to the end and stop the videos from autoplaying…

AGENDA

1. TDG Invitational
2. Weather Reports
3. Pitchers to Use and Abuse
4. SaberSim Says…
5. Anti-DH

1. The Daily Grind Invitational

Congrats to sangamc. Everybody contributed towards his dominating 196.35 point victory including a surprising two homer performance from Kyle Seager. Leaderboard.

The no rake GPP continues on FantasyDraft. We’ve had overlays every day this week. It’s free EV. Today’s 14-game contest comes with 52 entries – 2 per person. I’d like to fill this one to prove we deserve these larger pots.

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

Detroit is a postponement risk. That’s a shame as I was keen to stack Mariners. Storms could affect Chicago (not part of the slate) and Cleveland. Looks like they’ll get those games in with a possible delay. The west coast could receive some rain too – Los Angeles (both) and San Diego. That’s rare.

3. Pitchers to Use and Abuse

Main Slate: Three kings stand at the gate. The first, Max Scherzer, is visiting newly pitcher friendly Chase Field. I’ll predict seven innings, 10.5 strikeouts, less than three runs, and over a 50/50 chance for a win. That’s plenty playable for $25,900.

Justin Verlander ($25,100) is a premium priced alternative. The future Hall of Famer is having a career season. Peripherals say he’s due for a spattering of regression. I don’t think anybody expects him to maintain a 1.17 ERA. Even so, he’s golden versus the Rangers.

Chris Sale completes the trifecta. For $23,800, you get all the upside of the other aces but with slightly lesser recent performance. Sale is visiting Toronto. They actually beat him up a little (three runs in six innings) a couple weeks ago.

Cliff.

Yeah, you’ll want to use at least one ace tonight. Trevor Bauer ($22,000) has a soft matchup against the Royals, but he’s priced like an ace. If you’re reaching outside of the top three, chances are you’re trying to find value.

Perhaps that can be Kenta Maeda ($17,700) with a near-automatic victory opposite Matt Harvey. Kevin Gausman ($16,300) has a winnable pairing with the Rays. He’s pitched pretty well over his last five outings. Luke Weaver ($15,400) tends to have short outings. A visit to the strikeout prone Padres could fuel a solid point total. Deep in the bargain bin, you’ll find Brandon McCarthy ($11,300) against the MLB-worst Marlins. He’s allowed to go deep when he’s pitching well.

Stack Targets: Harvey, Matt Koch, Jason Hammel, Lance Lynn, Matt Boyd, Sonny Gray, Brandon Woodruff, Marco Gonzales, Chad Bettis, Cole Hamels

A Coors game, some scuffling veterans, and a mid-tier pitcher versus an elite offense comprise the stack targets list.

4. SaberSim Says…

Scherzer, Verlander, Sale, Weaver, and Tyler Skaggs are the top projections. I guess Skaggs is pretty likely to win opposite Lynn. And Byron Buxton is back to supply a couple strikeouts. Weaver, Dan Straily, and Sonny Gray are the top values. Batsmen include Bryce Harper, Charlie Blackmon, Matt Adams, Giancarlo Stanton, and Nolan Arenado. I’m not this into Adams. Ranking him ahead of Mike Trout is LUNACY. Sean Rodriguez, Jose Osuna, Michael Taylor, and Evan Gattis are some of the premium values.

5.Anti-DH 

I’ll take 1,000 strikeouts from a pitcher in exchange for one game like this. Supporters of the DH are wrong.

Anybody want to explain why Dellin Betances sucks now? Guy has a 5.63 ERA and a 1.06 xFIP…

Remember Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila? Here’s his brother Akbar (of football and Ninja Warrior host fame) bringing the heat.