The Daily Grind: Finals Week

The waiver wire bears plentiful fruit this late-September day. Check out Waiver Wars for targets.

AGENDA

  1. TDG Invitational
  2. Weather Reports
  3. Pitchers to Use and Abuse
  4. SaberSim Says…
  5. Intense Pillow Fight
  6. Bonus

1. The Daily Grind Invitational

Jaymcstell edged out the competition last Friday. None of his picks were especially heroic, yet everybody did something. It was enough for victory. Congrats and Leaderboard.

It’s the final week of action on FantasyDraft. I project a 40% overlay tonight. Come enjoy the action.

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

The forecast is far from sunny in Washington D.C. and Chicago (AL and NL). Keep an eye on these venues, especially D.C. where there’s a 50 percent chance of rain basically every hour of the day.

3. Pitchers to Use and Abuse

Main Slate: Corey Kluber ($21,600) headlines a star studded pitching slate. He’s visiting the strikeout prone White Sox. His last time out featured a 32 point gem against the self-same Sox. He should enjoy plenty of run support opposite Dylan Covey.

Next on the list is Luis Severino ($21,300). Aside from one recent blemish, he’s consistently providing mid-20s point totals. A visit to Tropicana Field should cut down on the homer risk.

Despite my concerns about pitch counts, Stephen Strasburg has fired off a couple straight over-30 point performances. One of those was against the Marlins last week. Lo and behold, he rematches the Fishies tonight. If it doesn’t rain too much.

Jameson Taillon ($20,300) finally gets the respect he deserves on the price sheet. He’s on a long run of quality starts (as in, they are starts of quality, not Quality Starts) the beginning of which coincides neatly with the discovery of a new slider-weapon. As much as I like Taillon, I’m just a tad wary of the sticker price at Wrigley. He’ll face Cole Hamels ($15,800) who, aside from his most recent appearance, has pitched very well for the Cubs. He looks like a potential bargain tonight.

Clayton Kershaw ($19,500) has an actual long streak of quality starts. You know, the Quality Start kind. That said, his point totals don’t always match the expectations. The undoubtedly bitter Diamondbacks offer a challenge to any left-handed pitcher. Volatile Robbie Ray ($18,600) is best reserved for GPPs where his high upside makes up for the meltdown potential.

It continues… James Paxton is back from illness for a pairing against the Athletics. At first glance, I love the $17,900 price point, but I worry he’ll have a limited pitch count. He could also show some rust after working on an inconsistent schedule in recent months.

Jack Flaherty ($17,700), Dallas Keuchel ($15,700), and Derek Holland ($15,000) are all some degree of playable. The best and only bargains I’m tracking are Felix Pena ($12,000) versus the Rangers and Daniel Mengden ($9,100) opposite the Mariners.

Stack Targets: Covey, Adrian Sampson, Bryan Mitchell, Mengden, Tyler Anderson, Zach Eflin, Sandy Alcantara, Dylan Bundy

4. SaberSim Says…

Kluber, Strasburg, Kershaw, Paxton, and Hamels are the preferred arms tonight. Playable bargains include Hamels, Nate Eovaldi, Pena, Kluber, and Paxton. Rhys Hoskins, Charlie Blackmon, Mike Trout, Nolan Arenado, and Trevor Story rank atop the hitter list. Confirm Story is healthy and playing. Valueland consists of Scott Kingery, Gregor Blanco, Franmil Reyes, and Marwin Gonzalez.

5. Intense Pillow Fight

Eric Thames managed to clear the bases without swinging. I break it down for Surreal MLB.

This is billed as an “intense pillow fight.”

6. Bonus

My occasional podcast partner Matt Meiselman has some helpful Vegas information to incorporate into our decision making.





You can follow me on twitter @BaseballATeam

3 Comments
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stever20member
5 years ago

Ray would be an interesting play. His last 6 starts he’s averaging 24.48 points- and 1 of those was a 28.40 start in LA. He is 4-0 with a 2.19 ERA in the last 2 years vs Dodgers with a 14/62 bb/k ratio. .211 avg against.