The Daily Grind: Penultimate Thinday

by
September 20, 2018

Streaming Wars is abandoning you in your time of need. Just for a day while I relocate. It will return on Friday with mucho gusto.

AGENDA

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

1. The Daily Grind Invitational

Congrats to oldschoolways for making the right choice. I was debating the relative merits of Chris Archer and Dallas Keuchel with a colleague yesterday. I went Keuchel (2.45 points). OSW chose Archer (29.55 points). So did most of you. Leaderboard.

Tonight promises an especially large overlay. Don’t miss out on FantasyDraft.

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2. Weather Reports

Our Thin Thursday won’t be made thinner by rain.

3. Pitchers to Use and Abuse

Main Slate: We’re cooking with a seven game slate led by Max Scherzer. He costs just $24,900 after a painful flop last week. With Jason Vargas and the Mets on the opposite side of the aisle, a rebound should be in the offing.

Masahiro Tanaka is finishing strong for a second season in a row. I’m somewhat skeptical about paying $20,700 to use him at Yankee Stadium against the Red Sox. I’m equally skeptical about $17,700 for Eduardo Rodriguez. In both cases, the upside is tantalizing, but the downside is pelting me with its feces. Risky risky.

Matt Boyd has scored over 16 points in six of his last seven outings. The time he fell short? It was against the Royals. He gets a rematch tonight at home. Boyd costs $18,000 which seems a tad aggressive, even with the favorable opponent. You don’t have many alternatives if you’re avoiding the Yankee Stadium game. His opponent, Jorge Lopez, has a couple big point totals mixed into a bunch of lackluster outings. There’s dangerous upside in this $14,800 package.

One set of alternatives features Kevin Gausman ($14,900) hosting Vince Velasquez ($13,900). The Phillies starter has been flopping with regularity against sad sacks like the Marlins and Mets. Gausman has a 2.61 ERA since wandering over to the National League, albeit with unimpressive 5.77 K/9 and 2.42 BB/9 (4.37 xFIP).

Yonny Chirinos isn’t quite fully discounted, but he’s still a good value for $10,900. He’s set to follow Ryne Stanek in Toronto. A win feels likely.

Stack Targets: Sam Gaviglio, Vargas, Jeff Brigham, Cody Reed, Josh Tomlin, James Shield, Lopez

4. SaberSim Says…

The Sim-mind says Scherzer, Boyd, ERod, Tanaka, and Gausman are the guys to own. Playable values include… well… just use Scherzer it says. Premium bats consist of Jose Ramirez, Francisco Lindor, Ronald Acuna, Trea Turner, and Anthony Rendon. If you want to go cheap, try Victor Martinez, Christin Stewart, Miguel Rojas, James McCann, or slumpy Billy McKinney.

5. Gratuitous

Gratuitous show-offishness.

Gratuitous violence. I break it down in detail for @SurrealMLB.

This one isn’t gratuitous. It’s just silly.





 

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