The Daily Grind: More Cookie Talk

I wish you would step back from that ledge my friend. You could cut ties with all those scrubs just clogging up your bench. Use Streaming Wars to help.

AGENDA

1. TDG Invitational
2. Weather Reports
3. Pitchers to Use and Abuse
4. SaberSim Says…
5. More Cookie Talk

1. The Daily Grind Invitational

Biznaq with the two-peat. Is three the charm? A Lucas Giolito disaster wasn’t enough to slow down the ‘Naq. Everybody except Justin Turner supplied 12 or more points. Congrats and Leaderboard.

We’re going to try one more day at the 52 entry level on FantasyDraft. If we can recruit six more entrants, we can probably keep this contest size.

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 Tigers-White Sox game has a non-zero chance to be postponed. The forecast is wet, although it looks like there may be a three-hour window to play. Colorado isn’t 100 percent chance. It looks like they’ll play.

3. Pitchers to Use and Abuse

Main Slate: Sadly, Corey Kluber is working a day game. That leaves us with Luis Severino as the lonely ace. He’s visiting a tenacious Athletics offense. At $23,300, he’s fairly priced. To be honest, I think I prefer the Mike Fiers ($14,500) side of the equation – at least from a value perspective. Severino only projects for maybe three or four more points which come at a $8,800 premium.

Zack Wheeler ($20,200) is visiting Hyun-Jin Ryu ($17,800) in the marquee matchup of the evening. This is a sure sign of the apocalypse. At the very least, it proves that ours is the alternate reality. Again, I find myself liking the value of the cheaper pitcher over the quality of the more expensive arm.

Jameson Taillon ($19,600) has a nice easy path to a win opposite Homer Bailey. Even so, I think this at least $2,000 too expensive. Tyler Glasnow is also a little overpriced for $18,500. I’m definitely warming to him as a consistent GPP play, but I just can’t get past the probability for a short outing.

If Michael Kopech dodges the rain, he gets a rematch against the Tigers. He already skunked them once with his high high heat. For $18,100, I’ll let others pay for the volatility and downside.

Elsewhere, Miles Mikolas ($16,100) was bumped to today. He’s a fine value. Really. Fine. Same with Tanner Roark for $15,100.

Comparatively, Nick Pivetta ($16,100) is a dream of a steal. The homer prone righty has over 10.00 K/9. He’s visiting the punchless Marlins at their spacious ballpark. Yum. The Marlins are sending forth rookie Sandy Alcantara. Color me unimpressed (that’s a light shade of aquamatan).

Framber Valdez ($13,500) aka Framboise aka The Strawberry Man might be a Dallas Keuchel clone. That’s fortuitous timing for the Astros; they already have a Keuchel due to hit free agency. I need more data to say more about Framboise. We’re probably looking at a low strikeout rate which isn’t ideal.

Andrew Suarez ($13,900) has a very friendly matchup against the Rockies at Coors… Hahaha just kidding.

Stack Targets: Bailey, Suarez, Antonio Senzatela, Bartolo Bartola, Aaron Sanchez, Alcantara, Jaime Barria

4. SaberSim Says…

Severino, Kopech, Valdez, Ryu, and Pivetta are the top rated pitchers by our robot friend. I think it’s overestimating the IP contributions of Kopech and Valdez. And if you agree, then we need to whittle down everything else – win rate, Ks, runs, etc. Top values include Senzatela, Mike Leake, Valdez, Kopech, and Pivetta. I think we know the most popular pitchers tonight.

Hats for bats. Mike Trout, Nolan Arenado, Trevor MVP Story, Rougned Odor, and Joey Gallomimus are the best bats. Bargain hunters should turn to Brandon Lowe, Jose Fernandez, Corey Dickerson, Gregor Blanco, and Nicky Delmonico.

5. More Cookie Talk

This is a triple fudge cookie. Unctuous.

I mean, Heaney hit his spot. Probably not a good spot to hit though…

Oh! They’re so clever.