The Daily Grind: New Record!

AGENDA

1. New Record!
2. Weather Reports
3. Pitchers to Use and Abuse
4. Players to Avoid
5. SaberSim Says…
6. TDG Invitational Returns!

1. New Record!

If you had the wherewithal to start Anthony Rendon versus Noah Syndergaard, you were handed an automatic victory. Rendon is viewed as a solid if unspectacular player. He does post a couple four or five hit games per season. Yesterday, he went 6-for-6 with three home runs, six runs, and 10 RBI. He scored 71 DK points and 99 FD points.

Notice he missed four home runs by a couple feet?

On a separate note, the Nationals outburst was made possible by another Mets injury kerfuffle. Here’s what I said yesterday morning.

Noah Syndergaard maybe won’t get bumped this time. The Mets wanted to perform an MRI on his biceps strain, but he told them to piss off. I wonder what the Mets players think about their training staff. From an outsider’s perspective, no team has been more reactive and lost looking than the Mets when it comes to injury management.

2. Weather Reports

New York and Chicago have a chance for storms – somewhere in the 30 to 45 percent range. The other venues will probably be dry.

3. Pitchers to Use and Abuse

Main Slate: All 11 games are in the main slate tonight. It’s Clayton Kershaw day but he’s opposed by Johnny Cueto. Mega bummer when the aces cancel each other out. Kershaw is $3,400 more than the next priciest pitcher… which just so happens to be Cueto.

We have some interesting alternatives to Kershaw. Lance McCullers teases us with huge strikeout totals. He’s sitting on a near-automatic victory versus Andrew Cashner. The only thing standing in his way is his own ability to pitch five innings. Oh, the Texas offense isn’t an easy assignment either.

Jason Vargas gets a rematch versus the White Sox, aka the only team to hit him this season. The southpaw is working inside more effectively, and he’s getting even more out of his plus changeup. He’s become a poor man’s Cole Hamels. For $8,700, he’s only a $300 discount from actual Cole Hamels.

As I was selling Luis Severino this offseason (I didn’t have roster space for him), I told everybody this would happen. He’s pitched excellently, and the Blue Jays offense is an empty shell. The most surprising thing(s) about Severino’s fast start are his long outings. I’m sure there’s a penis joke in there somewhere…

Fellow young gun Dylan Bundy has a tougher task taming the Red Sox. The Mets need Robert Gsellman to go deep tonight. Maybe the better play is his opponent Julio Teheran.

Stack Targets: Cashner, Dylan Covey, Daniel Norris, Vince Velasquez, Trevor Bauer

4. Players to Avoid

Kershaw is returning from a minor calf injury. As Syndergaard taught us yesterday, returns from even minor injuries can be instantly ruinous. For $12,600, even a solid night can torpedo your roster. While I suggest caution, there’s over a 75 percent chance I’ll use him on my personal roster.

There’s a whole Cubs stack out there opposite Velasquez of which Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant, and Kyle Schwarber are the top names. Velasquez is hopelessly volatile which in turn adds volatility to these three studs. They’re not as safe as their collective, $12,300 price.

SaberSim always thinks Jonathan Villar is going to be a monster. I’ll pass. Even if he reaches base, the running game is seemingly shut down by Yadier Molina and Michael Wacha.

Yulieski Gurriel should be a tempting bargain option at $2,600. Unfortunately, he’s a ground ball hitter versus a (bad) ground ball pitcher. I might steer clear of Carlos Correa for a different reason – at only $3,500, he should be 350 percent owned. The crazy part is that Francisco Lindor is the only shortstop who costs more.

Did I miss the time when Andrew McCutchen was good? No, I saw it happen in 2015. Since then, he’s been Jayson Werth with less power and fewer strikeouts. Both SaberSim and FanDuel ($3,800) seem to love him. Shrug?

5. SaberSim Says…

Kershaw, McCullers, Rick Porcello, Severino, and Bauer top the charts. I’m out on Bauer. He’s homer prone, has minus command, and his elevated strikeout rate is completely unsupported by any peripherals. Top hitters are Rizzo, Mookie Betts, McCutchen, Bryant, and Schwarber. Now where have I heard four of those names…

6. The Daily Grind Invitational

Congrats to donslaughtonslaught for his big 203.9 point win on Friday. The difference makers were his outfield of Mike Trout, Dexter Fowler, and Ryan Braun. They supplied a combined 90.8 points. We were all priced in to using Manny Machado’s 40.9 points. After one month, hoehne2 completely wrecked us on the leaderboard. He placed in six of 13 FanDuel contests.

We’re back on FanDuel today.